Globalisation is an emerging theme in the Australian advice and wealth management space, according to a new report reviewing the developments in technology used by financial advisers to deliver advice.
Research firm Investment Trends’ 2020 Advice Technology Benchmark Report also highlights that Best Interest Duty requirements have encouraged a more digitised and client-focused planning process; and that ASIC’s expectations that the ‘client voice’ be explicitly present in advice documents has triggered significant investment in development in the technology used by financial advisers.
Investment Trends says that in the first edition of the Advice Tech Benchmark Report, it has assigned Awards for Excellence to commend providers that stood out. The outstanding advice tech provider in the category, Best Client Discovery Application is AstuteWheel.
Ian Webster…local advice tech developers are focused on lifting practice efficiency and anticipating future changes to advice delivery models… It says the research is covering the features/functionality used to support the advice delivery process, spanning 32 sub-categories across 740 criteria.
He adds that now, more than ever, advice firms have access to an array of globally available, low-cost digital services to manage their client relationships and augment their advice production applications.
The company notes that Australian advice regulation enforces this global shift in approaches to financial advice services – placing the needs and objectives of the client at the centre of attention.
“ASIC is becoming more involved in providing explicit regulatory guidance on [its] expectations for meeting Best Interest and FASEA requirements. This has increasingly turned advisers away from a product selection/replacement mindset towards a more client-centric view, centred around client discovery, strategic goal-based advice and cashflow modelling,” says Webster.
He adds that the regulator’s expectations that the ‘client voice’ be explicitly present in advice documents has prompted advice tech providers to invest significantly in developing the client discovery process.
“Notable improvements to the client discovery process range from dynamic and modular fact-find applications, to support for a discovery process that produces a strategy and scope paper that encapsulates the service that will be provided to the client,” he says.
Note – This is an abridged version to read the full article click here…
https://riskinfo.com.au/news/2021/04/30/advice-technology-experiencing-rapid-disruption
