A new advisor search platform allows consumers to read the opinions about the professionals from the clients who use them.
The Investor Experience Platform, launched today by fintech company Indyfin, is designed to redefine how consumers find, review, and interact with financial advisors, said Akshay Singh, founder of Dallas-based Indyfin. He said the platform is modeled on the idea of companies such as Airbnb and Yelp that were able to create trust based on the experiences of those who use their services.
“It’s much like you don’t think twice about staying in a stranger’s home today when you go on a family vacation because Airbnb has given you all the necessary data for you to be confident and secure in making that choice,” he said. “That’s what we want to empower the consumers with.”
The Indyfin platform provides profiles of advisors that highlight their credentials and experiences, along with feedback from existing clients. Singh explained that the feedback, which advisors collect from existing clients, not only helps Indyfin to build the advisors’ profile but helps the advisors to understand their areas of strength and which of their clients are their strongest promoters.
The platform allows advisors to gather client feedback, ratings and reviews to build credibility and trust with clients and prospects, Singh said. “In just minutes, advisors can use our automated tools to request, respond to, maintain, and share reviews from existing clients, in a compliant manner.”
Singh noted that financial advisors in the past have been prohibited from sharing their client endorsements, testimonials, and online reviews with prospective investors due to regulations. But a new rule governing marketing by the Securities and Exchange Commission has changed that, he said.
“Advisors can now highlight their most valuable asset—their clients—in being able to tell their unique value proposition directly from the individuals who have experienced the tremendous work advisors do on their behalf,” he said, adding that the platform also has been vetted by investment advisory attorneys and designed with relevant provisions to make it easy for advisors to comply.
Singh said advisors must go through a rigorous vetting process to be invited to join he platform. The feedback from clients serves as the first stage of that process. “For example, if everybody is just saying that that this advisor is not doing a great job, well, you just don’t get to be on the platform,” he said.
The second part of the process is internal vetting, which involves a review of the advisor’s regulatory record and an interview. Advisors also are required to fill out a detailed survey, which covers areas such as the kind of technology they use.
Advisors in the Indyfin referral network do not pay for getting meetings with prospective clients, he said. They are only charged a fee when they win a client.
“I have not seen anybody attempt to even do this. We are following everything with client feedback and that’s at the core of what we do,” Singh said. “We are creating a lot of transparency to help consumers choose an advisor confidently, and it’s just data that the advisors are collecting for feedback that’s allowing us to match consumers better and build trust online.”
Indyfin’s platform launch was facilitated with a $2.2 million investment from Leo Capital, a venture capital firm, and several other veterans from financial services.