{"id":2838,"date":"2021-10-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-05T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iafp.ca\/planners\/blog\/2021\/10\/05\/the-future-is-now-for-wealth-firms\/"},"modified":"2021-10-05T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-10-05T04:00:00","slug":"the-future-is-now-for-wealth-firms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iafp.ca\/planners\/articles\/2021\/10\/05\/the-future-is-now-for-wealth-firms\/","title":{"rendered":"The future is now for wealth firms"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cMake no mistake about it, digital is here to stay,\u201d says Pascal WealthTech\u2019s Howard Atkinson.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Digital transformation in wealth management has been discussed for quite some time, yet firms and advisors still have work to do.<\/p>\n

Howard Atkinson, CEO of Toronto-based Pascal WealthTech, says it\u2019s imperative for advisors to adopt a digital strategy for their businesses \u2014 if they want to keep those businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cMake no mistake about it, digital is here to stay,\u201d said Atkinson in a presentation earlier this week for the Institute of Advanced Financial Planners\u2019 (IAFP) 2021 virtual symposium. \u201cYou either adopt a digital strategy for your practice, or you won\u2019t have a practice in the future.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In his presentation, Atkinson highlighted a CFA Institute study that revealed two thirds (66%) of investors trusted their investment firm more because of increased technology use. Further, he said a Roubini Thoughtlab survey found that 82% of investors said it was important for their investment advisor to stay at the forefront of technology.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, according to the Next-Gen Technology Adoption Survey 2021<\/a>, innovation in wealth management was among the least-advanced in financial services.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are several challenges for both advisors and wealth management firms when it comes to incorporating a digital strategy, Atkinson said. For example, many are still using fragmented or legacy technology, plus time-consuming, paper-based processes and poor data entry practices.<\/p>\n

Atkinson also discussed the increase of competition outside of traditional financial services. \u201cNot only is the competition getting more sophisticated, but now there are new competitors,\u201d he said, pointing to how Amazon launched a wealth management program in India this year.<\/p>\n

For the wealth firms that have started investing more in technology, there are significant gains to be made. However, Atkinson said they must first understand the difference between a digital tool and strategy.<\/p>\n

While a digital tool is a single application that often performs one function, including e-signature or video conferencing for example, a digital strategy takes into account the entirety of an advisor\u2019s practice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c[A digital strategy] includes both the advisor and the client experience,\u201d said Atkinson. \u201cIt\u2019s transforming the way we interact with one another.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Atkinson, clients who are leaving advisors aren\u2019t doing so because of portfolio performance; they are leaving advisors because they aren\u2019t getting the experiences they require. At the same time, there are advisors leaving firms because they don\u2019t have the technology necessary for success.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While we are still in the \u201cearly innings\u201d of the digital transformation in wealth management, he forecast that it\u2019s a trend that will continue through the coming decade. And the good news is \u201chaving a digital strategy can help you respond faster to the change that is happening in our society,\u201d Atkinson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

This article was written by Maddie Johnson, and first published in Investment Executive, September 24, 2021<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In his presentation, Atkinson highlighted a CFA Institute study that revealed two thirds (66%) of investors trusted their investment firm more because of increased technology use. Further, he said a Roubini Thoughtlab survey found that 82% of investors said it was important for their investment advisor to stay at the forefront of technology.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2839,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iafp.ca\/planners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2838"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iafp.ca\/planners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iafp.ca\/planners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iafp.ca\/planners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iafp.ca\/planners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.iafp.ca\/planners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2838\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iafp.ca\/planners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iafp.ca\/planners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iafp.ca\/planners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iafp.ca\/planners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}