Just a few decades ago, the investing landscape was fairly straightforward.
There was one segment of institutional investors and another made up of individual, retail investors, typically investing through traditional brokerage houses. It was siloed, it was well established, it was predictable.
But those days are long gone.
Today, the market is flush with financial products aimed at investors of all sorts, including ETFs, mutual funds, venture capital funds, private equity funds and more. And the list is growing every day.
At the same time, investor groups have become further segmented, breaking down into sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and more. The realm of non-institutional investors is now far larger than that of the institutions, and that’s also segmented by wire houses, trusts, and the list goes on. In between these two audiences, we have multiple kinds all sorts of channel sales and, direct investments and all the conflicts issues that go along with that.
It’s crowded, it’s complex, and it’s differentiated like never before.
Solving the ‘matching problem’
The problem for advisors, then, is finding new ways to get these products to the end investors who need them. It’s a matching problem. Today, there are today so many different asset classes available, and so many different types of investors in the market, that connecting A with B is a new challenge that many are still struggling to adapt to.
In mathematics, matching problems are those that seek to find data or graphs with common vertices or edge sets. It’s simply about finding common ground between disparate interests.
In the case of today’s investing landscape, then, the interests are those of the financial product backers and the investors themselves, be they retail or institutional. Advisors who are able to bring both sides together stand to do well in this new environment, while those that continue to struggle with their own matching problems will likely fall farther and farther behind as the market evolves away from them.
The list of products is exploding, the capital in the market is increasing and the need for effective, timely matching tools is only growing by the day. At the same time, as investor fees continue to fall, the industry is being forced to cut back in other ways, in particular reducing marketing and sales spending for its financial products. This is only exacerbating the problem.
Tech-backed solutions
As with many things, however, technology is the only way to truly mitigate this problem.
Challenge one for asset managers and wealth managers today is figuring out how they can add real value for their clients, in ways that their competitors cannot duplicate. The reality of the situation is that t Technology companies are reshaping the interactions between investors and their products, and embracing that fact is the key to successful practice growth in this new market reality for advisors.
Among the ways that technology can change the game for all involved include:
Discovery
In a crowded marketplace, discovery, research and diligence of funds is critical for investors. New, language-based search tools allow advisors and their clients to quickly and easily navigate the large and growing universe of ETFs, mutual funds and model portfolios. It’s all about saving time, simplifying workflow and impressing clients with real-time answers and solutions that meet their investment goals. Advisors are now able to help clients invest in and express their personal views in seconds, resulting in client portfolios that are better positioned for success and personalized like never before.
Recommendations
It’s simple: The biggest reason clients leave advisors is a lack of personalized engagement. This is even more critical now given the lack of face-to-face interactions between most advisors and their clients. New personality profiling platforms are making it easier for financial advisors to better connect and engage with their clients, at scale, with investment recommendations that are based on more than just “search and click.” By combining the principles of positive psychology with modern wealth management principles, these tools are able to improve the experience for both financial advisors and their clients in ways that feel 100% natural and organic, without sacrificing performance.
Management
It’s long been the advisor’s investment dilemma – buy or build your investment models? On the one hand, outsourcing investment management involves a loss of ownership and brand identity as well as a lack of customization, while doing the work in-house involves high cost, sometimes inconsistent performance and time away from the client work that really matters. New technology solutions are bridging this divide, creating advisor-branded strategies that are fully customizable and tax managed, including automated monitoring and trading features. The result? More quality time with your clients.
For advisors, this all means that the natural advantages of face-to-face contact with clients can be scaled well beyond the reach of what was possible in years past. And, in today’s increasingly competitive landscape, that’s a solution to a matching problem that can benefit advisors and their clients alike.
Learn more at Magnifi.com.
Magnifi is changing the way we shop for investments, with the world’s first semantic search engine for finance that helps users discover, compare and buy investment products such as ETFs, mutual funds and stocks. Try it for yourself today.
This blog is sponsored by Magnifi. The information and data are as of the publish date unless otherwise noted and subject to change. This material is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as individualized investment advice or an offer or solicitation to buy or sell securities tailored to your needs. This information covers investment and market activity, industry or sector trends, or other broad-based economic or market conditions and should not be construed as investment research or advice. Investors are urged to consult with their financial advisors before buying or selling any securities. Although certain information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, we do not guarantee its accuracy, completeness or fairness. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. This content may not be reproduced or distributed to any person in whole or in part without the prior written consent of Magnifi. [As a technology company, Magnifi provides access to tools and will be compensated for providing such access. Magnifi does not provide broker-dealer, custodian, investment advice or related investment services.]
