The financial advisory industry is going through a significant transition to a holistic approach where they manage a household’s entire financial picture as opposed to simply managing investments, according to industry experts attending a recent Turnkey Asset Management Program (TAMP) webinar.

TAMP services have exploded this year with these firms supervising more than $2 trillion in assets. On Tuesday, Santa Monica, Calif.-based Wealth Advisor hosted a webinar looking at the growth and potential of TAMP for the current year. Participants spoke about the evolution of the financial advisory industry and what they would need to be successful in the future.

“We are moving to a more planning-centric universe,” said Jeffrey Levine, chief planning officer at St. Louis-based Buckingham Strategic Partners.

That sentiment was echoed by many of the participants of the webinar including Bill Crager, chief investment officer of Beryn, Pa.-based Envestnet. He said in the past many advisors would simply focus on an individual's investments. However, recently there has been more of a push to take a wider look at the entire financial picture for a household including bills, income, and other expenses.

A TAMP is a fee-account technology platform financial advisors use to outsource a number of business practices. The resources allow them to free up their time so they can spend more of it with clients. 

“Individuals have pretty complicated financial lives and they don’t have a means to connect everything that’s taking place within their financial life,” Crager said. “So, the idea that you can bring a more intelligent means for people to live their daily financial life [is] powerful.”

To accommodate these changes, advisors have to revise the way they do business. TAMPs have been able to assist by providing much-needed resources to help accommodate these advisors. For instance, it was never possible for advisors to show an entire snapshot of a household’s entire financial picture in one shot. 

Many firms are looking to provide additional services for advisors to help them do their job more effectively. An important aspect of that job is what Levine referred to as TWC or time with clients.

“If you want to make more money as an advisor, there is one clear thing that you can do and that is spend more time with clients,” he said. 

When taking advantage of a TAMP, an advisor can free themselves up from handling some of the more complex matters that might usually draw their attention. This way advisors can spend that time with clients providing one-on-one time to help reassure them or advise them through their major financial decisions.

“As a financial advisor, you need that support system around you to help you do what it is that you do best,” said Bob Herrmann, chief executive officer of Hoboken-New Jersey-based Equis Capital Management. “The best way to do that is with a TAMP.”

Seeing the evolution of the advisory market, many TAMP firms are rolling out new features that they hope will be attractive to advisors and help forge a partnership. Chicago-based Morningstar, which is known for its research, has also been involved in supporting advisors having launched its Wealt Management Solutions Group.

Daniel Needham, president of that group, said that Morningstar sees the need with advisors and is hoping to position the firm to be an ideal partner for many advisors.

Morningstar already provides many of the traditional services normally associated with a TAMP including back-office support and bill work. The firm is also eyeing the future with several more rollouts coming later this year.

“We think that digital self-service is going to become more important not because advisors don’t want to have that white-glove service it’s because they want to be able to set their own agenda, manage their own practice and engage with us when it works for them,” Needham said.

The firm will roll out those services in a few months with plans to introduce direct indexing in the fourth quarter, Needham said it will bring together many of the services that Morningstar has to offer. 

“We are excited to bring about all these capabilities for advisors that they are going to need for flexibility and choice,” he said. 

Different TAMPs offer a variety of services and the participants told advisors that it is important that they choose the one that works well with them. To determine that they must first decide what their own goals are and choose accordingly.

“Find a TAMP partner that is right for you that is aligned with your investment thesis and stick to it,” Levine said.