Technology change drives future of platforms
Platforms, advisers and clients alike are about to be swept along by the impact of technological innovation on platforms, as Kelly Power explains.
Technology has always played a big role in the evolution of the platform industry: from retail funds to master trusts to wraps, we have seen platforms adapt and re-invent themselves to keep up with technological change.
We are now riding a new wave of rapid technology advancement involving the adoption of devices never before seen.
This poses challenges for platforms to drive investment to keep up with the changing needs of advisers, accountants, SMSFs and members who are hungry for instant relevant information on their mobiles, tablets and desktops.
However, this also poses opportunities – such as increased member engagement and more efficient processes for advisers who are empowered by technology that enables them to provide advice in a cheaper and more cost-effective way.
I see the power in technology in three ways:
Driving member engagement and access – allowing advisers to give members relevant, timely information about their wealth position.
The new BT Wrap IPAD application available from next month is an example of a reporting tool that an adviser can use with their clients that is intuitive and can be used to demonstrate what is happening with a client’s portfolio as a part of a client review.
Driving efficiency in the provision of advice – to ensure the execution of advice can be delivered in a cost-effective way.
This in turn means that advice can be made affordable to more Australians. The model portfolio solutions on platforms like BT Wrap that allow advisers to execute portfolio changes across clients in bulk is an example of one of those time-saving tools that helps drive efficiency.
Driving business efficiency for platforms. Technology advancements involved in SuperStream require an initial investment to implement, but over the long term will offer business efficiency for platform and super providers, which will drive down the operational costs of running a platform.
This in turn will enable platform providers to offer scale benefits and cost savings to members.
The future is bright in the platform space for those providers that evolve and have the scale to commit to being in this market, and who therefore can become more efficient and use this efficiency to deliver cost savings to members.
Clients will expect instant, relevant information presented in an intuitive way. Advisers will expect platforms to add value through efficiency – so platforms will need to respond to this and innovate whilst at the same time delivering on their service promise and getting the basics right.
We can all be sure that it will be an interesting journey.
Kelly Power is head of platform product at BT Financial Group and recently spoke at Money Management's Platform and Wraps conference.
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