Bulky legacy systems and processes can lead to significant tech fatigue among financial advisors, as well wealth and fund managers.
Common wisdom might lead a firm to believe that it's best to save cash in the short term by piling together myriad solutions, putting off the long-term investment in updated and integrated technology solutions. But competition demands that advisors move to comprehensive, integrated platforms to automate processes and improve the advisor-client relationship, say many wealth management experts.
Today, advisors are feeling the pinch as organic industry growth continues to slow. Fidelity Investments reports that the wealth management industry saw organic growth fall to 6.7 percent in 2015 – the lowest level in the past five years. Streamlined and more efficient technology is just one way to make a practice more efficient – and more competitive.
Unfortunately, many advisors may still be using cumbersome and outdated legacy systems.
When to update?
So when should advisors dump their a legacy systems?
It's time when advisors start to note the growing pains at the firm, and they're willing to seek out solutions and invest in their business. Smart firm leaders also know that investing in the short term can lead to countless savings in the long term.
For firms stuck with legacy systems, after all, advisors and staff are often left spending considerable amounts of time downloading updates and patches and entering data across systems. Aside from the wasted time, advisors are dragged away from their primary responsibilities, too.
The human factor
An integrated, cloud-based platform can breathe new life into a practice, freeing up time to garner new business. But it can also mean bumps along the way to implementation if all advisors and staff aren't on board.
