Going forward, the growth opportunities for advisors will multiply, especially for those who are able to embrace digital marketing and virtual brand building in lieu of traditional in-person marketing; successfully acquire the businesses of retiring professionals; and adapt the multiple third party technologies that are great on a stand-alone basis, but require careful and seamless integration to drive results for advisors.
The industry is changing, but when is that not the case? The reality is that we have multiple trends that will dramatically accelerate opportunities to drive growth and efficiency for financial advisors who are willing to embrace new solutions and practices.
5. What are the most challenging potential “big picture” trends for independent financial advisors across the industry?
While there are significant growth opportunities available for those who can scalably incorporate digital marketing and other technology tools into their practices during the Covid era, we’re starting to see a gap between those who can do it well and those who cannot. Practices that struggle with this challenge are going to have a very difficult time maintaining their growth.
Advisors also need to be fully equipped to protect the value of their practice. Wealth management has always been heavily regulated, but with the shift to working from home, cybersecurity and digital compliance will continue to become greater areas of focus for regulators. Advisors need to ensure that they are leveraging tech offerings from the firms that support them as effectively as possible to ensure seamless compliance in this environment.
And finally, in honoring advisors as independent business owners within a rapidly evolving profession- they enjoy their independence but it can also feel lonely at times. We’re going to focus on creating a rich environment for advisors to collaborate and share best practices with like-minded professionals within our Advisor Group community.