"Technology is rapidly evolving, and the ability to leverage it is increasingly important to the RIA," Spenser Segal said on the last day of MarketCounsel's Member Summit 2012 in Las Vegas on Friday. "It's gone from being a competitive advantage to a business necessity."
Segal, CEO of ActiFi, a software consulting company focused on practice management for the financial services industry, delivered a presentation titled "Driving Tangible Business Results Through Technology and Process Improvements."
He began by noting that technology can be fun and frustrating to advisors.
"Whether you are an early adopter or a reluctant follower, technology analysis and implementation can be a distraction from running your business," Segal said. "We'll walk through the process of assessing your business needs, envisioning the outcome and creating a realistic plan all the way through to implementing and monitoring the initiative to ensure that business objectives are met."
The benefits of technology, he added, are realized through workflow improvements. The ability to leverage workflow is a key to achieving business outcomes.
"Benefits are realized through people, process and technology. Each one should have a third of the advisor's resources and focus. In reality, it's more like a 1:1:98 ratio. Technology will never work unless the other two legs of the stool are supported."
