An Advisor's Copilot
Thus, in 2018, SigFig launched CoPilot, an advisor-facing digital wealth platform designed to implement some of the roboadvisor client experience – like streamlined account opening and funding processes – with the hallmarks of traditional financial advice. Copilot also helps advisors eliminate timely tasks like preparing for annual reviews – the platform can automate most of the process of preparing a review for clients.
Rather than an annual review, CoPilot can create a continuous review process allowing for ongoing interactions between advisors and their clients, said Sha, the ritual of having someone come into the office once per year is no longer necessary. Advisors and clients can set goals together, and see performance and progress towards those goals in real time.
“The platform also provides advisors more flexibility – advisors using our platforms are offered more choice and discretion, whether it’s in portfolio selection or trading and rebalancing,” said Mercurio.
The firm now partners with banks, including wirehouses like UBS and Wells Fargo, and regional banks like Citizens Bank. Its platforms are available to one-third of U.S. households.
“From a consumer perspective, working with banks is preferable because most of the money that most people invest is their life savings – they’ve spent their careers trying to accumulate it so that they can some day retire, and as a result they want to make sure it’s safe with an institution that they believe is going to stick around, be trustworthy and solid,” said Sha. “Most of the wealth in this country is held with financial institutions, so the majority of assets managed with software will end up being managed through an institution.”
Mass affluent consumers, a group coveted by many human advisors and roboadvisors alike, appear to prefer being served by hybrid firms that can offer both digital and in-person services, said Sha.
Last year, SigFig partnered with institutional data provider Refinitiv to provide tools for investors using Refintiv’s custody platform.
Sha doesn’t believe most fintech startups will survive or prosper for the same reason that most of the online banks founded in the late 1990s were defunct by the mid-2000s – large, traditional banks saw the opportunity and rapidly built out their mobile and online presences, leaving little room for new competitors.
“The same thing is likely to play out in the investment and advice industry,” said Sha “Some online-only player will appeal to a niche of customers, but mainstream consumers are more likely to adopt these kind of services from a major brand.”
For that reason, Sha and Mercurio have targeted Copilot and similar business-to-business capabilities as a key source of SigFig’s growth moving forward, and are seeking additional institutional partners. The company will continue to expand its platform and add functionality, said Sha, and attempt to broaden and deepen its relationships with clients and intermediaries.