The simple fact is that differentiation in delivering advanced customer experience in the wealth management industry is becoming of paramount importance; the offering is niche and market needs are constantly changing.
Client onboarding is an obvious area for development. This was evident prior to COVID-19 with advisers needing to free themselves from the shackles of manual data input and paper processing. The goal is to make this process as flexible and frictionless as possible. Customers experiencing speed, ease, security and convenience during onboarding, are more likely to remain loyal, think positively of the brand and provide referrals so it is well worth doing.
Compliance within onboarding is also key. Depending on the policies in place, firms remain compliant, keeping up to date with regulatory changes (GDPR, MiFID II, etc.).
Indeed, online onboarding during COVID-19 has been a differentiator and has been valuable both in itself as a remote, digitised option as well as in terms of allowing the adviser more time to build a better and enhanced relationship with the customer – engaging fully in a time of so much uncertainty.
But onboarding is not the only area to benefit from technology. Digitising the customer journey -including the provision of the same ‘look and feel’ across users, while automating processes from onboarding to valuation and rebalancing -can contribute to a transformation that is easy to deploy and can offer great returns to the business.
During the COVID-19 lockdown, the ability to perform tasks remotely was fully proven and is now the new standard. We think that the flexibility to operate remotely is desirable as a new norm for wealth managers and clients alike. Both parties need to be able to carry on with their business and move to enjoy secure and compliant automation where possible in order to refocus time and addition on core functions and processes.
In most cases, the front-end systems perform this automation and therefore often receive greater attention. However, equally important is the ability of the back-end system to analyse and process information fast and accurately so as to complete complex or demanding operations with ease.
Simplification is a key driver, according to Capgemini’s Top 10 Trends in Wealth Management 2018. It said that customer experience revolves around key touch points, creating intuitive and easy-to-use features within complex investment management tools and offering seamless omni-channel portfolio management capabilities.
By combining a user-friendly, customisable and personalised front-end with a robust backend, firms usually accomplish better customer fulfilment as the information is instantly updated without the need for any manual processing to ensure validation of data.
What then can providers do to meet this need?
We think that cloud deployment is key. Clients benefit from a full-service environment that is scalable and always on. This was evidenced by the number of clients who moved to a full cloud service offering when COVID-19 hit. Indeed, many clients who had yet to deploy its full benefits were very keen to do so and appreciated being able to leverage the service and enjoy full service with no downtime at all during what was a troubling time of uncertainty.
Continual development is also key facet of a successful vendor. We seek to continually develop the offering and in particular adding in AI and machine learning tools where the investor can enter details and have them matched to those in the data base already and have that data added to the profile. It saves repetition and time. It also helps when it comes to suggesting investment ideas based on the entirety of the data that we hold on the client rather than what he or she has just entered into a questionnaire.
Continual development is also key facet of a successful vendor. We seek to continually develop the offering and in particular adding in AI and machine learning tools where the investor can enter details and have them matched to those in the data base already and have that data added to the profile. It saves repetition and time. It also helps when it comes to suggesting investment ideas based on the entirety of the data that we hold on the client rather than what he or she has just entered into a questionnaire.
Security and compliance is the third aspect. A secure system that is MiFID II-compliant and also takes into account local variations provides a level of comfort to wealth managers – most of whom deal with clients from multiple jurisdictions. Vendors able to provide advanced functionality that automates the on boarding process, as well as ensuring that customer data is protected, and the process is user-friendly are an attractive proposition for wealth managers.
Ultimately, investing in innovations that benefit the wealth manager and client alike not only contribute to the bottom line they are also future proofing a business. The risk of failure from not taking action is far greater than any risk associated with technological disruption as a result of new technology. Wealth managers know this and should look to take the appropriate steps to ensure client demand in terms of end clients and their internal wealth manager clients alike can be met.
Click here to access the full UK WealthTech Landscape Report 2020.
