Everyone has bits that they like – and don’t like – about their job.
When it comes to our sector, I’d hazard a guess and say there aren’t many advisers out there who are overly keen about compliance and admin.
As with every job, though, the boring, routine tasks need to be done. And if you run a small adviser business, the chances are you’re the chief cook and bottle washer, mucking in wherever necessary.
Outside our industry, technology has sought to make our lives easier by cutting the time it takes to do the things we hate doing.
For example, we no longer need to go to the bank as apps allow us to do most of our day-to-day banking online.
No longer, also, do we have to trudge around a supermarket in our spare time – supermarket apps allow us to have our food delivered to our door at a time convenient to us.
Now, apps are beginning to emerge that claim to help advisers become more efficient by automating some of the tasks they dread doing.
Adviser-focused apps
Recently, I came across an app, called Trailblazer, which claims to “take the strain out of MiFID II” for UK advisers and networks.
While there are a number of adviser-focused apps out there, I am picking on this one in particular because it is focused on an area that strikes fear into all advisers – compliance.
The app helps advisers monitor client reviews, confirm annual suitability assessments have been carried out, record CPD hours and client interactions as well as a whole host of other things.
One of the main benefits of having an app that takes care of these things, of course, is that it is portable, unlike the desk-based equivalents used by advisers at present. But at the same time, I imagine there will be a degree of scepticism among advisers.
As great as some apps are, rarely are they as comprehensive as a traditional desktop software programme. And I am almost certain that some of my colleagues will have concerns about liability should things go wrong.
What’s the gist, then?
At this stage, I must confess, I haven’t tried Trailblazer’s app. From what I have seen online, it looks like a very sophisticated piece of kit – and I wish them luck.
However, this isn’t a product review – far from it. Instead, I want to make a wider point about technology adoption in the adviser community.
The pool of competent, well-trained advisers has shrunk considerably since the crisis and the introduction of the Retail Distribution Review. At the same time, there has arguably never been a greater need for quality advice.
So the big question is: how do we service this growing demand with dwindling resources? For me, technology is the answer.
Of course, I am not advising you blindly adopt the latest bit of kit without conducting adequate due diligence.
But as a community, we need to think carefully about how we can automate those laborious tasks that take up huge chunks of our time.
Because if we do that in a cost-effective way, it will leave us much more time to do what we do best – help our clients achieve prosperity.
What does Advicefront do?
We offer a single suite of fact-finding, risk-profiling, client agreement, billing and digital signature tools in our product, Onboard. And we integrate with many of the tools you all already use! Want to see how much time you could save with Onboard? Book your free 15-minute demo!