More and more advisors are enhancing their technology. The next step for many is integrating it all.
According to Jefferson National's inaugural Advisor Authority study, three-quarters of advisors surveyed plan to integrate new technology into their practice over the next 12 months.
Advisors use an average of 7.8 different software applications in their practice today, the study found, and 16% of advisors use 11 or more software applications in their practice.
This tech overload is driving the demand for better integration.
"This may be why advisors say that 'integration of multiple technologies and software' is the top area for innovation in the industry over the next three years," the report states.
As part of the report, Jefferson National talked to Aaron Grey, managing partner for Denver Money Manager LLC, about how he handles multiple software applications.
"For me personally, I won't adopt anything new unless it can integrate with what I'm currently using," Grey says. "I let the vendor reach out to me, and I also make sure to be proactive and ask questions. If you're a new advisor who is starting from scratch, I recommend researching and looking at product reviews."
Grey predicts there will be more meaningful integration available with future technological advances.
"The ability to pull from rich data and consolidate it on a single platform — where your financial planning software is talking to your risk software, which is talking to your portfolio management software, which is talking to your investment policy statement software — that's going to be a pretty big deal," he says.
The survey finds that the majority (61%) of advisors have a strategy in place to improve or enhance the integration and consolidation of technology and software applications into their practice.
Jefferson National's Advisor Authority study, which was conducted online in April among 535 financial advisors, examines which innovations and issues RIAs and fee-based advisors care about most — among them technology and more specifically mobile devices, software and robo-advisors.
While software applications (57%) top advisors' list of the types of new technology being integrated into practices, mobile features are clearly becoming increasingly important among advisors.
Nearly half (49%) of all advisors in the survey reported that they plan to integrate smartphones into their practice in the next 12 months. Forty-nine percent also said they plan to integrate tablets, and 52% will reportedly integrate mobile apps over the next year.
Cloud-based solutions are also gaining traction among advisors, with 48% saying they plan to add them.
As part of the report, Jefferson National spoke with Kenny Landgraf, president and chief investment officer for Kenjol Capital Management, on the importance of going mobile.
