Bank of America Merrill wants to turn client reports from a boring stack of papers into something more modern and personal.
With the new Digital Wealth Overview feature, Merrill financial advisors can pull data automatically from a client’s bank, brokerage, investment advisory and held-away accounts into an animated video that includes charts, graphics and narration from ERICA, Bank of America’s virtual assistant.
The videos are delivered securely through the My Merrill digital client portal. Clients can pause the video and click to dive deeper into asset allocation strategies or performance. At the end of the clip, clients are given prompts for additional action, such as how to better track their spending, download the Merrill app, sign up for paperless enrollment or schedule a meeting with their advisor.
The program has been in pilot since August, with Merrill using feedback to balance making Digital Wealth Overview customizable with making it easy to send across an advisor’s entire book of business, says Carl Swanson, head of advisor and client experience in Bank of America’s investment solutions group.
“[Advisors] can send to a single client in just a few seconds, or create a list of clients they would like to send it to in a couple of minutes,” Swanson says. “Every single [video] will be personalized; no two would be the same.”
The firm has “big plans” for how advisors can use these videos in the future, Swanson adds. For example, Merrill wants to give advisors more options for the end-of-video prompts, such as information on new account types relevant to the specific client.
There is also an opportunity to give advisors more control over the videos to tailor them to prospects, introduce clients to banking and lending products, or discuss progress towards financial goals, Swanson says. The firm hopes that providing a comprehensive look at assets will encourage more clients to take advantage of account aggregation capabilities.
But the core goal is to foster more interaction between advisors and clients, he says.
“This will serve to complement the ways advisors currently serve clients rather than replace [annual meetings],” Swanson says. “Nothing will be as good as a conversation.”
Digital Wealth Overview is part of an overhaul of the existing reports Merrill sends in welcome kits and annual reviews. Advisors who don’t want to send clients a video can access Personal Wealth Summary, new static reports that can also incorporate a client’s non-managed investment accounts and assets held at other financial institutions — information existing reports omit.
Wealth management firms are realizing the value of digital content like videos for communicating with clients, says Bill Finnegan, managing director of financial services marketing at technology firm Seismic. IInvestors expect not only a more personalized experience, but also immersive, interactive content instead of traditional text-only materials.
“Firms should be seeking ways to integrate interactive components into client materials as often as they can – whether those are videos, quizzes, calculators, assessments and more,” Finnegan says. “It’s a win for clients looking for more engaging content from their advisors, and it’s a win for advisors who want to see how their clients are consuming the content.”
