Based within the DIFC, we are a regulated offshore entity with a client base that is predominantly expatriates. We have found that the Covid-19-related acceptance of technology and digital tools has helped us form much better and deeper relationships with our clients, leading to more frequent engagement over a broader range of services.

Widening and deepening relationships is particularly important with a client base predominantly made up of expatriates. We have many cross-border clients with complex taxation needs and assets held in multiple jurisdictions and currencies. On top of that, there is also the need to consider that clients might be earning in Dirham, but their pensions or other commitments might need servicing in other currencies. And although the Dirham is pegged to the US Dollar, currency fluctuation is a consideration too.

Add to that structuring and the tax and legal advice that is an integral part of the service; plus the need to offer access to strategic partners for other services such as property, leverage, foundations and family investment companies, philanthropy, insurance, property management, taxation, concierge services, and more. The result is a proposition that is truly whole of life and holistic. Because of the broad range of services on offer, the need is to provide a service that is as bespoke and individualised as possible. For that, the adviser and their relationship with the client is crucial.

No surprise then, that we regard cultural changes vis-à-vis the use of technology during the pandemic as something to be welcomed and encouraged. The days of the quarterly meeting are long gone. Meetings over Zoom or Teams are easy and more appropriate for servicing internationally-mobile CEOs who are not always physically present in Dubai.

Indeed, the ability to use digital for virtual meetings was there long before Covid-19, but the traction it gained during the pandemic was irreversible and is now very much the norm!

The other progression that Covid-19 brought was the use of digital signatures. This has made life so much easier on a practical basis. With an internationally-mobile and busy client base we need to be able to transact and execute as quickly as possible. It makes for swift changes in portfolio allocation to be possible and for us to execute at the price we have quoted to the client. The risk of the markets having moved to the client’s detriment by the time we can get a signature is much reduced.

We were concerned that digital signatures might be short-lived after the pandemic, but this has not happened. The need for signed and scanned paper documents has now largely been removed.

But technological advancement has not been limited to remote meetings and digital signatures. Indeed, we are finding generally that clients of all shapes and sizes now demand online access not just to their adviser, but also to their investments and holdings. The digital fact find and portfolio summary that we created has been very well received by all.

To enable a deeper view, we have formed links with all our external platforms and providers for the real-time feeding of data and other information onto our app. We then have an aggregation capability so that our clients can see, at any time, their net assets across the entirety of their holdings. This is something we see coming to the fore as our clients, being expatriates and internationals by default, tend to have holdings in not just one place, but with more than one provider. Being able to bring it all together under the holistic planning and advice umbrella we are offering is one way to differentiate on service.

Our adoption of technology has been enthusiastic, and we think we have adapted well to the needs and demands of our clients to offer them a service that stands out. Our overall aim is to make the client journey as smooth as possible, and we are driven to make this a reality - and thus drive forwards the client experience.

Indeed, the balance between human and technology is everything in our business. Technology plays a fundamentally important role in supporting the main feature - the adviser - in terms of all the administrative work, the communication, and the general ease of dealing with us.

We need only to look at the popularity of the robo-advisory model to see how effective technology is in smoothing out processes and making life easier for the end user. But we always reiterate that once we get up the wealth scale and have complex, cross-border affairs to consider, the role of the human, the adviser, becomes of paramount importance.

The trick with technology, therefore, is to make dealing with the adviser as smooth and as easy as dealing with a robos. That way, we add value and provide a positive experience that engages our clients with us.

When we look to the future, we see that a client segment of a certain size will move entirely to digital and self-service, perhaps sourcing their own risk profiles and being largely responsible for their own affairs. They will have relatively simple affairs and thus will not see the value in paying for an adviser. But that changes once we start to get up the wealth scale and add in complexities, as we see with our expatriate and cross-border clientele, the role of the adviser is essential. The adviser ensures everything is considered and that structuring and taxation issues are handled as cleanly as possible around the client’s investment and other financial affairs. For the expatriate community, at least, the value of this human expertise and contact will be retained, and the role of technology is to amplify the effectiveness of the human.

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