Arnold also spoke on the evolution of the advisor’s value proposition. “As automation is introduced into the marketplace, it redefines the price points” that advisors can charge for their services. As new technology is introduced, advisors can either lower their price points or expand their value proposition. He suggested that advisors can expand their value proposition and create pricing that is “stickier” by providing not just investment management but also financial planning and behavioral management.
“You’re not going to get the desired outcomes” if you build a plan that a client doesn’t execute, he said. “If you are providing that value, your pricing is going to be a whole lot stickier” than if you provide investment management alone or investment management and financial planning. “We want to make (goals-based) planning more mainstream,” he said.