FinTech/Robo Advisor Special Section

VIEWS FROM THE EXPERTS

 

BOB CONCHIGLIA
Vice President, Advisory Sales
and Solutions Consulting
SS&C Advent
 

 

 

 

Successful Financial Advisors Leverage Technology As Change Becomes A Constant

 

2017 may become known as the year FinTech took center stage. Case in point, global investment in fi nancial technology ventures in the fi rst quarter of 2016 reached $5.3 billion, a 67 percent increase over the same period a year prior, according to Accenture.

 

The surge in FinTech industry investment may have something to do with the rise of robo-advisors—there are now 52 online advice fi rms, up from just two in 2000. Experts predict global assets under management by robo-advisors to reach a staggering $8.1 trillion by 2020, up from an estimate of $200 billion at year-end 2016 (source: Business Insider, January 2017).

 

The surge in advisor technology extends well beyond the robos. For advisors, the more exciting innovations are those that enhance the client experience, provide scale and remove behind-the-scenes work to prep for conversations with clients. Clients expect digital experiences to be part of the relationship. And they expect to be able to review information at any time through a client portal and collaborate online with their advisor.

 

This brings us to the question of value in this digital landscape: More specifi cally, clients understanding the value that their advisors deliver. Many advisors offer much more than investment allocation and portfolio construction; it is not clear that clients fully understand the “extras” they are getting. Technology that enhances the end client experience can help illuminate that value.

 

My advice to advisors is to grab on to technology that helps you be more effi cient and get closer to clients. After all, technology, when used well, can help you with the seemingly daunting challenges facing all advisors today—running an effi cient and profi table business while effectively demonstrating your value and leveraging tools for scalable growth.

 

For more information, please visit www.advent.com

 

 


 

SS&C ADVENT is a leading investment and financial technology solutions provider for financial advisors and wealth managers. The firm’s Black Diamond® wealth platform provides advisors a purposeful suite of tools —from portfolio management to reporting to client communications and more—to manage their client’s complete wealth picture. Advisors can combine many other capabilities such as CRM, financial planning, and risk alignment tools into their Black Diamond experience. Salentica® CRM, also an SS&C solution, is one such partner, offering both Salesforce CRM and Microsoft Dynamics CRM options as Black Diamond integrations.
Learn more at http://blackdiamond.advent.com.