1 15
1 15
As part of WealthManagement.com's second annual awards program, executives from some of the leading WealthTech companies participated in a roundtable discussion on the future of the industry. Though some build competing products and have different outlooks, most agreed on a core consensus: the future is not total automated advice, but human advisors using an integrated suite of technology tools to do their jobs better, more efficiently, and at a greater scale. The moderators, Tim Welsh and Darrin Courtney, asked for their insight on a number of issues facing their firms, from robo advice to big data to cyber security. Here are 14 of the best ideas to come from the panel.
"The goal for the future is consolidation of reporting. Clients need a single place to see a 360 view of their wealth."
"Frequent video interactions of shorter periods with AI powered advisors will likely replace annual reviews and quarterly check-ins, as goal-based plans become real-time living roadmaps."
"The future is for tools that clients can use to see how well they are doing on retirement goals, or any goals, assess the situation and then dive deeper with their financial advisor to work on a more comprehensive plan."
"We’re never really done [with integration]. The next major challenge is figuring out how to master the service layer. This is an industry where you can’t build a one-size-fits-all [solution]. Integration seems to fit with the style of the business."
"Now it’s about a unified user experience, but beyond that we get to a point of how we are starting to use artificial intelligence. How are we using natural language processing? How are we using truly smart workflows?"
"Most of us are trying to solve a problem for the advisor. If you really think about the consumer and what their problems are, we’re still quite far. We’re missing what they are looking for."
"If technology moves towards giving advice, it moves under fiduciary rules and a whole new set of things to deal with. Right now, tech doesn’t cross that line... Robo advisors won’t be there to compete with advisors in five years. Watson won’t be there in five years. Even if technology evolves very rapidly, there’s a reason why people want to get things from a human being and not an algorithm."
"I’m not a pro-robo guy. There are things you can’t capture in that model… But the truth is that there’s a ton of people out there that are self-directed and maybe sitting on a ton of cash. Being invested is better than not being invested. If robos can help a certain segment of people get invested and stay invested, it’s a good thing."
"The human advisor is something worth betting on, pretty deep into the future. … The business model of the future is a human advisor being much more efficient and being able to shift their focus from the transaction to being a fiduciary."
"Advisors used to the old-fashioned way are going to start feeling left behind… One nice thing to change is to be more open and able to better share data."
"[There is] a core assumption that millennials will drive technology adoption, but the reality is everyone here uses their phones or iPads to check their accounts."
"[With cybersecurity], It's not just about us. Integration is the weakest link, and it raises the table stakes and cost of entry for being in the fintech game... Data in transit, data at rest, and is it safe when it gets to some other destination?"
"With complexity comes more threats to security."
"Companies need to be able to demonstrate that sensitive information, which is now stored in the cloud, is in a secure environment, and in that area American firms are lagging behind their European counterparts."
"Wealth firms are naive if they don't think clients will expect the same level of simplicity, ease and efficiency they receive from other industry interactions, such as with Google or Amazon. If the regulatory burden wasn't so onerous, these types of firms could be a significant threat in the near future. Tech firms have to deliver something simple to use but secure and complex behind the scenes."
![](https://www.wealthmanagement.com/sites/wealthmanagement.com/files/styles/gal_landscape_main_2_standard/public/gallery_images/_PEN7656_0.jpg?itok=vsWQ9ma5)