by James Higgins 6 years ago
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Pursuing Digital Advice Solutions: Advisor decisions are strategic and technical, impacting many facets of their business. Most advisors surveyed are interested in blending both human and digital elements into one client solution. This combination of high-tech and high-touch is key to a successful offering. The following four steps are a roadmap to consider when integrating digital advice solutions.
Step 4: Create the Go-to-Market Plan: A compelling message to share with current and potential clients on the benefits of your digital offering will bolster interest.
Establish success metrics
Document your implementation plan
Define transition plan
Develop a marketing and business development plan
Create your messaging platform
Step 3: Determine How to Deliver
Develop a Fee Structure: A clearly articulated Value Proposition is critical in showcasing what clients will receive for the fees they pay - and the specific value that your firm provides above and beyond that of the technology solution.
3c. Review Policies & Procedures: How will your operations, regulatory responsibilities, and risk management strategy be impacted by your digital advice offering?
Know your client/ Fudiciary
Investment Review
Fraud and Cybersecurity
Record Keeping and Data Management
3b. Evaluate Resources Think through the entire offering to identify talent impacts – from hiring new resources to finding associates with a different skill sets.
3a. Select the Right Tech Solution: A succinct view of the experience to create, and the critical features and functions required can help set your firm up for success.
Step 2: Design the Offering
Identify Important Features
Offering Naming
Define Engagement Model: Considering investment and wealth management, outline delivery and UX. • Interaction in-person versus online? • How and when to communicate with digital advice clients? • Will clients interact with a call center or an advisor?
Online vault and interactive dashboard
Monthly eNewsletter with market commentary and personal finance articles
Mid-year virtual check-in via email, phone or online platform
Access to call center / service team
Annual meeting to review goals and needs – conducted in-person or virtually depending on client preference
Online acct. opening
Engaging website
Outline Products & Services: Design the offering to consider both the investment and wealth management provided
How will we segment our clients and price our services to offer a range of solutions that meet different client needs?
How will our offering be better or differentiated from that of the competition
What are we willing and prepared to offer to digital advice clients?
What do our target clients need?
Step 1: Lay the Foundation: competitive wealth management firm of the future will have figured out how to combine hightechwith high-touch service to deliver an optimal offer, at the right price point to the right client segment, while meeting the firm's profitability goals."
Identify Targets: Who is digital advice solutions targeting? New client type, or improving service for existing clients?
Do-it-yourself investors that may prefer limited interactions with an advisor.
Geographically dispersed clients who are comfortable with online interactions.
Adult children of clients who are poised to inherit wealth.
Wealthy, but have a portion of their assets or planning needs that could be managed with an online solution.
Have straightforward financial planning and investing needs, as well as minimal client service needs.
Tech-savvy and enjoy using online applications to manage their financial lives and track their goals any time, any place.
High-earning professionals with the potential to accumulate significant assets over time.
Younger, with investable assets below your required minimum, but could be served profitably with an online solution that has self-service options.
Specify goals: As with any significant project, defining your objectives clearly is paramount to success.
Efficiency-Oriented
Enable clients to have more online access to their accounts and be more hands-on
Simplify the investment / planning approach
Reduce the time spent with clients at inperson meetings or on the phone
Reduce the manual work performed by staff on operational tasks, like client reporting, rebalancing, and billing
Serve smaller accounts more efficiently and profitably
Growth-Oriented
Incorporate the latest technology to attract advisors to our firm
Create a new stream of revenue/line of business for a new group of target clients
Attract clients who don’t meet our minimums, but are well positioned to accumulate wealth
Diversify our client base by attracting younger clients or less affluent clients
Experience-Oriented
Enhance the tools that our advisors use to better serve clients
Upgrade our client experience by incorporating the latest technology
Meet or exceed the changing expectations of clients in our target market
Provide a modern experience for tech savvy investors
Actions to Consider
Position your firm to capture the intergenerational wealth transfer
Focus business development activities on younger investors.
Engage the adult children of your existing clients
Identify and create next generation owners who have the requisite skills to contribute to the growth of your firm.
If you are planning to pursue an internal succession, begin identifying and grooming next-generation owners at least five to seven years before your planned exit
Commit to developing talent. Identify the skills your team needs to develop, and provide a combination of additional professional experiences and training to help them reach their potential.
Invest the time to strategically manage your firm. Commit to long-range strategic planning that includes five- to 10-year goals. Further, use KPIs to help manage the fundamentals of your business.
Deepen your knowledge of drivers of firm valuation
High-Performing Firms are better positioned to help maximize firm value
5. Build deeper client relationships
4. Build stronger organizations.
3. More actively plan for succession.
2. Demonstrate stronger growth engines. H
1. Better understand what can drive firm valuation.
8. Client demographics: The demographics of your clients provides insight on account growth or depreciation over time, indicating your firm’s current stability and potentiality of future revenue.
7. Cost structure: External buyers will want to know the elements of your cost structure they can build on post-sale. Internal buyers will seek certainty about the cost structure's future direction to better predict cash flow.
6. Client experience: As your firm grows and matures, achieving scale may depend on your ability to develop a compelling organizational structure that increases value to customers and removes the client dependency on an individual advisor.
5. Capabilities: Having a deep and well-rounded set of competencies is essential to maximize firm potential.
4. Leadership: Your firm’s ability to build and execute strategic vision—to grow revenue and operate effectively—rests on the business acumen of a strong management.
3. Organization: Your firm is often only as valuable as the price investors are willing to pay for your advice. That boils down to the quality of your internal talent “human capital.” Talent is critical to attracting and retaining new clients and revenue sources.
2. Revenue growth and structure: Potential buyers will want to know the firm’s rev. growth potential and hist. growth rate. They'll also seek to understand whether your revenue structure is fee- or commission-based and whether fee-based advisors charge for additional services
1. Firm size: Your firm’s value is directly correlated to your size. As a firm grows, the ability to scale wealth management business—without being highly dependent on any one associate—increases
