The practical application of new technology in wealth management carries the potential to change the industry, with every second or dollar saved a signal of progress in serving clients.
In sessions at
Artificial intelligence will help financial advisors and the industry with that mission, according to Joseph, whose firm uses the technology to create virtual assistant tools for registered investment advisory and brokerage companies. An "experience and efficiency shift" powered by AI supporting advisors and clients will remove the thousands of manual tasks that create friction, she said in her presentation.
"Unless we shift the experience, we are not going to survive as an industry; unless we create a scalable industry, we are not going to survive as an industry," Joseph said. "Because of that, there is revenue loss. There is a lot of work that falls into the hands of advisors."
The industry's current state of
In an interview, he cited Charles Schwab for its discounted trading platform and embrace of the RIA movement, robo advisors like Wealthfront and Betterment for their automated portfolios, Robinhood for the user experience of its self-directed investing tool and Vanguard for putting its customers at the center in driving down mutual fund fees.
But the industry must coalesce in order to tap into the innovation benefits of a "
"We don't have a common operating system, so we're not getting any network effect," Wenk said. "Instead, we've got 50 solutions that all want to be the center of the universe."
As an increasing array of competitors among startups and incumbents seek the biggest share of the opportunity, advisors can look within their own firms for the solution to their growing list of duties amid greater demand for the highest level of service.
Practice management methods including personalized rundowns of accomplishments for the biggest clients, service-related email addresses that feed into multiple peoples' inboxes and the best use of customer relationship management technology make a huge difference, according to Phillips, whose Summit, New Jersey-based RIA has more than $3 billion in client assets.
In her session, she shared her views that "the most important thing an advisor can do right now is create capacity for themselves" and that "having a good CRM and using it effectively is the most important piece of a tech stack." Advisors should also explain their value to clients better, through frequent reinforcement and the knowledge that people are searching on the web for answers to practical financial questions rather than through industry jargon, she said.
"We are always in a time of great change and uncertainty," Phillips said. "People need and want advisors more than ever, but people don't know what advisors do. We talk to the consumer the way we talk to each other in our business."
Other research has shown
"This work that we do as an industry has the power to be so impactful, because the way that we communicate shapes behavior; behavior shapes our wealth creation; and wealth can change lives for generations to come," Crosby said. "Technology can be a powerful aid in that process."
