Advisers must take early action on tech

Speaking to ifa, FinPal chief executive Stephen Handley said many advisers suffer “analysis paralysis” when selecting technology for their business, with the multitude of considerations prompting them to wait.

However, Mr Handley said this was problematic as delaying the implementation of new technologies can put practices on the back foot.

“It is disruptive, it takes time to learn a new system, to integrate it into your business, but if advisers don’t start doing it now they’re not going to be able to deliver the type of client experience I think is going to be necessary, and also be profitable,” he said.

Mr Handley said advisers should instead assess their business operations and look for areas that can be made more efficient, then look for technology services that can achieve this.

“Advisers generally don’t have deep technical experience or expertise, so the first step is understanding their own business and then being able to decide which parts of their business could become more,” he said.

“If you understand those, it allows you to map that to the sorts of technology offerings that can help and see if it’s going to make a difference in your efficiency or the client experience.”

Mr Handley said advisers should be doing this sooner than later to ensure they reap the benefits earlier.

“Take those baby steps towards a solution, because any change of this significance doesn’t happen in a month; you’re talking about a one- or two-year process to overhaul your business,” he said.

“I’ve been through it with our advice businesses and we worked on it for years before it really started to pay significant dividends, so if you just wait and something more advanced or more complete comes along in 12 months’ time, you’ve still then got another 12 months to two years to integrate it and get used to working with it and get your staff used to working with it.”