Stacking up

The firm’s advisor desktop is called AX360. It pulls in that client data, he said, so his team can review book-of-business metrics. iA Private Wealth also built artificial intelligence (AI) chat tools into the desktop that allow advisors to query client data, generating client lists based on a variety of characteristics.

“We had built systems like that on our own, and we’re at this point where we’re questioning, well if they’ve got it there, do we really need to re-create things on our side?” he said. “The pendulum is shifting now, because of the investments they’re making and the better tools that they have. … The mix between our spend and our use of the dealer’s tools is definitely shifting.”

Technology has been a sore point among Canadian advisors for years. Since its inception, the Investment Executive Report Card series has surfaced advisors’ frustrations with legacy systems that degrade the client experience. More than a few advisors have chosen to invest in their own technology.

But that may be starting to change, as numerous dealers are making significant investments into modernizing the tools and technology they provide advisors.

Connecting the dots

“We’ve never invested as much as we are right now in trying to build a state-of-the-art platform that will allow advisors to be as efficient as possible in serving their clients,” said Joady Guyot, vice-president of advisor development at Assante Wealth Management.

The firm is overhauling its advisor technology platform, Guyot said. Assante has 30 tools currently that advisors use for trading, account maintenance, managing their business, communicating with clients and financial planning and projections. But they’re not all connected. Guyot said the firm is working to correct that in the first quarter of this year.

Assante is also building a data warehouse, designed to connect information in ways that allow advisors to better predict client needs.

The firm offers a mix of secure back-office technology behind its own firewall and approved third-party solutions such as Conquest Planning and Snap Projections. Advisors can choose their own solutions, as long as they meet Assante’s acceptable-use policy.

Integrating the back office

Manulife Wealth hopes a “fairly massive change” to its advisor platform will win over the advisors that, to date, have invested in their own technology, said Richard McIntyre, the firm’s president and chief executive officer.

McIntyre said when the firm began its modernization efforts, it realized it was running about 75 different systems. It has since outsourced some capabilities by making available Fidelity Clearing Canada’s uniFide platform of digital tools, Conquest Planning and Envestnet’s portfolio management and trading tools. It’s also upgraded its own compliance system, PortfolioAid, McIntyre said.

“When you’ve got different platforms and systems that don’t talk to each other, there’s a certain inefficiency about that,” McIntyre said. “If you can integrate successfully the back-office system, the book of record, with your planning software and CRM … I think that’s something that has its appeal to many.”

Manulife is also building its own internal version of ChatGPT, called ChatMFC, that will allow advisors to ask questions about the firm’s policies and processes. McIntyre said other parts of the organization are looking at applications for generative AI, including capturing client data from meetings, forming action plans and reviewing client data to identify trends.

John Novachis, senior vice-president of advisor growth and succession at Investment Planning Counsel (IPC), told Investment Executive in an emailed statement that the firm hosted listening sessions and pilot groups to learn what advisors want. He said IPC is working with providers like Conquest Planning and CapIntel. The latter’s offering launched to its advisors in August. Three-quarters of advisors have adopted the technology, Novachis said.

The firm is also looking at artificial intelligence, he added.

“I think independent firms have really stepped up their spend and iA certainly has as well,” Vandermeer said. “They’re realizing that part of the industry, the dealer slice, really needs to focus on the tech stack.”

Do it yourself

Some advisors insist on assembling their own technology.

John Baynham, a certified financial planner and president of Retirement Income Group in Mississauga, Ont., whose affiliate dealer is Carte Financial Group, purchased his own investment management, client relationship management and financial planning software. He also has systems for investment analysis and secure document sharing and storage separate from his dealer’s offerings. The practice also eschewed Carte Financial’s website package and built its own.

“The dealer, when buying technology, they’re buying for their purposes, not you as an advisor. They’re trying to build something everybody can use, it doesn’t necessarily work for your practice individually,” Baynham said.

He said he initially tried his dealer’s package, but ultimately decided he wanted to invest in his own. Baynham sees his practice’s technology as part of the client experience, and wanted to invest in tools that made communications, note-taking and other client interactions easy.

Carte has been “progressive,” he said. Baynham has brought tools to the dealer for compliance approval that Carte has later recommended to its other advisors.

Sean Wilson, a certified financial planner with Moraine Wealth Advisory in Calgary, whose affiliate dealer is Raintree Wealth Management, said there are trade-offs for advisors who choose to invest in their own technology. Wilson assembled his own stack — he uses Salesforce, which is costly but useful for building processes and integration with other tools. He also uses Side Drawer for handling personal information, Conquest for financial planning and an outside investment information and portfolio review tool.

“If you want to invest money in processes, you can do it at your pace. On the flip side, if [the dealer] wants to spend money, you don’t get to participate in it,” he said.

Keeping up with demand

Firms acknowledged that some of these investments have presented challenges.

Assante has automated some of its back-office processes, such as the paperwork for transferring funds from other institutions. But Guyot noted the firm has received lower ratings in back-office technology in IE‘s Dealers’ Report Card. “It’s challenging to understand the motivation of the person who answered the question. … It may be frustration with the process, or the two-factor authentication, or honestly, they don’t know how to use the software. I think our key is just making sure we’re getting out to the field as much as possible,” she said.

This article appears in the February issue of Investment Executive. Subscribe to the print edition, read the digital edition or read the articles online.