Advisers using tech ‘ecosystem’ to engage clients: report

New research from its 2016 Planning Software Benchmarking Report revealed that newer advice practices are looking to customer relationship management (CRM) and workflow systems, onboarding applications, personal cashflow and fintech engagement tools to use with advice generation applications.

The report said advice practices are moving towards full online digital client engagement, including financial literacy content, a blog, a contact form, Google analytics and Facebook and LinkedIn social media channels.

Further, it said that around a third of advice practices are supporting client login, video content and more social media channels, while about 20 per cent of practices are actively engaged with outbound and inbound client marketing using social media advertising services and eBooks.

Investment Trends analyst Ian Webster said integrated services and data are becoming important to planners developing new client service value propositions.

“This is providing opportunities for a new generation of wealth fintech developers to provide services that complement comprehensive planning applications,” he said.

The report also noted that established and new fintech developers are developing applications aimed at compliance automation, and that this is disrupting the traditional comprehensive advice model.

“Next generation advice applications are responding to the demand for more advice process efficiency with compliance automation,” Mr Webster said.

“Automation will disrupt the comprehensive advice model and replace it with a package of single issue advice services distributed in time, more suited to providing advice services to a broader market.”