Financial planners educate their clients through simplifying complicated concepts and helping clients understand the financial plan prepared for them. This typically happens in the form of a conversation between planner and client.
Client-planner conversations are undoubtedly of great value in transforming a client’s relationship to their wealth and financial wellbeing.
However, beyond just conversation, what can truly elevate a client’s relationship to their wealth and financial wellbeing is seeing their wealth and financial plan at work.
This is where a client wealth portal — which allows a client to directly engage with their financial circumstances — can make a material difference to both client and planner.
This might explain why there’s been an uplift in the number of planners using a client portal, from 27.9 per cent in 2021 to 30.4 per cent in 2022, according to Netwealth’s 2022 AdviceTech Report.
There are a few good reasons why a client portal should be an essential part of each financial planner’s technology stack.
First, client engagement. According to Netwealth’s report, less than half of advice firms (49.8 per cent) report improved client engagement in the last 12 months.
Having access to a household balance sheet and tracking progress to goals through a client a portal will lead clients to better understand their personal wealth circumstances and be more engaged with their financial wellbeing.
Around 76.1 per cent of clients surveyed as part of Netwealth’s report say they ‘must have’ or ‘highly appreciate’ being able to view their total household balance sheet. Also, 83.1 per cent ‘must have’ or ‘highly appreciate’ being able to ‘track progress’ to their financial goals.
With eight in 10 millennials extremely or very confident in using technology and digital services (according to Netwealth’s 2021 report), it is evident that a segment of the advice market which is growing in importance is eager to engage with their wealth and financial wellbeing directly through technology.
Second, a client portal can reduce the cost to serve clients.
Chasing clients for documentation is a persistent and costly frustration for many financial planners. A client portal can provide clients with an easy means of uploading documentation necessary to the planning process. A client portal can also streamline the fact-finding process for planners, again minimising the time spent by planners in gathering simple information. Security of client documentation is also enhanced.
Finally, a client portal may be the tool that helps the client to change their behaviour with their wealth for the better. Enhanced exposure to their goals and financial plan will lead clients to question the impact of their decisions on their wealth.
Financial insights delivered through a client portal will be valued by a portion of each financial planners’ client base. Think about the opportunities that exist to intrigue clients with comparison tools that compare their wealth to others in their age bracket, city, income category etc.
Thomas J Stanley’s classic work, ‘The Millionaire Next Door’ demonstrated the power of debunking our false beliefs about how wealth is generated. The opportunity to bring this kind of insight to clients is limited only by the imagination of planners and their clients.
It is true that client portals may not always lived up to their billing. However, the combination of technological advancement, client engagement with digital tools and the ongoing need to educate clients make this an idea whose time has come.
Peter Bryant, head of business development, Morningstar Australia and New Zealand
