You know you are onto some new advisor technology when advisors are actually the ones doing the product development. Case in point, the first annual Black Diamond Hackathon.
Over 30 advisory firms came together for three days last week in Jacksonville, Florida to participate in designing new platform features for the popular Black Diamond portfolio management and performance reporting system from SS&C Advent.
"Listening to clients is the best way to ensure that the technology we are offering is something that solves a problem or fulfills a need," said Dave Welling, co-manager and head of advisory at SS&C Advent, who was the host for the advisor forum and hackathon.
The hackathon was designed to identify new features, functionality and capabilities to help advisors run a better business. Advisors worked with Black Diamond personnel to brainstorm ideas based on their own business opportunities and concerns. Each group then targeted one specific idea and translated the suggestion into a full-blown design mock-up. The teams created a presentation, complete with videos, props, sound effects and humor, and pitched their solutions to the full group at the executive forum, which then voted on the winners.
Four teams made the finals with ideas such as a tool to create an operational portfolio update to view key clients at a glance; a meeting confirmation tool that allows end-clients to customize what they would like to discuss; a business intelligence tool with revenue and AUM scenario analysis as well as compliance statistics; and an online prospecting tool designed to demo an advisor's technology capabilities.
The winning product design suggestion was the online prospecting tool that enables prospects to customize the way they would like to view their financial details and risk in an anonymous way. This feedback will be helpful for advisors to get a better understanding of that potential future client, as well as to provide an impressive technology demonstration of what the prospect will experience as a client of that firm.
