Although advisor firms are increasing their spend on technology more than ever before, financial services professionals may not know how to organize and prioritize the new tools.

“There are top-down initiatives that are happening,” said Angela Pecoraro, CEO of Advicent, a financial planning software company. “Budget is being allocated to these technology initiatives but when you take those initiatives from top to the next level, those second and third level down leaders don't really know what to do with it.”

Pecoraro took over the top job at Advicent last month and is among a handful of women who have made it to the C-Suite of fintech companies.

“We're seeing a shift,” said Pecoraro, who was among the featured lecturers at the Advicent Innovation Summit on Thursday in New York City. “In the technology space I am seeing more women come out of school, being able to join our tech development teams, our quality assurance teams, the IT groups and serving in leadership roles whereas traditionally in software we've seen more women in customer facing roles, tech support or sales.”

She added that Advicent has a “great diversity with women in leadership at all levels.”

Regarding new technology, Pecoraro said that innovative planning solutions, such as Advicent’s Naviplan and Narrator Clients, require that advisors be more nimble and tech savvy.

“Traditionally, advisors would have used these tools behind the scenes and have a conversation across the table,” Pecoraro said. “Now they have to do it all at the same time, present it visibly in front of the client and promote it on their website where they might have just used it for themselves in the past.”

Pecoraro said that as the number of registered investment advisors has grown, so too has the use of planning software at a firm level.

The independent RIA and hybrid RIA channels combined are expected to increase their asset market share from 23% in 2015 to 28% in 2020, according to Cerulli Associates, an analytics firm. 

“They are buying it [planning software] in bulk so that they are putting the brand and position of the firm out front versus allowing their advisors to procure their own software, have their own advice delivery model and have their own brand,” Pecoraro said. “They are coming at it from an enterprise or firm level and making sure they are delivering services consistently with the same tools and the same language.”