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Is adviser tech turning back to front?

In Money Marketing’s news and analysis column, moneyinfo managing director, Tessa Lee, commented on the increased demand for client engagement tools.

Read the original article here.

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The back-office system is often described as the beating heart of an advice firm.

It stores and manages data for various purposes, from collecting client information to helping with regulatory reports such as RegData returns.

So it’s not surprising if the first thing advisers think they need when setting up their own business is a back-office system.

Some of the tech that people use is old and they build on top of it rather than change it

However, the front office — the technology that advisers put in front of their clients — is increasingly becoming a priority.

Clients have come to expect a digital element to the customer service they receive from advisers. Does this mean the back office will take a back seat in the future or will it always remain crucial to the advice process?

Supporting role

Commentators say the approach all advice firms should take with technology is to look closely at their proposition in terms of what they are trying to achieve, and how to deliver that.

Firms need to work out what they want technology to do, how they intend to use it and what issue it solves for them.

However, the shift towards the front office does not mean advisers can ignore the back office. John Wilson, managing director UK and Ireland at software firm Avaloq, says the back office is needed to support the front office.

“Firms use it to provide as much automation and straight-through processing as possible,” he adds.

New advice firms will find it easier than established firms will to create a system to deliver on that front, according to Moneyinfo managing director Tessa Lee.

“New firms have an advantage as they haven’t got legacy systems to maintain, so they start at a different point,” she says.

“And, if we are to attract new talent, we need to work digitally, which is the way young firms expect to work and communicate.”

However, for established firms that may rely on legacy back-office systems plus several other pieces of technology they have added over time, it is less simple. The hours spent keying and rekeying data into different systems are frustrating and costly. Commentators also point out the more frequent the need to rekey data, the more scope there is for human error.

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You can read the original article with Money Marketing here

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