The COVID-19 pandemic forced serious changes in the way many advisors do business, from the largest wirehouses to independent practices. They leaned into technology in new ways and offered more holistic wealth management approaches, such as answering questions about PPP loans and the benefits of cryptocurrency.
In the beginning, these changes were made to ensure short-term survival. But they will make lasting marks on the industry, panelists said during the Financial Services Institute's OneVoice conference Tuesday night.
“It led to richer and deeper conversations,” said Jamie Price, president and CEO of Phoenix, Arizona-based independent broker-dealer Advisor Group. “One of the strategic questions we're thinking about as a company is what things we aren’t providing our advisors that further that ability to become even more valuable to their clients.”
This shift, Price said, stems not necessarily from some huge eureka moment on how to better serve their clients but rather from advisors having more time in their schedules. Cutting travel freed up time for advisors to learn new things and meet more frequently with clients, albeit virtually, for example.
In a business that is often relationship-driven, some worried the elimination of in-person business interactions would put a strain on those relationships, but the shift wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
In some instances, it led to greater productivity, as virtual meetings allowed advisors to meet with more clients daily, said Libet Anderson, president of Birmingham, Alabama-based wealth manager Concourse Financial Group Securities.
“Going forward, they will probably have a percentage of clients that will always be comfortable meeting virtually. So they can have those days where they're very efficient and do a number of client reviews back-to-back,” she said.
Due to the virtual nature of meetings, the pandemic provided greater mobility for advisors and clients alike. Some clients moved out of state, prompting advisors to get licensed in additional states to still service those clients, said George Chuang, president and CEO of Saint Petersburg, Florida-based firm Transamerica Financial Advisors.
“I think that's really a new norm we're going to see — a hybrid model where some of them are going to meet in person and others are going to do virtually, and it's really more efficient,” he said.
Virtual meetings and working remotely also meant a greater reliance on technology, sometimes far beyond simple teleconferencing with coworkers and clients.
Before the pandemic, independent RIAs had a “swivel chair problem,” according to Price, where they swiveled in and out of multiple systems, spending time aggregating many tools as an independent advisor.
Now, a greater need for technology has forced firms to look into a
On the other hand, Price said, many advisors were pleasantly surprised how many clients were already tech-savvy or willing to learn.
“That's not going to slip back post-COVID after clients who have engaged that way,” he said.
