If advisory firms want to attract top talent to their ranks, they need to invest in technology—but there are significant disconnects between the technology driving advisor satisfaction and the tools being employed by firms today.
That’s the conclusion of the J.D. Power 2020 U.S. Financial Advisor Satisfaction Study, which found that investments in technology are an important differentiator for advisors’ satisfaction with their firm.
In results released on Tuesday, J.D. Power found that 92% of advisors say they rely on planning, portfolio management, allocation and customer relationship management technology provided by their firm. But the survey also found a disconnect in that less than half of advisors, or 48%, said the technology being provided to them is valuable.
Although advisors are largely relying on their firms to offer them technology, they’re likely not getting the integrations they need. In the survey, 21% of advisors said their technology platform is “completely integrated” including features like a single sign-on, data-synching and workflows. Integration has an impact on technology satisfaction, boosting satisfaction 276 basis points among advisors in employee channels, and 193 basis points among independents.
In another disconnect, J.D. Power found that tools featuring predictive analytics using AI or other advanced technologies are not being widely adopted among advisors, with just 9% of advisors using them. But they are important drivers of advisor satisfaction, as advisor satisfaction is 95 basis points higher when they’re using AI tools.
The U.S. Financial Advisor Satisfaction Study was based on responses from 3,262 employee and independent advisors recorded in a period from January through April 2020.