Advisers ‘drastically’ changing attitude to technology

A recent survey conducted by the financial services company revealed some telling data, with over 200 providers spending on average $20,000 per adviser on technology.

“We’re seeing a convergence of advice and technology,” head of BT’s Principals’ Community, Kon Costas, said in a virtual roundtable on Monday.

“We have a lot of great advice businesses, not so many great technology businesses and it’s imperative to embrace technology to thrive moving forward.

“In the past where businesses were hesitant to fully tailor their technology solution to suit their business, this has changed dramatically in the last few years.

“Most businesses are now doubling down, or tripling down, on their core systems.”

Iress CCO Michael Blomfield said the capacity to engage with technology much more in recent times can be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic and a “slightly more stable” regulatory environment.

“I think we all operate within a, arguably, excessively complex regulatory environment,” Mr Blomfield said.

“What we’ve seen is change after change in the regulatory space and we can, sort of, fast forward 12, 13 years now and planners really are struggling to find ways to drive down the time it takes to give advice.

“It’s only really in recent times, I think, that really the technology capacity to do that in a slightly more stable regulatory environment has come to bear.

“And so, in the COVID world, we’ve seen enormous changes, right? The massive take-up of digital signatures, massive take-up of…zoom and teams to find ways to do what was considered impossible in the past which is to engage with clients in a non-face to face, slightly more scalable, way.”

Though technology can be costly for advisers and businesses, Mr Kostas said it should be considered as an investment, not a cost.

“It is costly, but you can’t view it as a cost. View it as an investment in your business,” he said.

“Now more than ever, your data… they’re expected to be readily accessible by the regulator. But [it] can also be used to better your client experience and run a better business.”

Neil Griffiths

Neil is the Deputy Editor of the wealth titles, including ifa and InvestorDaily.

Neil is also the host of the ifa show podcast.