FinTech continues to be a popular topic of conversation among advisors in the financial services profession. In my recent conversations with advisors, I’ve found that many have a natural tendency to feel defensive in response to the future role FinTech will play. Some advisors view FinTech as their competition and others worry that FinTech will take over their role.
However, advisors should take note: Clients want FinTech. In fact, according to a recent MDRT study, 56 percent of respondents surveyed stated they want their finances handled by a mix of human advisors, robo-advisors, and other technological tools.
While clients want an integrated approach, navigating the ongoing advancements in FinTech can be challenging—and a bit overwhelming. I invite you to take a step back, and think of technology as an accelerator that allows you to better connect with clients and automate your process, enhancing your client service and saving you time.
Embracing FinTech to Better Connect with Clients
The same MDRT survey found the top perceived benefits of working with a human advisor over a robo-advisor was the opportunity to establish trust and build a relationship through human interactions. This means we have an opportunity to leverage FinTech in our practice to provide great client service, while still providing them with the “human touch” they want.
Utilizing an open-minded strategy that embraces FinTech will allow you to work with all forms of investments and platforms to supplement your clients’ needs. Don’t just think of FinTech as robo-advisors. Other forms of FinTech software like eMoney can be beneficial in strengthening your client relationships and helping clients to better plan for their future.
When discussing FinTech with prospective clients, embrace the conversation as a way to build meaningful new client connections. If new prospects are familiar with using forms of FinTech, open up the conversation and allow them to share previous experiences. Ask them what went well, or what challenges they had, to understand how you can better serve them.
When prospective clients approach me for guidance on FinTech, but already have experience using various FinTech tools, they are still seeking advisement from a human interaction. These situations present an opportunity to build trust, share value-based goals and address your underlying mission as an advisor. Embracing the conversation of FinTech with prospective clients offers them support in areas where technology can’t.
Using Fintech to Serve You
FinTech can benefit advisors beyond client service, as it can help to automate financial tasks and improve overall efficiency when managing aspects of financial planning.
One example of this might be using automated tools to eliminate the human element of specific tasks while handling money to reduce potential error. Integrating FinTech solutions like filtration systems, financial planning software and number crunching tools helps to provide clients guidance on future outcomes. Utilizing financial planning tools like Cube and Planful can allow for more integration with other FinTech software while also minimizing error.
I encourage advisors to keep an open mind when exploring FinTech and the future of FinTech. Current trends leveraging behavioral technology, navigational technology and AI in finance have recently gained popularity as accurate forecasting tools for financial advisors.
How to Stay Positive with FinTech Top-of-Mind
When broaching FinTech with clients, it is helpful to have an agnostic approach toward technology, and not have any biases towards using a particular technology, model, methodology or software. It’s important that you keep an open heart and a quiet mind, to eliminate any prior judgment. I encourage you to get involved and help shape the future.
It’s my personal opinion that if we’re not actively integrating FinTech into our practice, we should take a hard look at if we’re in the right profession. Being a financial advisor is a privilege, and we have the ability to help clients improve their lives, providing comfort with financial stability. If FinTech can help, why shouldn’t we use it?
To help eliminate feelings of negativity towards FinTech as an advisor, I encourage you to stay educated and up to date on new financial technology, tools, and different software. Learning more about the various forms of FinTech solutions, and not just focusing on the topic of robo-advisors, will help us prepare for future situations to better serve our clients.
