That is the big challenge for technology; to make it not overly technical, but rather, make it more consumable. And that takes a lot of thoughtfulness and empathy for the customer journey, for consumers and advisors alike.
Hortz: How else can the industry continue to heighten client engagement and better financial decision- making?
Holt: I think the real next step is going to be getting the consumer more empowered. There has been a huge shift over the past few years enabling the consumer to have more access to technology and decision-making tools and even implementation, unlike ever before. That is causing massive disruption to the established system of financial services products and financial advice delivery.
I would say going forward the big innovation is going to be data ownership, with respect to the GDPR movement in Europe, showing that the client must own their data for purposes of privacy. We think that in order to empower somebody to make long-term financial decisions, we need to give them the responsibility and the oversight of their own financial data and not have it tied to a financial institution with whom they may have one or two lines of business. We are moving towards an idea that the consumer can be empowered by owning their own financial plan and, in reverse to the norm, sharing it with the professionals they deem appropriate to come work on their financial information with them, where a client or consumer can build their own financial dream team revolving around their data.
Within this next stage, there is this great need for getting good contextual advice on one's current decisions, especially in a holistic environment where so much information needs to be shared before you can get that context. In many ways, that is what Asset-Map has been about – providing a financial inventory statement that is visual in nature. What actually happens then is that once the proof or the truth is revealed, in a way that is now shareable, it can allow a conversation on how we can improve the current situation as opposed to thinking “It's good enough. Don't mess with it.” because nobody else sees the totality of the client’s disparate financial information.
In order to empower the next generations financially, we need to provide comprehensive access, personalized education and holistic enablement to manage long-term decisions.
The Institute for Innovation Development is an educational and business development catalyst for growth-oriented financial advisors and financial services firms determined to lead their businesses in an operating environment of accelerating business and cultural change. We position our members with the necessary ongoing innovation resources and best practices to drive and facilitate their next-generation growth, differentiation and unique community engagement strategies. The institute was launched with the support and foresight of our founding sponsors — Ultimus Fund Solutions, NASDAQ, FLX Networks, Pershing, Fidelity, Voya Financial, Advisorpedia and Charter Financial Publishing (publisher of Financial Advisor and Private Wealth magazines).