Advisors call for specific tech additions
That specificity was perhaps most clear on the technology stack responses in the survey. Allen notes that the respondents identified specific areas where they want to see their dealers add to their tech stacks, namely in the integration of generative AI. Ease of use and interoperability were also identified as areas of opportunity. Allen notes that having a tech stack is one thing, but ensuring that the various elements of that stack can talk to each other and operate seamlessly in line with an advisor’s workflow is a significantly more advantageous arrangement. He notes that many legacy systems advisory firms operate with lack that interoperability, and that meeting modern standards requires a more wholesale overhaul.
Allen cites the example of his own firm, which invested $300 million in their tech stack with the explicit goal of creating something comprehensive and connected. That involved integrating their CRM, on Salesforce Financial Services, and Conquest as their financial planning software. The digital forms and compliance functions were integrated into the CRM and advisors were given access to marketing portals and investment analysis applications. They added technology on the evolving estate planning side of the business, too, which their firm identified as an area of growing demand. Allen also notes that the implementation was done in consultation with an advisory group, ensuring that user feedback drove the use of the technology. He says that this kind of investment is a necessity in any firm’s tech stack, because they’re being judged against the apps that their advisors use in every other aspect of their lives on a daily basis.
“The benchmark that people use today for ease of use is not just their financial planning and work applications. It’s everything we do in life. How I order a car service on Uber, how I order food through Skip the Dishes, how I book an airline ticket or something for travel. I can do it on my own time, when I want, where I want, full transparency of where I am in the transaction and notifications along the way,” Allen says.
The dealer’s role in the fight for HNW clients
When advisors initially call attention to a lack of support in attracting high net worth clients, there may be a temptation on the dealer’s part to put that onus back on the advisor, whose role it is to connect with and serve those clients. While Allen notes that the advisor bears the core responsibility for that trusted relationship, he emphasizes the importance of dealer investments that support those relationships.
Allen notes that many tactile elements of the client’s relationship with their advisor are in the hands of the dealer. Those include investment portals, communications tools, reporting quality, and the speed with which requests are executed. Given the complexity that comes with high net worth clients, Allen thinks that this expectation that dealers provide adequate infrastructure and service quality is reasonable. He doesn’t think advisors want their firms to just rent them a conference room and put 200 prospects in there for them, he believes they’re calling for improvements in the little things that clients notice.
