Usually when we hear about what’s happening at investment platforms on the technology front, we learn about new enhancements designed to help advice firms operate more speedily and efficiently.
That’s all well and good, because who wouldn’t want to do things better while saving time in the process-laden arena of financial advice and planning?
What’s often missing, however, is talk about life being improved for the people who ultimately pay for advisers using the platforms – the clients. The fact is, the right platform tech can play a crucial role for firms when they’re busy building and retaining trust with their clients.
We can easily lose sight of what clients want and most value when they pay for financial advice
To put it another way, a platform’s technology that lacks the ingredients to properly facilitate firms wishing to provide tip-top client service and support can cause a breakdown in that trust. No adviser relishes apologising to clients that less than stellar service is down to inadequate platform performance.
What do clients want?
In the hubbub of daily life at advisory businesses and platform providers, we can easily lose sight of what clients want and most value when they pay for financial advice. Yes, they want help to grow their wealth, they want access to appropriate investments, and they want to believe they’re on the right path to financial security in later life.
But most of all – and this is regularly verified in consumer research, including the lang cat’s advice gap survey – advised clients value peace of mind knowing there’s a safe pair of hands managing their money and constructing their financial future. And this peace of mind is rooted in trust.
As part of retaining trust in their adviser, clients expect to be kept informed about how their investments are faring, especially amid today’s turbulent financial markets. It’s obviously incumbent on advisers to provide accurate client reporting, at least yearly as well as on demand.
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This requires quite a lot of data to be pulled in from various sources and turned into meaningful reports that clients can understand. But the way client reporting is provided is as important as the facts and figures of investment performance.
This is where platform technology can and should step up to the plate, enabling advisers to utilise presentation techniques familiar to and desired by increasingly digital-savvy people.
It’s certainly feasible to reimagine and re-engineer how client valuations are shown, including investment gains at client, account and portfolio levels. And consolidating all key data within one easy-to-use interface, with the goal of simplifying the reporting process and streamlining the number of systems required to perform this successfully.
Everything client-facing, all at once
I have in mind an online reporting suite that acts as a single source of truth for both clients and advisers, showcasing the latest data and analytics in a modern, digital-first format. This would be real-time, client-friendly information that is automatically fed through from the cogs and wheels operating under the bonnet of the platform.
The latest technology is fully capable of doing this, if it’s applied properly by a platform provider with technical wherewithal in situ, and which is willing to devote itself to making this a reality for advice firm partners.
The way client reporting is provided is as important as the facts and figures of investment performance
With this highly visual and paper-free facility in place, advisers can empower their clients to gain a good solid understanding of their present state of play, at any moment. Client-adviser interactions are enriched when reporting screens can be shared, in-person or remotely, with the specific purpose of delivering faster, smarter access to the data that interests clients.
In tune with shifting client priorities
I’m aware that more people now want a better grasp of where their money is being invested, beyond merely checking the changes in their investment values.
Instead of struggling to gather relevant information from various pipelines to satisfactorily address a client’s probing questions, an adviser using a one-stop reporting suite can devote their time to direct communication with the client, thus reinforcing their trusted relationship.
I’m hardly being radical by asserting it’s the platform’s job to put the necessary legwork into giving advisers this intuitive functionality and broad capability, deploying tech advancements that centre on the client’s needs for understandable information.
After all, this lies at the heart of regulatory obligations in 2025.
Russell Lancaster is managing director, platform and intermediary partnerships, at 7IM
