Expert Speak – With Sudipto Roy, Partner at XpertReach/Founder and Director Finlabs (I) Pvt Ltd

Technology is becoming the focus of Wealth Management

With Sudipto Roy, Partner at XpertReach/Founder and Director Finlabs (I) Pvt Ltd

One of the primary reasons for the extremely fast use and adaptation of technology in the wealth management industry is the addition of a whole new set of millennial customers who are young and tech-savvy. With the increasing use of mobile internet, a young tech-savvy person is used to shopping everything online, booking cabs at the click of a button, checking out the latest news and updates. With the advent of never-ending lockdowns forced by the spread of the COVID virus, the new lexicon in people’s dictionary is zoom meetings, webinars, online statement etc. We will look at some of the important aspects of Wealth Management from an advisor’s point of view who are embracing technology like never before.

Client Onboarding

A rising number of firms are driving their business teams to enable their channel partners/sales team as well as their websites/apps to onboard a client in a completely digital way. This completely does away with the advisor having to meet the client physically and filling up a bunch of application forms. The requirement of In-Person Verification is also now done by capturing the client photo and video through a digital medium. The person completes the entire form online and attaches a digital signature to it. This way a financial advisor operating out of Dehradun can complete the KYC of a marketing professional living in Mumbai

Intelligent alerts and notifications

Today, the advisor is having a whole lot of data with him. With the use of AI and ML, he is able to get an intelligent alert which helps him to manage his clients better. A simple example would be of a Corporate Deposit of his client which is maturing in the coming fortnight. An AI-driven system could send in an alert to the advisor, who in turn can advise the client the best way to deploy the maturity amount. Systems could be built around nudging customers to start an extra SIP in case the goal accumulation is behind schedule. Systems could also check in real-time how much the customer is spending and tell him if he is going over the monthly budget

Reporting and Client Servicing

Technology is fulfilling an important need here. The advisor is able to not only analyze the entire client portfolio consisting of a whole lot of products but is also able to schedule it automatically to be sent to the client. A lot of customer queries can be handled with the help of an automated chatbot.

 

The advisors clearly see the benefits in the form:

  1. Increase in time spent coaching the client rather than filling forms (This helps to overcome the client’s behavioural biases)
  2. Can handle more clients (can work anytime and anywhere as everything is digital)
  3. Offer more products and services to the client (more importantly, offer the most suitable product to him at the right time)
  4. Cost reduction as processes as paperless and quick