Majority of firms consider digital transformation their top strategic priority

January 25, 2023 7:29 PM

Much like the willingness to spend exhibited in Financial Planning's most recent tech survey, a new study from Broadridge Financial Solutions finds that most firms are still ready to make it rain when it comes to fintech.

Broadridge's 2023 Digital Transformation and Next-Gen Tech study finds that 57% of financial services firms agree that digital transformation is currently the most important strategic initiative for their company, and agree that falling behind will hurt their ability to attract and retain talent.

And economic difficulties aside, organizations are also accelerating their funding of digital transformation initiatives as they anticipate further wide-scale adoption of new and more powerful technology. Firms now spend around 27% of their overall IT budgets on digital transformation compared to just 11% last year, according to the study.

Beyond a belief that they need to transform, the study looks at what kind of technologies are seen as the biggest change drivers.

Practice and client management

Betting big on tech to future-proof wealth management

April 27, 2022 11:47 AM

Seventy-one percent of the 500 C-suite executives and their direct reports that took part in the study say artificial intelligence has significantly altered how they work, and Broadridge officials say more change is coming as AI's capabilities expand.

The study argues that established financial firms face challenges from new "digitally native" entrants to the market not weighed down by "legacy systems or outdated thinking." Digital natives are defined as robo-advisors, digital wealth management firms, online banks and online brokers established in the last 15 years and not part of an incumbent firm.

"A new chapter in digital transformation is emerging," Tim Gokey, CEO of Broadridge, said in a statement. "In our work with clients across the financial services industry, we see leading firms are already reaping the benefits from digitalization and the use of technologies such as AI and blockchain/DLT, as they adapt to economic headwinds and new competitive dynamics.

"Firms are now looking ahead to what their customers will require five to 10 years from now and how technology can help them to deliver that vision."

Other study highlights include 60% of respondents agreeing that within 10 years, blockchain and distributed ledger technology will become the core of financial markets infrastructure. And 80% of survey respondents say the industry will have modernized its tech stack before we land a human on Mars, a major technology feat currently estimated to happen by the early 2030s, according to the study.

Respondents also expect more nascent technologies to make big progress. Firms classified as leaders plan to increase investment in quantum computing by 16% on average over the next two years; but firms are only increasing investments in the metaverse by 5% on average, indicating more of a "wait-and-see" approach before committing funds.

Scroll down to get caught up on other recent fintech news you might have missed in our Wealthtech Weekly recap. And check out the previous edition here.

Cetera partners with Asset-Map to roll out visualized financial planning tools

Philadelphia-based fintech firm Asset-Map has a new partner that is growing larger by the day.

On Tuesday, the software developer announced a partnership with Cetera to bring its visualized financial planning and advice-led solutions to the organization's 8,000 independent financial professionals.

The very next day, Cetera Financial Group agreed to acquire the retail wealth management business of Securian Financial Group, meaning an additional 1,000 financial advisors managing $47.4 billion in client assets and $24.8 billion in advisory assets across 30 independent offices will soon be able to benefit from the collaboration.

"We are excited to start this endeavor with Cetera and support their deep commitment to their members' advice delivery experience," H. Adam Holt, CEO of Asset-Map, said in a statement. "Delivering financial guidance for households today requires both technology facilitation and human intelligence. The combination of Cetera's experienced financial professionals with the Asset-Map Platform sets up an unparalleled opportunity to support their clients' financial journey."

Mark Lyons, an advisor at the Cetera-affiliated Millennium Financial Group, praised Asset-Map and its reports that visualize all of a household's finances in a clear graphical layout, allowing advisors to give advice in real time.

"Asset-Map helps our firm identify and uncover assets held elsewhere in the clearest and most approachable way I've ever used," Lyons said. "The Stencils feature provides our team with a simple and quick way to ask about different types of our client's accounts."

Cetera's financial advisors are spread across four different brokerages, including an existing one that folded into Cetera Advisors last year, First Allied Securities. With annual revenue of $2.47 billion, Cetera is the No. 5 firm in the independent brokerage channel behind only Raymond James Financial Services, Advisor Group, Ameriprise and LPL Financial.

Wealthbox CRM expands leadership team

Wealthbox, the popular customer relationship management platform for financial advisors, is adding a trio of industry veterans to its leadership team.

The Providence, Rhode Island-based company this week welcomed Erin Bickford as vice president of marketing, Shawn Preisler as senior vice president of revenue and Mike Leone as vice president of engineering.

Officials said Wealthbox has recently doubled its employee count to accommodate high demand from retail and enterprise segments of the wealthtech market for its CRM technology. As a result, adding experienced leadership to help manage Wealthbox's growth has become a top priority for the organization in 2023.

"We sought to round out our management team following our Series B financing last year, and we're delighted to bring these talented professionals aboard," John Rourke, CEO of Wealthbox, said in a statement. "These key individuals will complement the Wealthbox team and help us scale our marketing programs, revenue operations and engineering practices significantly."

Bickford joins Wealthbox from Global Payments, via its $500 million acquisition of MineralTree, where she served as director of demand generation. Bickford will be responsible for growing the company's demand generation program for scalability and continue to elevate the Wealthbox brand.

Preisler comes to Wealthbox from Riskalyze where he was vice president of sales. In his new role, he will focus on growing existing business, identifying new business opportunities, developing partnerships and execution of all revenue-generating efforts.

Leone joins Wealthbox from Wealthbase, the simulated stock-trading app, where he served as vice president of engineering. As VP of engineering at Wealthbox, he will oversee all software development projects, scaling and managing the company's growing engineering team.

Advisor360° adds new insurance capabilities on policy riders

Fresh off closing its first ever M&A deal, Weston, Massachusetts-based wealth management technology firm Advisor360° is upgrading its insurance capabilities.

Platform improvements announced this week have made it easier for financial advisors to view the policy riders that are attached to their clients' in-force insurance policies.

Suzanne Bohs, vice president of product management for Advisor360°, said making insurance rider information easily and seamlessly accessible gives advisors a more complete picture of their clients' financial lives and can plan accordingly.

"Riders contain important policy information that advisors need to know about their clients' financial lives — for example, are there any income guarantees or possibilities to convert coverage?" Bohs said in a statement. "Our latest upgrade enables advisors to gather data and get answers in real time without having to dig for details, which can delay or derail the planning process by causing inefficiency in advisors' or agents' preparation."