RIAs were historically built within geographic limitations. An advisor would start a practice and build a client base from their personal and professional networks. As these practices grew into businesses, teams would form in an office setting to serve a cluster of clients who, for the most part, lived within an hour’s drive of the office. New hires were added from a pool of candidates within reasonable commuting distance. As these businesses grew, they became even more entrenched in this geographically-limited service model.
This isn’t the model du jour anymore for today’s RIAs. Employees now desire and expect flexibility, while clients need on-demand, personalized engagement with their Financial Advisor.
Running a successful virtual RIA business is an intentional process that takes time, but my experience has shown it’s a worthwhile endeavor. Today, I own two affiliated RIAs comprised of fewer than 20 teammates living in eight states, serving over 800 clients in 45 states with approximately $1.8B of AUM.
You already know the importance of Zoom, your CRM, and an integrated tech stack. But maybe you are less familiar with some of the more nuanced solutions that I believe are now table stakes in the virtual world we live in. Below are my top five, under-the-radar tech solutions that RIAs should consider in this “new normal” of remote work and decentralized teams.
Third-party cybersecurity consultants
We take cybersecurity seriously. We simply won’t use technology that isn’t SOC2 and/or ISO27001 compliant, and our staff regularly partakes in awareness training on the latest trends in phishing, malware, and other cyberattacks. We go the extra mile to ensure that client personally identifiable information (PII) is protected. Our third-party cybersecurity consultant conducts regular penetration tests to ensure there are no vulnerabilities in our tech systems, and we hold a monthly checkpoint to get better insights into the security of our data.
Geolocation applications
Our clients are dispersed throughout the U.S. The pandemic didn’t change how we interact with clients, as meetings are held on video or over the phone. But when we are traveling, we use a geolocation tool that’s integrated with Salesforce Financial Services Cloud (our CRM), that enables us to optimize our travel. For instance, when travel becomes more frequent again, we can visualize our firm’s contacts on a map, and plan our trips to ensure we get face time with clients, or reach a prospect at a location convenient to them.
Password management tools
Most financial services firms use a VPN, and we do, too. But we take our device security a step further by using a password management tool to keep our business applications secure. Tools like Lastpass, 1Password or Okta are a must for any business with a virtual team. Keeping client PII secure is a top priority, and a data breach could damage our trusting relationships with our clients. Ensuring our team’s passwords are strong and distinct while stored in a secure, encrypted repository gives us that extra layer of security and peace of mind.
Collaboration and project management software
I’m all about teamwork and bouncing ideas off my staff. We frequently share ideas in a software called Samepage. It’s where all of our internal communication and collaboration takes place. Whether we’re collaborating on a thought-leadership blog or building out internal documentation, Samepage serves as our archive for supporting employees and our clients with information.
Productivity management tools
Have you ever wanted to measure your productivity, but lacked a tangible way to do so? We’ve started to use ActiveTrak to see how our team members work and how their behavior aligns with their productivity. Our CTO mentioned that since we’ve been using the tool, he’s optimized his time. He saw on the dashboard that he was spending too much time in Outlook checking email and responding to inbound requests. Now he’s been able to be more productive by limiting the number of times per day he’s checking email, giving him more time to dig in on other important projects.
There’s a good chance that your company’s infrastructure will be cloud-based in the next few years if it isn’t already. Running a virtual RIA requires you to constantly evaluate and reinvent your tech stack. Identify your needs, then be diligent about finding the solution that works best to increase security, boost productivity and improve team collaboration. I’m hopeful that some of the solutions that have been instrumental for my team can help yours, too.
James S. Gladney is Chairman and CEO of Portfolio Solutions and Liberty Wealth Advisors