How leading firms are utilizing technology

It's safe to say that the more adept you are at selecting, implementing and utilizing the available technologies, the better off your practice and your clients will be.

A decade ago, our firm’s founders authored a comprehensive book about investment advisor marketing that, based on the best practices of the time, barely touched upon the use of technology.

Fast forward to 2023, and if Allworth’s founders published that book today, 90% of it would focus on digital marketing and how essential it is to master technology to attract new clients and increase brand awareness.

Of course, with cybersecurity, operations, communications, compliance, HR, remote work, virtual appointments, and a slew of CRMs and other software, the use of advanced technologies are hardly limited to marketing, nor are their uses specifically the domain of larger firms.

In fact, to take it a step further, it’s safe to say that the more adept you are at selecting, implementing and utilizing the available technologies, the better off your practice and your clients will be.

So what types of technology can improve your firm?

One of the biggest differentiators for us was when we moved our operations entirely to a cloud (Azure). Many firms are attempting to do this, but few have completed the transition. The ways it can drastically improve your practice include massive cost reductions, near-perfect economies of scale and the ability to seamlessly integrate other tools. Most importantly, it can enhance and simplify not only your cybersecurity, but your business continuity and disaster recovery plans as well.

Next, technology needs to be obsessively forward-thinking, expandable and adaptable, and not merely concerned with solving today’s challenges. For example, because client demographics are evolving, it’s important to understand that communication expectations are not only different than they were just a few years ago, but that these changes are accelerating. With that in mind, you should select each technology based in no small part upon its adaptability and not merely by how it will help your firm meet a particular need today. Case in point, over the course of my career, I have spoken to hundreds of IT leaders who had added expensive, popular technologies that almost immediately became obsolete.

Of course, then there’s marketing. Even if you’re a midsize or smaller firm, your tools need to measure responses and keep you in near-constant contact with prospects and clients in ways that are relevant to their needs, interests and habits. This includes the ability to measure and analyze so you can “rightsize” both the cadence and topics of interaction.

When it comes to choosing and integrating advanced marketing technologies, as we’ve acquired 25 firms in five years, that makes the parallel onboarding of thousands of clients and billions of dollars in new assets from that successful outreach (and the subsequent M&A) essential, as well.

When you consider marketing, the regulatory environment, custodial considerations, legal aspects, and partner and client satisfaction, there’s no margin for error. Whether you’re one of the thousands of firms struggling to grow or a firm seeking outside succession via a partnership with a larger entity, your technologies must be the best available and the most practical and adaptable for every initiative in your practice.

Sandeep Mishra is chief technology officer at Allworth Financial, formerly Hanson McClain Advisors, a fee-based RIA with $15 billion in AUM.