Using the right tech solutions could save advisers up to 45 days a year so they can focus on attracting more clients or bolstering their practice, a fintech head said.
Ahead of the Adviser Innovation Summit 2023, platinum partner AstuteWheel’s managing director, Hans Egger, said there are three things advisers want from new technology.
These include improving their client experience, improving efficiencies in their business, and being easy to use and implement in their practice.
“A better client experience should be easy to use, logical, and educational for the client,” Mr Egger said.
“Many advisers I speak to love the idea of a client portal for the obvious benefits in cyber security and efficiency in gathering client information, but they’re very concerned about the client experience.”
As such, he encouraged advisers to use client portals and modelling calculators to show clients how a particular strategy could improve their situation and the value of regular reviews to ensure they remain on track.
Moreover, the right technological solutions could also improve efficiencies in the business by freeing up an adviser’s time, Mr Egger suggested.
“If an adviser can save two to three hours in each client review or initial meeting and they have 120 clients, then this equates to 30 to 45 days each year that are freed up across the business to either take on more clients or work on further business improvements,” he said.
“If an adviser is currently using a paper-based process for their client meetings, they could easily gain these benefits and provide a better review service to their clients by using the right tech solutions in their practice.”
Online and in-person training resources
Advisers should provide online and in-person training resources for their staff to use technology, especially in the early stages of implementation, Mr Egger recommended.
Technological tools should also be flexible enough to make incremental changes, he said, observing that some aspects of new tools may be more difficult to implement than others, while other features may not be beneficial for a practice altogether.
“A software solution that provides flexibility in this way will be much easier for a practice to implement and will get less push back from staff and clients,” Mr Egger said.
His comments preceded the Adviser Innovation Summit 2023, which AstuteWheel will be supporting as a platinum partner.
While the fintech has partnered with the summit since inception, this is the second time it has signed on as a platinum partner.
“The reason we’ve continued to support the summit is because we feel that the kind of advisers who attend are those looking beyond their dealer group for new ideas about how to improve their businesses,” Mr Egger said.
“Advisers attending the summit will have a day full of interesting new ideas and industry insights to broaden their knowledge and get them thinking about how they can improve their business and the next trends in the industry they should be preparing for.”
To hear more about how to choose a deliberate tech stack that works for your practice and how to attract younger clients, come along to the Adviser Innovation Summit 2023.
It will be held on 8 June at The Great Hall, University of Technology Sydney, and 15 June at the Grand Hyatt, Melbourne.
