If you’ve been an advisor or worked in financial services you know how hard it is for our industry to change; there is a bit of ‘control’ involved.
When it comes to FinTech, startups are changing who is ‘in control’ and developing technologies that give the consumer back control. The public has been vulnerable to the Big Banks and Wall Street , and startups are targeting financial services ‘problems’ by providing solutions to level the playing field and fixing an industry the public views as broken.
There’s big money at play (an estimated 17.4 Billion invested in FinTech in 2016), and opportunity for big payouts as startups create technology that appeals to financial services companies, and their advisors. By embracing (and implementing) the latest technology, forward-thinking financial services companies and their advisors have a higher chance of acquiring and retaining clients. The good news is that while private FinTech startups target the financial services industry as a whole, they are partnering with financial companies that are eager to bring solutions in-house that benefit the investing public .
FinTech, and technology in general, is disruptive to financial services because it is changing the way that markets operate. Developing technology to change an industry that previously left much of the world in the dark, to one of transparency and inclusion is happening faster than anticipated. Financial companies that don’t embrace FinTech risk losing assets, customers, and their advisors.
In some instances, financial companies that partner with FinTech companies disrupt themselves and force ‘self-change’ as they rethink their approach to technology and how it benefits the investing public .
Aside from disruptive technology related to markets and compliance, technology is helping communication between financial professionals and the investing public. It wasn’t that long ago that FINRA finally ‘allowed’ social media as a means to communicate to attract and retain new clients. Social media (although not a FinTech development) has changed the way consumers validate a company and their advisors.
Related: Why Increase Your Marketing Technology Spend in 2018 to Grow Your Business
One such technology that is being widely used in the financial services industry to grow customers and assets is content marketing delivered via email, social, and print simultaneously to clients showcasing their advisor. Developed soon after the financial crisis, this start-up created a way for advisors to disseminate information to educate their clients through three mediums- dynamic (web based) email delivery, automatic social media posting, and a print component of the same information. The financial services industry at that time was focusing on corporate salvation, not advisors losing their clients. Personal experience led to this technology development for any industry that wants to enhance their employee’s interaction with clients by providing ‘compliant content.’
As we enter 2018 it will be even more evident that the industry as a whole is changing due to FinTech. Remember that Robo has been a part of financial services for years, but previously limited to fund managers only to give advice and trade to achieve an outcome. Now Robo platforms have been opened up to the public to use independently. With that in mind, it will be up to financial companies and the advisors themselves to offer technologies that position them as experts while giving clients the ‘human touch.’