FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY

BETTER COMMUNICATION BETTER BUSINESS

James Richards Customer Solutions Manager intelliflo

Evolving client base We know the traditional advised client will likely be older and already fairly wealthy . The Lang Cat ’ s Advice Gap 2023 research found that more than half of advised clients are 55 and above , and the most frequent portfolio size was £ 250,000 ( the mean average was £ 350,000 ) 1 . Although there will always be wealthy clients who need financial advice , the shape of wealth across the population is changing . A recent report into the UK pensions system by the Institute for Fiscal Studies suggests that most people are not saving enough into a pension . Three-fifths of middle-earning private sector employees are saving less than 8 % of their earnings , while 87 % are saving less than 15 %, which is the level the Pension Commission thought appropriate . At the same time , home ownership is declining , with the latest Census data showing a large drop in the number of homes owned with a mortgage and a large rise in privately rented dwellings in the last decade2 . Part of the problem is that households have been facing a squeeze on their money in recent years . According to the Resolution Foundation , typical incomes are expected to remain below their realterms pre-pandemic level for at least five years3 .

Embracing technology Faced with the very real prospects of clients coming down the track with less pension and housing wealth , how can you make the cost of servicing lower-value clients viable for your business , without losing the human relationships that are crucial to delivering trusted advice ? The answer lies in using technology . It can drive efficiencies , streamline processes and deliver some of the journey , leaving advisers more time to spend on the more valuable aspects of advice . We see the future of advice as hybrid , with the adviser at the centre and technology providing robust support . Let ’ s consider when a client first comes to you for advice . You can give them access to your client portal and ask them to complete some of the information for the initial fact-find . They can upload their ID documents , so they don ’ t need to remember to bring their passport or driving licence for your first meeting . Automatic prompts can encourage the client to start completing their personal details , family information , employment details and upload existing product information . They can record as much or as little information as they want , but asking the client to do this at a time convenient to them , when they are more likely to have all the details to hand , can save significant time in the face-to-face meeting . It also means the information should be completed correctly from the start . If the client is comfortable doing so , they can also link their bank account and credit cards to the portal via open banking . This integration can help populate some of the income and expenditure information so neither of you will need to complete this manually . As the data is drawn directly from their banking information , it can also create a more accurate picture of the client ’ s wealth and outgoings , rather than the guesstimates you might have to come up with during a face-to-face meeting . The portal may also include some simple forecasting tools , using their own data and basic scenarios to help the client think about how much money they might need to achieve their goals and inform their expectations . This can also give you a lot of insight into their financial aspirations , even before the first meeting .

20 | the adviser