Despite the array of online tools available to wealth management advisors, there is no integrated solution to meet their needs, according to a new report from US consultants Spectrem Group and Destiny.
According to the report, 'Online Tools for Advisors: Meeting the Needs of Wealth Management', the number of Internet-based financial advisory tools is expanding rapidly and technology providers have now begun to focus on specific, generally narrow aspects of advisor needs. However, to date, no single provider offers a holistic solution that incorporates all of the capabilities demanded by financial advisors.
Surya Kolluri, vice president, strategy for Destiny and co-author of the report, says: "Although advisors have a clear vision for the information they want to share with customers and plenty of online tools, we found that the tools are not integrated, processes are fragmented and data is trapped in organisational and technological silos...This makes it nearly impossible for advisors to easily pull together information and analysis for their clients."
The report also points to a lack of universal internal agreement regarding the critical needs and requirements for advisors to be effective with their clients, how to implement the solutions broadly within the organisations and how to implement the solutions in a staged and iterative manner.
The consulting firms surveyed 25 advisors in the US wealth management industry and interviewed 30 firms that have developed various online tools and capabilities for financial advisors.