• Real-time data integration across entire suite of tools (proposal: modeling: trading: client reports: client portal)
5. Outsource Some Administrative And Operational Tasks: Finally, consider outsourcing some of the administrative and operational tasks to a transparent partner. Ultimately, anything that is not vital to an advisor’s value to clients can be outsourced to a third party in order to redeploy those resources within the practice. Outsourcing doesn’t need to be an all-or-nothing affair—with the flexibility to outsource only those tasks that are non-essential to the essence of their practice and value proposition, such as billing, on an a la carte basis, an advisor can optimize efficiency, time management, and client relations over the long term.
A reliable third-party service provider should offer advisors all the following, which should create trust and confidence in the decision to outsource:
• Transparency for advisors to seamlessly monitor everything in as much or as little detail as they wish.
• Best-in-class, responsive service so that when problems do arise, they are identified and resolved quickly and in the most client-centric way possible.
• Demonstrated scale to handle not only the current book of business, but anticipated growth and worst-case-scenario volumes on days of extreme market volatility, etc.
In order to survive and thrive in an evolving marketplace and regulatory environment, advisors need to evaluate how they spend their time, and adjust accordingly. Fortunately, advisors have several cost-effective options for running their practices more efficiently and facilitating scalable growth—without giving up the personalized service and advice their clients have come to expect.
Rob Klapprodt is corporate strategy officer for Vestmark.