Phoenix-based Advisor Group is adding an advisor fintech veteran to its leadership team as it enters a new phase of its digital strategy.
The independent broker-dealer announced today that it has hired Peter Clemson to the newly created position of senior vice president, digital solutions.
“Our next phase is how do we look at our client engagement tools and set up advisors to have better conversations with their clients throughout the pandemic?” said Jamie Price, Advisor Group CEO. “We already know that a robo-advisor platform is not going to replace an advisor. The pandemic has placed advisors front and center with their clients, but direct-to-consumer capabilities complemented by an advisor, or vice-versa, is a must-have. We’re pulling this together through a veteran like Peter, who has lots of experience in both direct-to-consumer and working with an advisor.”
Clemson most recently served as co-founder and CEO of Evati, a Chicago-based digital investment advisory platform. Prior to Evati, he was senior vice president of client experience technology at Charles Schwab.
At Advisor Group, Clemson will help the firm create technology to enable engagement and collaboration between advisors and clients.
Part of this new technology will include more attributes business-to-business robo-advisory components, which will build upon Advisor Group’s already existing streamlined client onboarding via its Equipt platform.
Clemson envisions the further maturation of the robo-advisor concept beyond the direct-to-consumer realm in the direction of more tech-enabled human advisors.
“The entire concept of ‘robo’ should and will go away,” said Clemson. “People want to reach out to advisors, they want a person to talk to, but they expect their technology to make it easy, seamless and automatic. The right answer, then, is ultimately a model that supports advisors but does so in a way that if someone wants to digitally onboard and receive information directly to their phone, that will be in place to support the advisor and help them grow in a way that is highly efficient. That is where we’re going.”
He will also help Advisor Group build out and augment MyCMO, its turnkey digital marketing solution, said Price. He reiterated that the firm does not have a direct-to-consumer business, nor is it developing one.
Clemson will serve alongside Advisor Group’s chief technology officer, Ed Obuchowski, and report to Cindy Hamel, the firm’s chief strategy and corporate development officer.
“Obuchowsi, from Schwab, will also work with Peter, but Peter is going to be our eyes and ears,” said Price. “He will talk to the end customer and design the strategy. With his background in writing code and creating technology strategy, he’s the perfect complement.”