Wealth management is a people-first profession at its core, but trudging through daily tasks in an environment where remote work and isolation are now more prevalent can stymie those all-important professional connections.
A free, online, peer-to-peer community open to any financial advisor regardless of where they work, Sekhar said
The study found that while 54% of advisors interact with peers in at least one digital community, nearly half (47%) are not fully satisfied with the number and types of advisor communities currently available.
As many as one third of the 408 advisors polled said they were seeking a greater connection to other advisors outside their firm, and one in five advisors showed interest in joining a new or different advisor community.
"We've long seen the need for this," Sekhar, who has been part of Fidelity's practice management team for more than 12 years, told Financial Planning.
"I spend a lot of my time with the RIA community. And oftentimes, being a decision-maker or the person who started a firm, you have a desire to understand best practices from your peers. But it can be hard to find those opportunities," he added. "So we thought, should we do something on LinkedIn? Should we do something else? There's lots of different avenues to potentially consider, but we decided to create this dedicated online community probably within the last year."
Fidelity leaders describe Finteract as a mix between the "ultimate study group and a digital coworking space with themed water coolers."
Members are encouraged to jump into conversations, and can do so without fear of being bombarded by sales pitches. The non-commercial community is not for vendors, and members are fully vetted.
Finteract accepts new members who are advisors and back-office staff, such as individuals who handle operations, technology and marketing. With 60% of advisors saying they share responsibilities related to selecting technology and managing operations, Fidelity felt it was important to bring these groups together for shared learning and development.
"We all enjoy sharing a meal with one another. We have that desire for that. But I think the difference is now technology is enabling the ability to do it," he said. "I think there's a wonderful opportunity to then bridge that need, as humans."
For Isao Shoji, the managing partner for TSG Advice Partners in Columbus, Ohio, joining Finteract was a no-brainer.
He oversees many of TSG's daily operations ranging from financial analytics of the firm's performance to talent management and retention.
"I am working everyday not only in the business but on the business, because that's what my job requires me to do. And I think, in many ways, I count myself as fortunate because my partners and I have a relatively diverse background," Shoji said. "Having said that, we're still a wealth management firm stuck in Columbus, Ohio. Our viewpoint is going to be grounded in an Midwestern, RIA type of view. And it's really critical for us to see what everybody else is doing.
"No vendors. No big brothers. It's our network. And that is something that I think is quite appealing, and quite frankly, very beneficial."
Shoji added that many people in wealth management naturally possess a streak of independence that propels them to interact with other professionals in their industry.
"I think I would even go as far as making the argument that in this financial services industry where things aren't necessarily handed to you … you get a bunch of go-doers. You're not going to be a collection of people that just sit back and wait," he said. "So I think a network like this, which is really what you make of it, is very well suited for those people. Because if you just sat around and just waited for information to come to you, you're probably not going to get as much out of this as you would. But if you're the type of person who will jump into discussion, or who will post and who will start a question thread, that's how you get a lot out of it."
Shoji said he brought younger team members onto Finteract platform for their own good.
"I want to expose them to different firms, really, and what they're doing so that they can learn (and) maybe find a role model," Shoji said. "Other women advisors. Other minority advisors. Even if they're not advisors, if they're in this industry, I hope they'll find somebody that they can connect with and they can collaborate and even look up to."
Leslie Leach, the chief marketing and strategy officer for Hearsay Systems, said it's not surprising to hear that advisors have a desire to connect with their peers digitally.
Hearsay takes a deep interest in how financial services pros are conducting themselves and finding success online. Leach's team recently published
Along with a big uptick in engagement and the amount of original content being posted by advisors in the past year, Leach said one of the big takeaways from the 2023 study is the fact that advisors have gotten so much more confident and comfortable on social media.
"Using forums like social media, for networking, for requesting referrals, for other business-building activities. They're on it more, they're getting better at it and the quality of what they're posting is much higher," Leach said. "So I think that really extends to the concept (of community) because they have established their footing."
Marguerita Cheng, the founder and CEO of the Maryland-based
Cheng,
"The diversity of backgrounds is what makes the braintrust special as well as the opportunity to share my expertise and thought leadership through publishing articles on Kiplinger.com," Cheng said. "It's the opportunity to connect and collaborate with others."
Cheng also serves as a volunteer ambassador for the
The advisor duo leading the charge says Onyx was created to address the nation's wealth gap while providing affordable access to technology tools, custodial access, investment management resources, coaching support and an inclusive community to financial pros who often feel overlooked by the industry.
That means people of color, women, members of the LGBTQ+ community and other groups historically excluded from the financial services industry.
"We strive to make change by changing the future of financial advice," Cheng said of Onyx.
Shoji said Finteract can be more efficient compared to in person or LinkedIn.
"Again, we have a pretty diverse group of people in our firm. But they're going to struggle to find people that look like them or that feel like them if they don't have a platform like this. So hopefully we can encourage them to continue to participate or take part in the first place," he said.
Fidelity's Sekhar said that in addition to making sure Finteract a space for professionals of all walks of life and experience levels to swap stories, he also wants it to become a forum where provocative issues can be discussed openly or without judgment.
"And there's a lot to be talked about. Like private equity and the impact of that. I also posted something about a new platform that is just launched that is using ChatGPT technology to perhaps do financial literacy," Sekhar said. "We should be talking about as a community. What's the impact going to be? What's the client experience? How are we going to leverage that kind of technology to enable and to drive better efficiencies, but also better customer service and foster better client experiences? So I think that our community should be helping drive forward thinking thoughts in addition to the tactical, everyday stuff."
