Way before the outbreak of coronavirus, many professionals within the financial advice and wealth management sectors believed technology to be the answer to all – or at least many – of the issues the industry was facing.
But amid global lockdowns, social distancing measures and a complete overhaul of ‘business as usual’; the believers have been proven right.
From video conference calls, to electronic signatures, to augmented investment platforms – the majority of adviser and wealth manager tasks are enabled by clouds, software or apps of some sort.
But not all have inspired great confidence – for instance, video conferencing app Zoom faced massive backlash from the financial services industry when security loopholes were exposed and calls infiltrated.
Given the data protection, compliance and privacy requirements financial advisers face – and the plethora of options they can choose from – International Adviser spoke with firms and providers across Europe to find out what’s hot and what’s not.
Not-so-temporary solutions
Deutsche Bank Wealth Management (DB WM) started offering a ‘replay’ option to let clients re-listen to investment advice calls, which has proven successful considering different time zones and lockdown measures across the globe.
A spokesperson for the firm said: “As soon as it was clear that covid was spreading beyond China, DB WM started to actively inform its clients and offered weekly investment advice calls with replay option for clients across different time zones.
“Additionally, it posted related FAQs on its website, offering the functionality to submit questions, as it started discussing the world after covid.”
While many of the measures have been put in place specifically because of the pandemic, some tools may be here to stay, the wealth management arm said.
The spokesperson continued: “Next to engaging with clients in a bilateral context via virtual facilities, the chief investment officer also opened up to broader virtual expert forums, a format the bank is keen on maintaining in combination with physical meetings also after the covid crisis to further capitalise on the benefits of the global CIO platform that’s anchored regionally.”
Don’t forget internal channels
But communication had to evolve not only for clients but for colleagues as well.
The DB WM spokesperson added: “Relationship managers (RM) have been able to connect with their clients bilaterally via video conferencing facilities. The tools all met the highest security and regulatory standards and have been greatly appreciated by both parties for running stably and establishing a sense of proximity.
“RMs, like every other member of staff, benefitted from the same tools to have internal exchanges and get aligned in their daily work, but also to look out for one another and maintain a sense of community,” the spokesperson added.
Duncan MacIntyre, UK chief executive at Lombard Odier, agrees with DB WM, as clear and easy internal communication has become more important than ever.
He said: “Having our own technology platform has been critical in enabling Lombard Odier to maintain business continuity during the coronavirus pandemic. We use the My LO interface to share daily investment updates with clients, send banking correspondence and maintain up-to-date information on the evolution of their portfolios.
“The ability to communicate easily with the bank is highly appreciated by our clients, but internal communication with colleagues is also critical and we have daily team calls, as well as informal weekly video catch-ups,” he added.
No time to stall
From the technology side of things, financial advisers and wealth managers have relied on providers to maintain and boost their services, considering the brusque transition to remote working, which happened virtually overnight.
Andy Reeves, chief risk officer at BNY Mellon’s Pershing, said: “This crisis and in particular the speed at which it accelerated, has forced firms at all levels to exploit their existing technology as much as possible.
“This period was unique; an industry-wide business continuity invocation overlaid with a period of severe market volatility, during this transition to remote working.
“Good communication is the key to effective crisis management, especially in the early stages. Our wealth management clients needed to know that we would continue to provide the trading, clearing and settlement services, effectively the infrastructure they depend on, as they too moved to remote working.
“The speed of the situation forced a steep learning curve in terms of exploiting existing collaboration technology to the maximum – there was no time to take on a new vendor – the key was maximising what you have to manage the situation.”
Silver lining
But Reeves argues that there is something to learn from the chaos that the pandemic brought about.
He continued: “One benefit from this period is firms will have a much deeper understanding of the capabilities – and limitations – of their existing collaboration technology which will provide benefit long after this crisis has passed.
“For example, wealth managers that had secure investor portals with document management systems in place were in a better position to maintain services, such as investor reporting for their clients.”
Good old trusted video calls
Of course, the main means of communication has now become video conference calls – whether it is to virtually meet with clients, co-workers or just to attend an online pub quiz.
That is because they still keep the ‘face-to-face’ aspect of financial advice, even if it comes through a screen or display.
Jason Bolton, director at Beaufort Financial (Three Counties), said: “Video calling applications like Facetime, WhatsApp video and WebEx have, of course, been invaluable whilst working from home.
“All of them allow advisers to maintain a degree of the usual face-to-face contact, and Zoom’s additional screen-sharing feature is particularly useful. It enables us to talk through documents much as we would at a physical meeting.”
Not all are tech savvy
But differing needs and technological skills also mean finding different ways to contact clients, Bolton added.
“Some clients, often older and less familiar with tech, have preferred the telephone as a primary means of communication. And although this has allowed us to keep in touch, it has also presented its challenges.
“For instance, we’ve needed to postpone review meetings where it simply isn’t feasible to talk through certain graphs and charts without a visual element.”
There is more to financial advice than video calls, however, as planners have had to resort to different applications and software for most of their daily tasks.
Bolton continued: “The cash-flow modelling software, CashCalc, has also worked well throughout this period. It provides a live representation of a client’s progress towards their financial goals, showing how factors such as market movements could impact their journey.
“By using a screen-sharing facility to enhance the client experience you can take them through a range of scenarios, making their financial decisions specific to their needs,” he added.
