Accessing data, compliance costs key hurdles for advisers

Speaking ahead of the ifa Future Forum 2022, gold partner HUB24 senior business strategy manager Greg Hansen said that because accessing data is difficult for licensees and advice professionals, it contributes to increasing compliance costs.

“Client data is held in a myriad of unstructured formats, making it hard to access key data for compliance purposes or client insights,” Mr Hansen told ifa.

To solve this issue, investment platforms could leverage technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence to drive efficiency for licensees and advisers, he suggested.

“If we can reduce the cost of delivering advice functions, we can reduce the cost of advice,” Mr Hansen said.

HUB24 has invested in artificial intelligence to turn unstructured data into structured data, he added.

In the last 18 months, it has “read in” over 500,000 unstructured documents — such as statements of advice, return on assets, file notes, identification documents, and fee disclosure statements — categorised them into one of 23 document types, and extracted the relevant information.

“This allows us to provide previously unavailable data to our advisers and licensees, which enables them to tailor their offerings,” Mr Hansen said.

His comments preceded his session at the ifa Future Forum 2022, a free event where he will explore how data and technology are shaping client engagement, how advisers could harness data to create engagement models that attract the next generation of clients, and how technology such as machine learning and artificial intelligence are creating marketing and client engagement tools.

Mr Hansen said supporting the ifa Future Forum through HUB24’s gold partnership presents an opportunity for participants to collaborate, share ideas, and understand how the advice industry could collectively build a blueprint for the future of the advice industry.

He added that using technology could increase efficiency and the effectiveness of the advice process while reducing friction and the cost of delivering financial advice.

“The ifa Future Forum is all about the future and ensuring that more Australians can benefit from having access to the expertise and peace of mind a financial adviser can provide,” Mr Hansen said.

“It’s a place where advisers and industry participants can come together, exchange ideas, and find a common purpose.”

Gazing into the future of investment platforms and how they could evolve, Mr Hansen said “getting the data right” is critical to providing multiple solutions to support advisers and integrated client experiences, and delivering real-time business and customer analytics to enable licensees to provide proactive compliance monitoring.

“It’s an evolution, not a destination,” Mr Hansen concluded.

To hear more from Greg Hansen about how investment platforms could use data and technology to attract the next generation of clients and meet changing customer preferences, come along to the ifa Future Forum 2022.

It will be held on Wednesday, 16 November at Montage in Sydney.

To register for free for the event, click here.

For more information, including agenda and speakers, click here.