2024 has been, and will continue to be, the year of the advisor. Over the past decade, wealth management organizations have increasingly focused on the integration and alignment of technology applications, with the goal of creating a consistent, holistic experience for advisors and their clients. This trend has only increased this year, with advisory practices continuing to seek out solutions and support that enable “Connected Wealth” — a model whereby advisors can identify, and communicate the impact of, any development on a client’s overall portfolio and financial well-being. Simple descriptions such as “This bond is about to pay a dividend,” “This stock is about to split,” or “This bond is about to mature,” are no longer sufficient for meeting the expectations of today’s clients. Advisors need to be able to explain how news and events affect clients’ wealth, clearly communicate these factors, and discuss any next steps they need to consider.
Elevated client expectations for more valuable products, faster and more accurate reporting, and hyper-personalized advice are continuing to re-shape the landscape of contemporary wealth management. In the second half of 2024 and beyond, wealth management enterprises will continue to look to support their advisors in ways that more effectively allow them to navigate this new terrain. Big Data and artificial intelligence (AI) are integral to that support because they accelerate and automate processes that have historically been manual and time-consuming.
Connected Data is a key driver of Connected Wealth, because it enables frictionless, end-to-end wealth management experiences and services. For example, Big Data, when curated with contextual variables, can allow advisors to visualize — in near real time — alternative scenarios for more complex portfolios that they can discuss with clients.
Advisors need to ensure their technology stacks possess a data infrastructure that extends into, and connects, all areas of their practices. This is what facilitates a truly hyper-personalized client experience, with data from multiple services (from clients and issuers to regulators) accompanying every single transaction. A Connected Data infrastructure enables advisors’ intraday data to remain consistent throughout an advisory practice, from client touchpoints to books and records — and also ensures data integrity by preventing data from being discarded simply because a certain aspect of a workflow algorithm does not need it.
A platform that delivers Connected Wealth, using Connected Data, can deliver fresh data from every investment and transaction in near real time as it materializes. But crucially, beyond that, it can also provide the context advisors need to use that data to address client concerns as they arise, explain the impact of transactions and market developments on portfolios, and offer personalized advice in an easily digestible form.
As it stands now, most enterprises in the wealth management industry will continue to need assistance with facilitating near-real-time data aggregation and delivery. Going forward into the second half of 2024 and beyond, advisory practices will need to remain focused on forging partnerships with technology providers offering secure, connected data infrastructure that streamlines processes, reduces costs, and creates revenue opportunities.