Intelliflo, a new technology company created by asset manager Invesco, has landed a significant new customer.
Insurance giant State Farm announced plans to migrate its brokerage business onto Intelliflo’s platform in an effort to boost agents’ ability to offer investment management and financial planning. Agents will get a single program to recommend products across brokerage and advisory accounts, and Intelliflo will provide risk mapping, goals-based planning, and some client self-service tools.
In 2018, Invesco acquired Intelliflo, which provides wealth management software to roughly 37% of financial advisors in the U.K.,
The goal is to provide outsourced investment management and technology that rivals what firms can find at TAMPs, and earning State Farm’s business is significant for the company’s growth in the U.S., says Jennifer Valdez, president of Intelliflo’s business in the Americas. The insurance firm employs more than 19,000 agents and serves 86 million policies and accounts.
“We’re leveraging the capabilities in an integrated way,” Valdez says, adding that firms can get a complete technology package that eliminates the need for the dreaded “swivel chair” experience of switching between multiple technology providers. “It’s a single place for [State Farm agents] to manage their brokerage business.”
While the company is owned by Invesco, Intelliflo will operate as an independent brand and won’t require firms to use its parent company’s investment products, Valdez says. State Farm agents will continue offering a suite of investments that currently does not include Invesco, Sarah Mineau, vice president of operations at State Farm Investment Planning Services.
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While the insurance firm already offers brokerage products and services, the partnership with Intelliflo will help State Farm agents serve a wider variety of customers’ financial needs, Mineau says. And new risk assessment and financial planning tools can forge deeper relationships with existing clients, she adds.
“Our agents for decades have helped customers with their life insurance and health insurance planning needs, and we always want to grow our agents’ capabilities to serve more customers in more ways,” Mineau says. “Ultimately, we think customers need help to be more confident in their financial lives.”
State Farm’s deal with Intelliflo seems to be aimed at filling a need for holistic financial advice for the mass affluent market, says Scott Reddel, who leads Accenture’s North American wealth management group.
“The average mass affluent investor wants protection-oriented advice across all financial products,” Reddel says in an email. “The partnership [with Intelliflo] positions State Farm well to offer accessibility and a seamless experience to serve its clients’ full advice needs.”
State Farm is just the latest insurance firm to turn towards technology to expand its wealth management offerings. For example, life insurance firm Northwestern Mutual has rolled out a digital tool, PX, for reps to create financial plans that account for investments and risk protection, says Tim Gerend, the firm’s executive vice president and chief distribution officer.
“Financial planning is the future of this industry. Insurance firms have to meet clients’ broad needs for financial guidance to maintain relevance with clients,” Gerend says in an email. “Replacing uncertainty and anxiety with confidence and peace of mind is a key value proposition for advisors/financial planners, and to do that well you have to take a holistic approach that combines risk protection with investments.”
