Advisers demand platforms to deliver big in 2022

BARRIE VAN ZYL Head of Account Management at Iress

Technology has become the not-so secret weapon for any financial adviser, as digital tools consolidate data to forecast and plan for the inevitable, as well as connect and engage and automate administrative tasks. Independent Financial Advisers (IFA) are looking at technological solutions to build a scalable practice and provide excellent client service while managing clients’ diverse portfolios in the most profitable way. You need to be a superhero with multiple digital and traditional superpowers for your clients. If this sounds familiar, then get ready to unleash these three digital powers in 2022:

Automation adds the ka-pow

It’s all in a day’s work to make every client shine, be financially fit, money-wise and make good economic decisions to become profitable, secure and stable to live comfortable lives. The good news is that your software sidekick can go with the workflow and automate those everyday tasks, including client fact finds, review processes, revenue management, compliance and service personalisation. It’s time your technology took one for the team to improve processes. Xplan users are saving time with pre-sale compliance checks, postsale case checking, pipeline processes, and that’s only the start.

Zap tasks using the power of collaboration

“Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane!” No, actually it’s super platforms that provide ease and collaboration for your business. Ideally, your software solution should be like a super vehicle that hosts several tools and features that makes things easier to boost collaboration within the practice and provide supersonic service to clients – making everyone’s worlds more integrated and easier to navigate. We’re talking digital portals, video conferencing, digital signatures, and decentralised services to run a nationwide practice with employees working remotely across the globe, but still able to function productively and, importantly, are still in contact with clients, no matter where they are.

Smash it with a single view through integration

To be the guardian of your client’s galaxy, you need a single view of your business and of your clients’ entire portfolio – because in the investment world, you need to diversify and not keep all your gems in one spot... right? A typical client portfolio will include investments, a tax-free savings account, a retirement annuity, and a life policy. The holy grail would be for your platform to integrate all of these investments and policies into a dashboard that gives you and your client a single view of their financial health. Not all software providers can be everything to everyone, so make sure your technologists are the right fit for your business, big or small. In a nutshell, it’s not easy running a financial advice business. Every day there are more demands on your time and money. To put it straight, with no superhuman strength, we can help with affordable IFA software that has everything you need to work in a smarter and more automated way. So you can do more of what makes you brilliant. Visit iress.com/ifa.