Accelerate the Next Wave of Innovation with Salesforce Financial Services Cloud

The wealth management sector is undergoing unprecedented transformation, with much of the attention focused on reshaping the client-advisor experience. Two forces are driving this transformation: the rise of innovative and disruptive financial technology (fintech) companies and the emergence of a new kind of client, one who is tech savvy, informed, and engaged — and for whom social, mobile, and digital technologies are a given. These clients are seeking solutions across a broader range of personal and financial concerns — and they expect advice to be delivered to them digitally, in addition to traditional methods, via the advisor relationship.

Executive teams are increasingly charged with the task of understanding and, where appropriate, applying the innovation emerging from the fintech sector to their own firms. Yet how can they stay on top of the rapidly evolving fintech sector when that is not necessarily their core competency? Moreover, in trying to gain access to these new experiences, executive teams could jeopardize what is ultimately their firms’ primary goal: providing sound financial advice and insights to clients and households.

To navigate these challenges, it is important to:

1. Understand the forces driving innovation
2. Consider taking a platform approach to support your requirements for innovation
3. Leverage an existing ecosystem of proven third-party providers to boost delivery of innovation

Fintech Innovation: Trends and Forces

Innovation in the fintech sector is being driven by many of the same trends that are behind the surge in consumer technologies: mobile devices, analysis of big data, sensors, and new customer acquisition models. These forces are driving the fintech revolution and are powering the explosion of investing into the sector: Global investment in fintech companies topped $19 billion in 2015 and that number is predicted to double in 2016, according to an Accenture report.¹

Innovation is a broad and variously defined term. Moreover, there are many different areas within fintech where innovation is taking place. Our focus is on some of the key areas in the value chain, including mobility, agility, flexibility, access, and the client-advisor experience.

1. Mobility. The concept of mobility is sometimes considered too narrowly, with the sole focus being on convenience. But connectivity is just the starting point in mobile innovation. The next stage is building innovative mobile capabilities that will make wealth management accessible, transparent, responsive, and collaborative.
2. Agility. Innovation is a never-ending process, one that calls for speed. Firms must be ready to act and evolve faster. The process is an iterative one in which firms must constantly revisit and improve. Firms must always be asking themselves: How do we evolve faster? How can we develop this innovation differently? Have we examined the issue fully? What are other industries doing?
3. Flexibility. Flexible architecture is the key underpinning to delivering innovation at speed. It allows you to try new features and ideas, and to succeed — or fail — quickly.
4. Access. Firms must be able to sample new capabilities and technologies. Access to the innovations is key here. At the same time, management teams should not try to turn themselves into venture capitalists.
5. The Client-Advisor Experience. This is fast becoming the most important front line in innovation and the frontier where we see the most transformation, encompassing everything from client onboarding to toolkits for advisors, and from collaborative and self-directed portfolio management tools to goals-based advice. At stake is the deeper understanding of the client as a person — or what is sometimes referred to as the “360-degree view.” Clients are demanding tools that can collaborate with advisors, monitor performance, and communicate. Also at stake is the connection between the advisor and the firm. Advisors increasingly require the right tools, technologies, and platforms if they are to meet the needs of clients — and the issue of the right technology has become as important as that of the right compensation.

Innovation: The Platform Approach

Given the rapid need for innovation, having a proven technology platform (a base upon which apps, processes, or technologies are developed) in place is critical. For management teams that struggle to create innovative change, a platform can relieve a great deal of stress. While it may not solve for every innovation issue that a firm needs to address, the right platform should allow management to focus on the core areas of innovation instead of building the foundation, plumbing, and electrical systems.

Such a platform should provide the following benefits:

1. Prebuilt capabilities to support typical use cases that wealth management firms need to conduct business
2. An open API to enable integration with the ecosystem of fintechs and supporting technologies
3. Rapid testing and deployment of innovation
4. Big data, mobile, and social capabilities
5. A curated view of the capabilities that matter most to your value chain

Taking an Ecosystem Approach

Innovation doesn’t take place in a vacuum. Building a platform specific to the needs of wealth management is just step one. What’s needed is an ecosystem focused on the specific use cases being deployed to the platform.

Two forces help drive innovation in the ecosystem:

1. The technology platform should foster innovation based on lessons learned from the ways clients are using the platform, as well as external requirements and considerations. These become available as enhancements to the platform itself.
2. The ecosystem attracts technologies most commonly in use, including fintechs, to amplify the platform.

Finally, as important as the ecosystem is in meeting the innovation needs of today, its greatest strength lies in being in on tomorrow’s cutting edge innovations. By drawing together the most innovative fintech startups and letting innovation bubble up organically, the ecosystem creates an agile environment that makes it easier to support demand for innovation and more importantly keeps firms from having to reinvent the wheel.

¹ _{Fintech and the Evolving Landscape: Landing Points for the Industry}

_{http://www.fintechinnovationlablondon.co.uk/pdf/Fintech_Evolving_Landscape_2016.pdf}

Special thanks to our contributors
/assets/docs src=”/wp-content/uploads2016/12/CI108176125.PNG”

Kendra Thompson, North America Managing Director, Accenture Wealth Management Lead. Kendra has over 17 years of broker dealer and advisory industry experience.

/assets/docs src=”/wp-content/uploads2016/12/CI108177125.PNG”

Rohit Mahna, VP and GM of Financial Services, Salesforce. Rohit is General Manager of Financial Services at Salesforce, leading the company’s strategy in the Wealth Management, Banking and Insurance sectors.

Accenture

Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions – underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network – Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With more than 375,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com.

Salesforce for Financial Services

From Main Street banking to Wall Street investing, the financial services industry is being disrupted by digital, social, and mobile innovation. Salesforce helps companies switch from defense to offense with ever-more personal customer interactions. Visit www.salesforce.com/industries/financial-services to learn how to supercharge advisor productivity and create client relationships that last generations.

Copyright &Copy; 2016 Accenture. All rights reserve