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Like many professionals across a number of industries, Los Angeles registered investment advisors (RIAs) may struggle to remember a time when they didn’t use RIA technology to manage their business and communicate with clients.
The internet, along with software platforms and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, has revolutionized the financial advisory services industry. Through the use of these technologies, investment advisors are now able to operate independently of traditional investment firms and brokerage houses should they choose to do so.
However, the adoption of some of these tools is slow to gain traction across the board. According to a market-wide study of more than 800 U.S. accounting firms, nearly 40% do not use a CRM system. Additionally, “More than half of survey respondents reported that less than 5% of their accountants use CRM regularly (at least once every two weeks).”
I’ve outlined some of the ways that technology enables Los Angeles investment advisors to work smarter.
Managing the Business
Several factors contribute to the successful management of an investment advisor business. Growing and increasing client assets, in accordance with investment policy statements, is among them. However, as thefts of personally identifiable information (PII) and other cyber crimes continue to increase each year, regulatory compliance standards understandably become more stringent.
The benefits of popular technologies, such as CRM systems, is that they streamline daily functions like maintaining business records, handling payroll, and ensuring regulatory compliance. Products with document management capabilities simplify accessing, editing, and saving files remotely, making RIA offices paperless and mobile.
Managing Client Assets
There used to be countless responsibilities associated with running a business (handling regulatory matters and maintaining current and forging new client relationships) when LA investment advisors operated independently of a broker-dealer. As a result, these functions often took precedence over portfolio management duties that include:
- Rebalancing portfolios,
- Buying and selling securities, and
- Assisting clients with matters relevant to income, growth, and disbursements.
However, thanks to comprehensive and cutting-edge investment software packages, investment advisors today can take better control of the portfolios they manage. Routine tasks are automated, giving back valuable time that can be used to address more demanding functions.
Communicating with Clients
While executing trades on accounts is not difficult, effectively informing clients of those trades can potentially create communication challenges. During the pre-technology era, investment advisors were saddled with the time-consuming job of communicating with each client about these activities in addition to actually making the trades.
Now, through the integration of investment advisor technology, Los Angeles investment advisors can generate automatic client notifications through the CRM software using data received from the trading program. Employees with access to the CRM can email these notifications to clients. In addition to increasing efficiency, this setup also complies with industry regulations because the alerts are automatically created as the RIAs execute the trades.
Bottom Line
As RIA technology continues to evolve, Los Angeles investment advisors can use increasingly efficient content management systems and task-specific software solutions to work smarter. Whether an investment advisor is part of a larger firm with resources for customized technology solutions or a smaller business using standardized but powerful systems, the result is the same. More gets done, and clients are happier because of it.
What technology solutions are most valuable to your firm? Let us know your thoughts in the comments box below or shoot me an email if you’d like to chat about this in more detail.
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