In the end, the financial services industry today is better equipped to do what it has always set out to do. We are the human advocates for our clients’ decision-making over time. Advocacy is a uniquely human experience. When we see our work in this industry through that lens, we have nothing to fear in the rise of fintech. Technology—even at its most robust—is only a rising platform on which we stand.
When I imagine an advisor-client interface at its best, maybe there’s an iPad in the room where the client’s information is being gathered. Or, maybe there’s an OLED screen television with charts and graphs showing the client’s potential futures. Maybe the whole thing is happening over ultra-HD video conferencing. All of that’s possible and maybe eventually required. But regardless of what machines are in the room, one person hearing another person tell their story and helping them take that story to its best possible end is what matters. Because in the words of David Augsburger, “Being heard is so close to being loved that for the average person, they are almost indistinguishable.”
Nick Richtsmeier is chief innovation officer at Trilogy Financial, and chief operating officer of its independent registered investment advisor Trilogy Capital.