How Financial Advisors Can Use Fintech Services

Fintech, or financial technology, is increasingly influencing how people invest and build their wealth. Advisors, meanwhile, are seeing the traditional financial planning model be reshaped through digital innovation. Fintech’s impact as a disruptor can’t be ignored, nor can the opportunities it presents for advisors to streamline and scale their businesses.

SmartAsset’s Advisor Marketing Platform (AMP) offers financial advisors services like client lead generation, automated marketing and more. Learn about SmartAsset AMP today.

Fintech Advisor Solutions

Fintech is a broad term that encompasses a range of products and services. As an advisor, you have to decide which applications could be the most useful for your firm and your clients.

Here are four opportunities to embrace fintech’s potential to grow your business.

Marketing

Marketing can be time- and cost-intensive, especially if you’re targeting multiple channels that require a steady stream of content, or if you’re investing in digital and offline advertising. When it comes to fintech, advisors have the opportunity to reduce their time spent while potentially increasing their ROI.

Here are some of the ways you might leverage fintech for marketing:

Website. Building an advisor website from scratch can feel intimidating if you’re not a coding expert. Fintech companies like Snappy Kraken and FMG build branded websites for advisors that are designed to target their ideal clients.
Content creation and email marketing. If you don’t have time to draft blog posts, social media content or email messages for subscribers, you might outsource those services to a fintech service. AdvisorStream, for example, offers access to curated content that you can easily integrate into your website, social media posts or email newsletters.
Lead generation. Maintaining a pipeline of steady leads is critical for your firm’s long-term health and sustainability. A fintech-based platform like SmartAsset AMP can help you connect with leads and use automated tools to nurture those relationships while leaving you with more time to serve your clients.

Financial Planning and Investment Management

An advisor compares fintech solutions for her firm.

Managing client assets lies at the heart of what you do as an advisor, and fintech can help you to do that more efficiently and accurately. Fintech can help with:

Financial planning and portfolio management. Numerous fintech companies offer financial planning software programs and portfolio management tools, including ones directed at specialty areas such as retirement and estate planning. Orion, NaviPlan and eMoney are some of the most popular options. Advisors can also utilize fintech services to manage assets held away.
Trading and rebalancing. Managing trades and rebalancing are crucial for keeping client portfolios on track. Schwab iRebal is one example of a fintech tool that makes modeling and rebalancing easier for busy advisors.
Performance reporting. Clear and concise reporting is one of the ways you can underscore your value to your clients. Fintech services like AssetBook allow you to generate accurate and easily digestible portfolio reports and deliver them to clients.

Operations

Administrative and operational tasks keep your business running smoothly, but many of those tasks can feel tedious and time-consuming. Fintech services can help you spend less energy on back-office tasks and more time taking care of your clients. Here are some of the options you could consider:

Customer relationship management (CRM). Your CRM is a hub for managing client data and interactions. A good CRM can help you enhance client relationships and grow your business. Retail and Wealthbox are two of the most popular fintech providers of CRMs for financial advisors and wealth managers.
Compliance. Maintaining compliance is critical, though keeping track of shifting regulations can sometimes be challenging. Regtech companies like Comply, which are a subset of fintech, can offer comprehensive solutions to help RIAs maintain compliance on the front and back ends.
Document management and file-sharing. Recordkeeping is a key compliance requirement for RIAs, and you might utilize several fintech services to stay organized. For instance, you could take advantage of platforms that provide data warehousing services, electronic signature collection services and communications archiving to create a digital paper trail automatically.

Client Engagement and Management

Keeping clients engaged and providing a superior experience are fundamental for building loyalty and increasing retention rates. Engaged clients may also be more inclined to refer friends, family members or colleagues to you, helping to advance your firm’s growth.

Here are some ideas for how you can implement fintech services to improve client experience:

Client meetings. Regular meetings are critical for determining what a client needs and where you may need to adjust their financial plans to reach their goals. Fintech companies like Zocks have developed AI meeting assistant tools that are built with advisors in mind. These tools take notes so you can stay focused on the meeting, sync them with your CRM and help you draft follow-up emails based on what was discussed.
Visualizers. Visualizer tools can add another dimension to client meetings and financial planning. Asset-Map is just one fintech company that offers financial planning software with built-in visualizer tools advisors can use to elevate the client experience.
Account access and communication. Secure portals and messaging tools help clients stay connected to their portfolios and see their progress in real time. Companies like eMoney offer secure client portals for advisors, while eVestech is a fintech company that’s developed a virtual communications hub to help advisors and clients stay connected.

Bottom Line

An advisor chooses a fintech tool for his firm.

Fintech advisors who are open to exploring the possibilities of different tools, platforms and resources have an opportunity to set themselves apart from the competition. Learning what solutions exist to address your firm’s most significant pain points is a good starting point if you have yet to wade into the fintech arena.

Tips for Growing Your Advisory Business

Whether you plan to go independent or run an established practice, marketing is central to your success. Your marketing plan is what defines your messaging and who you share it with. If you’re ready to expand your reach, collaborating with an advisor marketing platform is something you might consider. SmartAsset AMP (Advisor Marketing Platform) is a holistic marketing service that financial advisors can use for client lead generation and automated marketing. Sign up for a free demo to explore how SmartAsset AMP can help you expand your practice’s marketing operation. Get started today.
Fintech services can simplify the way you run and grow your practice, but it’s important to research providers carefully. As you review different platforms or tools, consider what each one can help you accomplish for your business and the investment that you’ll need to make. Also, consider the level of support you’ll receive during the initial implementation phase, as well as on an ongoing basis.