Technology is moving to the front office, and it's keeping the client happy.
That's the finding of a Schwab Advisor Services survey that sought to discover the way attitudes toward technology in the advisor business have changed over time, and how it has affected clients' experiences.
Respondents to the survey were RIA staff who were registrants at Schwab's SOLUTIONS workshops during the summer. More than half (53 percent) reported that they see technology as a function of the front office — one that not only builds scale and differentiates the firm from others, but also has the capability to give clients a high-quality experience.
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Clients are ready to use technology if it's made available to them, they say, with 60 percent of firms responding that when clients are provided with new service approaches and technology solutions, they adapt to take advantage of them.
Mobile technology plays a big and growing role, with more than two-thirds saying that they either already see its impact at their firm or expect to within the next three years. They also report that clients find the most valuable mobile applications to be the ability to look up account information (35 percent), electronic alerts and approvals (28 percent) and delivery of reports and documents (19 percent).
RIA staff themselves find that they spend the most time on data management, trading and rebalancing, creating dashboards, building reports for client presentations and billing. Half aren't even on social media, however; those who are use LinkedIn the most, with 26 percent saying that's the only network they use and 71 percent checking in with it at least every week."For advisors, the increase in personal use of mobile devices and Web-based applications translates into technology playing an integral role in facilitating client relationships," said Neesha Hathi, senior vice president, Schwab Advisor Services. "Use of technology to support the client relationship can help firms build scale and grow their businesses while maintaining a high-touch, premiere client experience."
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