Moore’s Law, proposed in 1965 by Intel co-founder Gordon E. Moore, states that the speed, capabilities and processing power of computers exponentially increase every couple of years, while the cost of those computers is halved at roughly the same rate. In theory, this would make the possibility for increased computing power limitless.
But while manufacturers have maintained that pace, doubling the number of transistors that can be placed on silicon chips for nearly half a century, it has reached a point where physical and economic limitations have slowed down that level of exponential growth. Since most industries rely to some degree on chip manufacturers to fuel their growth through the efficiencies resulting from the effects of Moore’s Law, the question now becomes: Where do industries turn to now to realize similar technological gains, if not at the level of the chip?
Fintech companies are certainly not immune to this dilemma, as they must constantly grow and evolve to improve efficiency and the user experience. And although the financial advice industry has made serious progress in adopting advanced practice management resources to streamline and refine the ways in which advisors serve and interact with clients and prospects, it is going to require innovative thinking for wealth management firms to keep pace with technological advances throughout the 2020s.
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While it may be impossible to envision all the places these working partnerships may lead us, we imagine a future in which advisors are able to offer a client experience that turns what exists today on its head, one in which clients feel like they are working solely with their advisory firm in an end-to-end experience, regardless of the specifics of any individual interaction with their advisor. Client portals that do a better job of consolidating everything in one place will likely play a big part in this; new applications for mobile technologies will likely grow in importance as well. From our standpoint, almost every vendor working in this space is only just approaching the cusp of what is to come in that regard.
That said, there are two areas in the near term that could streamline advisors’ workflows so they can balance increasing demands on their time and resources: single portal technology access and the use of artificial intelligence — which includes pattern recognition and machine learning.
Advisors are currently using multiple portals to accomplish all they have to get done on any given day and are aching for a single point of access. When that single version is created, it will save a lot of time and hassle while also creating a better client experience.
And although we are in our infancy when it comes to tapping into pattern recognition and machine learning, fintech firms are constantly pushing the boundaries to seek out practical applications for AI-driven technologies. The data is there, after all, to create a personalized experience for the client. As the data grows, advisors will increasingly turn to AI for purposes of client segmentation, prospecting, marketing, event planning, predicting client behavior and much more. Look for ongoing innovations in that sphere that will revolutionize how advisors accomplish their work.
The shifting norms and expectations of new advisors will change what a future financial advisor’s workflows and client relationships look like. The possibilities are endless — limited only by our own creativity and ability to put our ideas and dreams for the fintech space into practice.
