Intelliflo whitepaper technology v2

Technology: The beating heart of a successful business

0845 230 3800 | www.intellio.com

Overview 10 years. It doesn’t sound like a particularly long time in the bigger scale of things and for people involved in planning long-term finances it isn’t.

But when it comes to doing business in the 21st century, it’s a timeframe that can see you go from hero to zero unless you are plugged into the enormous leaps that are taking place with technology and how it is shaping and changing the world.

10 years ago Apple hadn’t yet launched the iPhone and the concept of a mobile phone device that would give you instant access to the web; deliver your emails from multiple addresses; provide a high quality camera that allowed you to

instantly publish on the web; provide free connectivity for faceto-face discussions with friends, colleagues and family around the world; store all your music and allow you to download new tracks instantly; as well as a multitude of other clever activities, was pure fantasy.

Facebook merely existed in Mark Zuckerburg’s mind; tweeting was something the birds did in trees outside your bedroom window and applications were something you completed when you wanted a financial product or a new job.

Accurately predicting how technology will impact us over the next 10 years is impossible but one thing is certain: things will change. We’ve got our own theories about what could happen…but more about that later.

• Development of PCs as affordable office equipment • World Wide Web created

• Web browsers launched, making the web accessible • Email starts to gain traction • Google launches (1998)

• • • • • •

Wifi networks start to become available Intelliflo launches Intelligent Office (2004) Twitter launches (2006) Facebook launches (2007) Apple launch the iPhone (2007) Broadband is in half of UK homes (2007)

(early 2000s)

• Smartphones/Tablet sales take off • 3G and 4G deliver speedy web surfing. UK 3G coverage was 62.4% in 2013 and rising* • Wifi access in 96% of UK households in 2013* • Social media use accelerates: 1.28billion Facebook and 255 million Twitter users in July 2014 • Rise in home working as ‘virtual’ office becomes accepted • Intelliflo launch new IO system fully rebuilt to provide next generation capability and scale (2010) *Source: Statista

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Growth of online

Growth of the technology eco-system

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), in 2006 16m adults in Britain used the internet daily. This was up to 36m adults by 2013, representing 73% of the GB population and it’s growing every day.

The right technology has a major role in enabling advisers to run and grow their businesses profitably.

The development of mobile technology is one of the key elements driving change. Accessing the internet via mobile or smartphones went from 23% of British adults in 2010 to 53% in 2013, with growth across the age groups.

Growth of internet access by age group (ONS)

%

2010

2013

100 90

Increasingly, the most successful financial advisers are those who are tech-savvy. This doesn’t mean they are IT geeks, rather they understand what technology can do for their business and are prepared to invest time and money to make it work hard for them.

The financial services world is full of technical innovation, with providers, investment platforms and software companies developing new tools and apps that all promise to save advisers time. The problem is that much of this innovation works in isolation. What Intelliflo recognised 10 years ago is that to be successful, technology needs to be open and fully integrated. It needs to be at the heart of the business, connecting a diverse number of functions centrally and putting advisers and their support staff in control.

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Understanding how advisers work and what they require to succeed in this increasingly competitive sector, led Intelliflo to pioneer a web-based ‘end-to-end’ technology eco-system by working with a range of best-of-breed partners to ensure an open environment for all.

70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 16-24

25-34

35-44

45-54

55-64

65+

This technological revolution is dynamic and exciting. It’s fundamentally changing the way we live our lives and, more importantly, what we expect from the companies we choose to use. Increasingly, people expect instant responses and answers, including the status of their finances.

With technological advances moving so fast – and clients’ expectations increasing – there’s a real risk that anyone who fails to embrace and harness it will be left behind.

This is particularly true for financial advisers. Aside from technology, the financial advice sector is experiencing enormous change. The RDR and MMR have had significant impacts on the sector, with an ever increasing need for advisers to serve clients more effectively while driving efficiencies in the front office and cost savings overall.

As the business challenges increase, so does the urgent need to adapt and change traditional models. The solution for advisers with their eyes on prosperous futures comes in the shape of intelligent technology-based systems that drive functions across the business.

A technology eco-system is not compartmentalised into front, middle and back office functions. It provides a seamless way to service clients, manage all processes from lead generation and marketing, fact finding, meet regulatory requirements, accessing management information, to tracking fees and income – all the elements that are essential for running a professional, profitable financial advice business.

To work effectively, a technology eco-system must have industry connections at its heart, including real time dialogue and information gathering capabilities with platforms, product providers, quotes portals and wealth management tools and other software vendors.

This connectivity allows advisers and their support staff to reuse data to improve business efficiency within a single system and tailor it to their unique operating needs including the tools they favour from the breadth of the market. Intelliflo’s system has already been embraced by 11,450 users in the UK.

To be time-efficient and effective, a technology eco-system must be web-based, updating automatically as new services and technical developments become available, removing the need to install new software manually. The development of the technology eco-system is driving a revolution in the way the adviser sector operates, with tech-savvy advisers enjoying healthy growth in size and profits.

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Testimonial

Using iO at the heart of the business is central to the success of Alexander House.

Digital age adviser firm saves £160k a year thanks to iO Jane Hodges, Chief Operating Officer of Alexander House thinks her firm is ‘virtually’ perfect. This is because it’s built on a digitally centered model, where almost all activity takes place through webbased technology, with Intelliflo’s Intelligent Office (iO) product at its heart.

We set up Alexander House in January 2013 and became authorised on 1 July 2013. The first six months was spent researching the best tools and technology to allow us to run a business that is totally different to the traditional financial adviser set-up.

“Today we have 25 fully qualified advisers working in the business but none of us come to a central office. This is because we don’t have one. We didn’t see a need to have a physical hub because we have all the tools we need through the technology we use. This is only possible because of Intelliflo’s iO and the integration it provides across the many services and disciplines we need to access including Microsoft Office 365.”

Without iO we wouldn’t have been able to run this business model. It offers us total integration regardless of geographical location and its constantly evolving progression means it’s providing us with new and improved ways of working more efficiently and cost effectively day-by-day.

We estimate around £160,000 a year is saved in office and commuting costs alone, let alone the amount of time we’re saving by having straight-through processes across a number of functions.

So is this model attracting mainly clients who are younger and more tech-savvy?

“The world is changing fast and our model is attracting people of all ages. Age is no barrier to technology with many older people embracing the digital age for the benefits it offers them.

The expectation today is that they should be able to instantly access knowledge and advice about their finances and this is something our model has been designed to do.

“Technology is developing so rapidly we recognise that the expectations of clients and the services and benefits they expect from their advisers are constantly evolving. With this in mind, our model is designed to meet the challenges of the future head-on and we’re delighted that companies like Intelliflo are working hard on our behalf to provide us with the tools to build on our vision and values.”

With all the advisers working from their own home location, Alexander House offers a wide geographical spread, although the amount of physical meetings the advisers have with clients is minimal.

“We offer clients the opportunity to meet with us in any way they want including the less time-consuming option of using video conferencing via laptops, tablets and smartphones, which is being more regularly adopted now. Using digital systems we are also able to record all the conversations we have and this provides clients with the comfort of knowing exactly what was discussed and agreed verbally. We also use a phonetic programme to translate our discussions to documents, which saves an enormous amount of time,” says Jane.

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The Intellifo Intelligent Office technology eco-system Provide accurate, up-to-date valuations

Obtain data and reports to help manage your business

Record, segment and track clients

Valuations

Lead management Fact finds

Management information Provides clients with access to their financial information, secure messaging and document storage

Record tasks and automate reminders

Log, monitor and reconcile pre and post RDR income

Personal Finance Portal

Store answers and maintain an audit trail

Secure and backed-up Real-time updates

Quotes and sourcing Web-based

Task management

Source and store quotes from search engines, eg, Assureweb, The Exchange, Trigold, MortgageBrain

Letter generation

Commission and fees

100+ best of breed integrations

Full remote access Less IT burden - no software to install

Compliance reporting Protect against compliance risk, including RMAR reporting

Client management

Send branded letters to clients

Access up-to-date information from providers, including portfolio reporting

Financial planning Document management

File, store and retrieve documents centrally

High net worth v mass-affluent Since the RDR and its focus on service and value rather than sales, it’s been widely accepted that high net worth (HNW) clients are the route to profit and success as the traditional model of face-to-face meetings with all clients isn’t cost effective when the revenue stream is limited. However, some of the most successful advisers are those who are servicing all clients cost-effectively, and they’re doing it through clever use of analysis and technology.

In essence it involves segmenting clients, adapting internal processes and utilising a technology eco-system that means the type of service each client receives can be tailored to deliver value for the client and, importantly, profit for the business. Adviser firms are in a unique position, supported by effective technology, to drive the face of this multi-faceted service model for clients across both mass affluent and affluent client banks.

Fund analysis

Access risk modelling, asset allocation, performance and fund information, eg, eValue Advisa Centa Manage portfolios, locate funds and conduct advanced searches

There is increasingly intense competition for these client banks.

Advisers who adopt effective technology at their heart are the ones who will succeed in both repelling this competition and creating a long-term sustainable advantage.

It’s also important to understand that clients don’t necessarily always just conform to a particular wealth segment. We’re individuals who like to be in control of what we do and how we engage. This means that clients will choose different means of engagement (from face-to-face through to self-serve) when they want. Advisers are in a unique position to be able to offer that aggregated service.

For mass-affluent clients this involves less face-to-face meetings, more automated functions, such as valuations, and more instant access via technology to their financial arrangements via PCs and mobile devices. More details of how this works can be found in our paper ‘Reinventing profit in the post RDR world’ www.intelliflo.com/reinventingprofit Without a doubt this decade is one where advisers will thrive or fail linked to their ability to harness technology and we predict that the next 3-5 years will be the defining period for this re-shaping of the industry.

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Top 10 key components of an adviser technology eco-system What are the elements that combine to make a technology eco-system? In no particular order, here are our top 10: 1. Secure: having the ability to exchange confidential data with clients via email.

2. Immediate: automatic downloads that means the system is constantly refreshed without the need to manually install updates.

3. Multi-third party connectivity: instant access to relevant third party systems that seamlessly integrate with your operating systems.

4. Regulatory: risk profiling and compliance reporting tools that save time and provide peace of mind.

5. Informative: valuations and research tools which are comprehensive, accurate and real-time.

6. Efficient: integrated across the business functions, removing the need to re-key data.

The future With innovation driving the growth of the financial advice sector, what’s next?

At Intelliflo we don’t pretend to have a crystal ball but we can predict that technology will continue to shape and change the way advisers do business.

Here’s a snapshot of how we think things will look by 2020:

1. We won’t go online, we’ll be online all the time We will live in a totally digitally driven, wireless society.

Devices will talk to each other and the concept of logging into an online experience will be as outdated as a fax machine.

2. You won’t have to ask Technology will learn from your past behavior, will anticipate what you need and will deliver it to you before you ask. The more you interact, the more you will be served by intelligent systems.

7. Adaptable: can be tailored for individual needs.

8. Accessible: instant access, branded client portal.

9. Business focused: tailored MI that informs and facilitates business development.

10. Future-proof: constantly adding improvements and innovations.

3. Local will disappear Geography won’t matter: brand and value will be kings.

Face-to-face will still be important but it will be through virtual meetings. The winners will be those advisers who reach out to people and offer them the best service.

Branding and clever use of marketing will become essential to survival.

With technology developing so rapidly, it’s easy to be overwhelmed with the options and possibilities. The key is to focus on your business goals and seek the technology that will enable you to achieve them.

Invest time in understanding how technology is changing the lives of your clients, as this will drive their behaviours in the future, but you don’t need to become so tech-savvy it dominates your life. That’s what people like us at Intelliflo are for.

Intelligent Office

The main thing is don’t ignore what’s happening. Those who embrace the opportunities and adapt to use them to their advantage will be securing their business and financial success for many years to come.

For more information about how Intelliflo can help you develop your own technology eco-system call us on 0845 230 3800 or email us on info@intelliflo.com

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