The future of wealth management relies on the successful use of technology. Traditionally, wealth managers have built their businesses on personal relationships, often going back decades and relying on regular face-to-face contact. It is a formula that served the industry well in the past, but has left it wanting in an era of tougher regulation, and the explosion of digital technology in the workplace and at home. Under pressure from regulators and technological developments elsewhere in financial services, the industry is evolving, though some firms and advisors have been quicker to adapt to change than others. Finding the right balance is not easy and there is no single answer that would work for all firms and with old styles of service competing against new, the industry is struggling to find its footing. This gives rise to a new breed of advisor, one that is able to adapt to the changing face of the market and utilise all of the technological tools at hand to better serve their clients – the bionic advisor.

1. The Rise
of the Bionic
Advisor

2. 01.
01|TheRiseoftheBionicAdvisor
Technology helps make
clients feel appreciated and
secure in the knowledge
that they have a trusted
expert armed with the
latest digital tools.

3. 02|TheRiseoftheBionicAdvisor
Introduction
The future of wealth management relies
on the successful use of technology.
Traditionally, wealth managers have
built their businesses on personal
relationships, often going back decades
and relying on regular face-to-face
contact. It is a formula that served the
industry well in the past, but has left it
wanting in an era of tougher regulation,
and the explosion of digital technology
in the workplace and at home. Under
pressure from regulators and
technological developments elsewhere
in financial services, the industry is
evolving, though some firms and
advisors have been quicker to adapt to
change than others.
Finding the right balance is not easy
and there is no single answer that
would work for all firms and with old
styles of service competing against new,
the industry is struggling to find its
footing. This gives rise to a new breed of
advisor, one that is able to adapt to the
changing face of the market and utilise
all of the technological tools at hand to
better serve their clients – the bionic
advisor.
Forces of Disruption:
The Perfect Storm
In recent years wealth managers and their advisors
have been besieged by increasing regulation; seen
an explosion of new data; the rise of digital
generations and new competition through
technology driven investment platforms and
robo-advisors.
Many advisors have struggled to move with
these new breed of investors, in a world of
enhanced investment transparency and a
client’s easier access to knowledge for self-direction;
often resulting in firms struggling to justify the fees
that they charge. In addition, huge new digital
platforms outside of the finance space such as
Netflix, Amazon and Airbnb have shown clients
what is possible in the digital era and clients are
starting to expect the same tools and level of
service from their wealth manager. The combination
of forces in the current market are driving demand
and actually aiding to better serve the advisor as
well as the client.
CLIENT
DEMAND
TECHNOLOGY
INNOVATION
REGULATORY
PRESSURES
COMPETITIVE
LANDSCAPE
ADVISOR
02.
THE PERFECT
STORM

4. 1 https://www.capgemini.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/wealth_management_trends_2016.pdf
Leveraging technology to automate lengthy
processes such as these examples below, enables
advisors to utilise their time more efficiently,
improves the client experience and therefore
can improve retention rates and inevitably
reduce costs and operational overheads:
Digital onboarding & self-enrolment/fulfilment
Risk tolerance/profiling
Account aggregation
Client data management
Technological innovation opens up new options
for advisors to engage and manage their
clients, allowing them to exchange news
electronically, such as investment proposals or
payment requests, and using video conferencing
to keep in regular contact. The latest tools can
also assist with investigating and understanding
a client’s circumstances and needs, such as
attitude to risk or investment experience and
knowledge, and provides the firm’s management
and the relevant regulatory bodies with evidence
about the suitability of any advice.
3. Regulatory Pressures
Increasingly rigorous regulatory requirements
have ‘squeezed’ advisors in more ways than one;
increasing time and complexity of taking on new
clients; processing transactions and the general
overall administration of clients; ultimately
reducing the amount of time that advisors spend
speaking with, and adding value to, their clients.
80% OF HNWIS
UNDER 40 INDICATE
THAT THEY WOULD
LEAVE THEIR WEALTH
MANAGEMENT FIRM
IF IT FAILS TO
PROVIDE AN
INTEGRATED-CHANNEL
EXPERIENCE
03|TheRiseoftheBionicAdvisor
1. Client Demand:
The ‘hyper-connected’ customer
A great transfer in wealth from aging baby
boomers to younger generations is under way,
and it is reshaping the ways in which firms
communicate with their clients. There is an
evident increase in client demand and
expectations for wealth managers to be more
technologically friendly, Capgemini found that
80% of HNWIs under 40 indicating they would
leave their wealth management firm if it fails to
provide an integrated-channel experience1.
The good news for wealth managers is that the
new ‘digital native’ is always connected and is
easier to reach than the traditional client. The
bad news is that with the abundance of
technology on offer today, the average client
expects more and demands instant access; to
their data, their performance and to their
advisor. Client expectations have never been
higher and advisors need to engage with clients
on a channel of their choosing at the time that
they wish.
The challenge for advisors is finding out how to
retain the loyalty of clients with changing
demands, in a market where there is
increasingly more choice on offer.
2. Technology Innovation
There is a growing expectation for wealth
managers and advisors to be technologically
proficient and whilst some advisors think
technology will replace them, the truth is that
these new digital tools are valuable assets
that many tech-forward firms already use in
marketing channels and as segmentation tools.

5. 04|TheRiseoftheBionicAdvisor
Global wealth markets have seen a tightening
grip in regulation in recent years; with the Retail
Distribution Review (RDR) in the UK, CRM2 in
Canada, MAS regulations in Asia and DOL
Fiduciary Rule in the US, to name just a few.
Each has brought about a shift in the
addressable market and the way that advisors
are able to manage their clients, with advisors
being forced from commissioned trades to fee-
based investment services, often leaving
advisors struggling to justify their existence. For
wealth managers and their advisors to survive
the technological revolution, they must either
adapt to provide the necessary services that
warrant fees and deliver an experience that
clients value or risk being ousted by technology
that can achieve comparable results.
4. Competitive Landscape
Following increasing investment over recent
years, technology is now able to interpret and
action investor information and activities far
more quickly than humans. The development
of new technologies, such as AI (Artificial Intelli-
gence) have opened up new opportunities
across many service-based industries and the
financial services is no exception, with many
new AI assisted robo-advisors now entering the
market.
AI is now able to collect information and tailor
investment advice to an individual in an
efficient and cost-effective way, which helps
makepersonalised investing much more
accessible to all client demographics and has
brought rise to a significant number of new
market entrants offering robo-advice. It is also
able to adapt messaging according to the client
and provide an appropriate level of advice based
on a client’s demographic, age or history. In an
industry that is seeing rising costs and squeezed
profit margins, it is this ability that can make AI
highly valuable to wealth management.
Robo-advice can offer financial advice to a mass
market, but a complete customer service is always
expected from any service and a robo-advice
technology platform cannot offer this in isolation.
As the wealth management industry is starting to
adapt to new digital ways of delivering better
customer service, it should be viewed as a way to
complement existing services. It can be compared
to online banking in some ways; when this feature
was first introduced it was viewed with scepticism,
but today consumers have come to expect it,
however to completely fulfil client expectations in
wealth management, this functionality needs to be
in conjunction with more personalised services.
04.
The Human Effect: Trust and Empathy
Harnessing technology can help advisors increase
the value they provide to clients and grow their
AuM over the long term; however whilst technology
and artificial intelligence can help advisors automate
parts of the client management process, it can’t earn
a client’s trust or understand their complex financial
goals and targets. As a client’s investible assets
grow; they start to experience significant life events
and their requirements become increasingly diverse,
software tools in isolation can’t tailor investment
strategies or offer sufficient levels of comfort and
guidance during market shifts.
Empathy is particularly important in the delivery
of bad news or uncertainty; a human is better able
to reassure a client and explain what has been done
in response to these circumstances. During these
periods in particular, people highly value the
relationship with their advisor, which cannot be
offered by a purely digital service. Human advisors
deliver a personal relationship based on trust and
market knowledge formed by years of experience.
Today’s clients want independence and automation,
but they also want to know that their trusted,
knowledgeable advisor is available when they
need them.

6. Technology has an important role to play and,
if used correctly, rather than creating an
impersonal barrier, it helps to make clients feel
appreciatedand secure in the knowledge that
they have atrusted expert armed with the latest
digital tools.
Looking to the Future
Though technology makes wealth management
easier and more personalised than ever, new
tools inevitably bring new challenges. There
will likely be increasing concerns from clients
regarding privacy and information-sharing and
advisors will need to know enough about these
tools and platforms to navigate these data
security conversations.
Part of the appeal of wealth management
services is the personal relationship and the
insights an experienced advisor can offer to
clients. Whilst artificial intelligence can analyse
trends and help advisors tailor advice to client
behaviours, no amount of automated intelligence
can manage potential future uncertainties and
complexities. To navigate all of these challenges,
clients will need experienced human advisors
to guide them.
To ensure that firms are able to meet these digital
needs of clients, it is important that advisors and
individuals working at them embrace the change.
The firms and advisors who learn to leverage
technology will enjoy a competitive advantage
over the market for years to come.
FOR YOUNG
INVESTORS,
COMMUNICATING
FACE TO FACE WITH
AN ADVISOR
CAN BE INTIMIDATING
BUT FOR LIFETIME
CLIENTS
IT IS OFTEN A
NECESSITY
Finding the Right Balance
The digitalisation of wealth management will
continue to bring benefits to the industry,
however the human element, the advisor, is
unlikely to disappear as no two clients are the
same and each will have unique priorities, goals,
requirements and preferences. There will be
situations that may require more of a human
touch versus an automated approach, and firms
and their advisors will need to reach out to their
clients to determine the right balance.
It is clear that being able to communicate with
clients in the right way is crucial. For young
investors, communicating face to face with an
advisor can be intimidating but for lifetime
clients it is often a necessity and with more than
$12 trillion shifting across generations by 20302
advisors will naturally start to see a shift toward
a newly defined standard way of managing
their clients.
Advisors must evolve how they communicate
with their clients and how they foster and
develop relationships. Social media and mobile
phones are an integral part of today’s
‘hyper-connected’ culture, meaning those
advisors who insulate themselves from these
forms of communication and avoid using these
communication channels will struggle to keep
clients engaged and satisfied. Advisors will also
need to understand what they can offer, rather
than seeing technology as a threat, they need
to embrace it and use it to their advantage.
Wealth managers should familiarise themselves
with new technologies and integrate advanced
tools into their offerings to better understand and
manage their clients. Clients expect a level of
service that feels both personalised and modern,
and wealth management platforms that capitalise
on both tech and human advisors can give that
to them.
05|TheRiseoftheBionicAdvisor
2
https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insight-capitalizing-intergenerational-shift-wealth-capital-markets-summary

7. 06.
The firms and advisors who
learn to leverage technology
will enjoy a competitive
advantage over the market
for years to come.

8. The Difference is (H)ours.
enquiries@wealth-dynamix.com
www.wealth-dynamix.com