Advisors struggle to remain compliant, complete documentation and spend time in person with clients, says a new report from Nuance Communications Inc. Eighty-nine percent of financial services professionals said documentation demands affect their ability to produce thorough and timely reports, record, and client notes. In fact, more than a third said they spend more than three hours a day on client documentation alone.
An increase in regulations has made maintaining compliant documentation more demanding. Forty-eight percent of respondents said they have to create at least one full page of notes for each client documenting full details of conversations with them.
Customer relationship management (CRM) software is designed to help advisors maintain client relationships more easily. The majority of respondents don’t find the software helpful -- more than half of respondents said their CRM software is frustrating and difficult to use, according to the report.
Many firms are working to solve the documentation issue in-house. Eighty-one percent of respondents said their firm is making greater use of standardized templates, forms and disclosures to complete documentation more efficiently while mitigating compliance risk.
The study found that proper technology could help reduce reporting demands. Seventy-eight percent of participants said they would be interested in new tools to help complete documentation and increase productivity, and 66 percent said they currently use mobile and digital devices to complete client documentation and mandated disclosures on the go.
The Role of Technology in Financial Documentation Compliance Survey examined the experiences of 40,000 financial service professionals. The majority of respondents came from large firms with more than 500 employees.