My Perfect Financial Advisor, a new system that intends to be the premier matchmaker between investor-consumers and their ideal advisors, breaks down its service into three steps:
Data accumulation. “We learn a great deal about you, such as assets, occupation, even your personality!” the company says in its marketing materials. “We ideally want you to grant us permission to acquire some of this data directly from your institutions, but you can always complete forms if you wish!”
Algorithmic formulas. “Using data, our matching formula and deep industry expertise, we match you to the ideal financial advisor we believe you should hire. Of course, we give you additional advisors to choose from ranked by our fit order.”
Live contact. “The next step is to contact our recommended advisor. If you prefer, you can have the advisor contact you. If you are uncomfortable with this next step, don’t worry, we will provide you with guides and questionnaires on how to interview and select your advisor.”
Nicholas Stuller, My Perfect Financial Advisor’s chief executive, is a 30-year financial services industry veteran. He was prompted to start the service in part to fight ignorance about the subject. “Over the years, I discovered that even savvy, wealthy investors don’t understand advisors,” he says. “The Wolf of Wall Street and all that is a very small percentage of what really goes on. But that gets a lot of attention.”
Advancements and acceptance of financial technology over the past few years made the timing right for Stuller to launch his platform this summer, he says.
While matching services have been around for decades (WiserAdvisor, for example, launched in 1998), the digital revolution for financial advice has only recently become trusted and accepted. One need only look at the rise of robo-advisors as evidence.
Still, Stuller doesn’t so much view his platform as a fintech operation. “We don’t view ourselves as a lead generation company. We view ourselves as an advocate for investors. Our purpose is to improve investors’ lives by matching them with the right advisor,” he says.
Lead generation is a big trap for consumers and advisors alike. An organization that simply trolls both sides doesn’t add much more value than a phone book. A good matching service, on the other hand, provides screening and due diligence, and its technology is efficient.
Another matching platform is SmartAdvisor Match, powered by SmartAsset, a site that offers tools, calculators and content created by personal finance experts to help people with their financial needs. The SmartAdvisor Match creators have come up with a short questionnaire for people seeking advisors, asking them about their retirement plans, their investment goals and advisor preferences. Based on answers and output, the service identifies three advisors clients can choose from in their area. It even offers an online concierge to book in-person appointments.