The future of financial advice

CLIENTS, ADVISORS WIN Investment planning must be multi-dimensional, incorporating financial advisors and technology.

relationships – during office hours.

Although there hasn’t yet been much uptake of this kind of technology, financial advisors have access to online platforms that show their clients how their investments are performing. But these tools can do so much more.

It’s possible to use technology to create a dashboard that shows investments, retirement planning, the state of insurance cover and even whether or not there’s an up-to-date will. These dashboards can take into account an individual’s whole financial picture, from multiple providers.

But they don’t take away from the value of a financial advisor who knows the investor.

A financial advisor will still be the best person to suggest revisiting life, dread disease and disability cover every few years, to ensure it’s in keeping with what the insured person earns.

Or perhaps upping various types of cover after a child’s birth. Or recommending changes to retirement and investment structures in line with changing legislation. Since both financial advisors and technology have an important role to play in supporting individuals in making the right financial decisions, and in the convenience of access to information, I recommend a “touch-and-tech” engagement model.

This way a client has a relationship with a financial advisor who understands them, their family, and their needs, and the advisor has a technological platform that allows the client to see the bigger picture of their financial, investment, insurance and estate-planning situation.

The platform can offer recommendations if there are areas lacking and can even facilitate changes if the client is confident enough to make them themselves.

Eugene Maree is director of Wealthport.