Merrill readies advisors for their close ups with new virtual video studio: Wealthtech Weekly

February 15, 2023 6:59 PM

Merrill Video Pro made its debut this week with tools to create quick, compliant videos

In today's highly competitive, digital-first world, advisors are always looking for fresh ways to forge connections with clients and prospects.

But planners aren't just competing with other wealth managers for attention. They have to keep pace with the endless barrage of eye-catching and highly shareable content pushed to consumers with every refresh of the timeline.

In an effort to keep their advisors in the mix, Merrill is rolling out a suite of new tools to help planners tap into their inner content creators.

This week marked the launch of Merrill Video Pro, a virtual video studio for financial advisors to create clips and connect with clients and prospects at scale. Billed as a turnkey video creation tool, Video Pro provides access to a template library of topics to help advisors quickly craft compliant clips.

But don't worry about Thundering Herd advisors suddenly cranking out videos of them doing TikTok dances or reacting to bad mac & cheese recipes in real-time. Video Pro aims to arm planners with tools to create content focused on matters of retirement, saving, market difficulty and more.

"Video is an engaging medium for advisors to connect in a modern, simple way," Kirstin Hill, chief operating officer at Merrill Wealth Management, said in a statement. "The new tool is the latest example of how Merrill is modernizing the way advisors communicate with clients and connect with prospects."

To get the messaging just right, advisors can either personalize one of the nearly two dozen scripts already in Video Pro or start completely from scratch. Once their script is approved by compliance, advisors can get to work recording videos of up to a minute in length.

To make things easier for advisors not used to stepping in front of the camera, Video Pro also boasts tools like a scrolling teleprompter and support for selecting the right thumbnail.

Finished videos can be shared on advisor websites, social media, via e-mail and during virtual events. Video Pro content will also eventually be hosted on Merrill Advisor Match, a digital platform launched in October that connects people seeking financial advice with a Merrill financial advisor who best fits their preferences and needs.

The importance of connecting with clients and prospects online remains paramount for wealth managers, and video is an impact-maker on social media, according to the 2022 Social Selling Content Study from Hearsay Systems, which tracks the social media activities of more than 200,000 advisors and agents from 100 global financial services firms.

In its analysis of about 3.6 million social media posts from wealth managers, Hearsay found that Instagram posts that included a video were among the top three drivers of engagement, trailing only text posts on LinkedIn and text-only Facebook posts.

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.

Orion taps Docupace to improve workflow automation for advisors

Orion Portfolio Solutions Selects Docupace for Workflow Automation

Docupace Technologies, Inc.

California-based fintech Docupace is joining forces with Orion Portfolio Solutions to automate workflows for the latter's award-winning wealth management platform.

Docupace, a solutions provider focused on digitizing and automating operations in the financial advice and investment industry, leverages a cloud-based software suite to drive efficiency and reduce back-office expenses.

"Financial advisors and wealth management providers have worked so hard to deliver exceptional client experiences that any hiccup in back office execution impacts both their brand and their reputation," David Knoch, chief executive officer at Docupace, said in a statement. "It is an exciting opportunity for us to partner with another industry leader to delight financial advisors and their clients."

Automation and streamlined workflows are more important than ever. A recent study from Accenture found that 93% of executives surveyed expected to have optimized front-to-back process automation across internal and external partners by 2025, a 50% increase from where their operations stand today.

Orion Portfolio Solutions is an open architecture, turnkey asset management program managing $60 billion of wealth management platform assets.

"Orion is pleased to partner with Docupace for workflow automation as we relentlessly pursue transformative outcomes," Ryan Beach, president of Orion Wealth Management, said in a statement. "This is one more way Orion is creating a remarkable user experience as we integrate our robust wealthtech suite to help advisors manage their investments and grow their business."

For more about the work Docupace is doing, check out the conversation Knoch had with Financial Planning's Justin L. Mack at the 2022 Future Proof festival below.

Farther names Deglin Kenealy as chief operating officer

Farther Chief Operating Officer Deglin Kenealy

KRISTIN ANDERSON

This week, New York-based wealthtech firm Farther, which combines expert advisors and cutting-edge technology to deliver a personalized client experience, announced the addition of a financial services veteran to its executive team.

Deglin Kenealy is the firm's new chief operating officer.

Kenealy, a former executive at Fisher Investments, will recruit and lead Farther's advisor team as it looks to grow following a successful Series A funding round that brought in $15 million last year. The funding round, led by Bessemer Venture Partners, included Khosla Ventures and MassMutual Ventures as new investors.

At Fisher Investments, Kenealy increased recurring revenue from $10 million to over $180 million in less than a decade. He also previously served as CEO at Osborne Partners Capital Management.

"Deglin's vast experience and success in wealth management — including developing a high-growth sales and service model at Fisher — will help take Farther to the next level," Taylor Matthews, co-founder and CEO of Farther, said in a statement. "He will support our advisors in scaling their practices, while recruiting even more top talent to Farther."

"My passion is building and shaping businesses," Kenealy added. "I'm proud to join Farther's visionary leadership team, and I can't wait to apply my extensive experience and expertise scaling companies to grow this firm, as we work to revolutionize wealth management."