Forrester recently surveyed 1,000 millionaires (people with more than $1 million in investable assets) online to find out what they want from investment firm web sites.

The first surprising result was that most — 79% — visit their investment provider's Web site at least a few times a year and 83% of those do so every month. This would appear to firmly quash the old myth that millionaires need hand-holding and aren't willing to use online self-service. Their most common online activity is checking balances and positions (cited by 63%), followed by stock research (35%). Almost a third (29%) actually place trades at these web sites.

Asked what features and tools they feel are most important to an investment web site, this group ranked highest the features they already use — account balances and transaction history, portfolio tracking and online trading. But just below those, also ranking over 3 on a scale of 1 to 5, were "communication/collaboration with my advisors," asset allocation tools, and retirement planning. So providing useful tools in these areas looks like a wide-open opportunity for investment firms.

The survey respondents ranked Vanguard and Charles Schwab highest in quality; e-trade and Bank of America clients gave their firms the lowest marks on quality. Merrill Lynch has the lowest proportion of clients who use the account balance tools on their web site, and among the clients who do use them, fewer than 80% ranked them high in quality.

The Forrester research found that the higher an investor rates the quality of a firm's online features, the more money he keeps with that firm. "Investors who give their firm's online tools a top score in quality hold, on average, nearly $2 million more at that firm than do investors who give their firm's online tools the lowest possible score," the report states. These satisfied online customers are also 37% more likely to consider the firm for additional purchases.