Talk about a sea change. Wealth managers and financial advisors are in the thick of it. Not only is their work environment changing, the skills that distinguish those on the cutting-edge from run-of-the-mill are drastically changing as well. There’s a bigger question that top wealth management firms should be dealing with now. It’s not just…

As wealth advisory becomes more connected, intelligent and autonomous, additional risks arise. With an exponential growth in the volume of data being shared and analyzed to get the most personalized investment advice, clients could increasingly become visible targets for individualized cybercrime. But not all is doom and gloom and the good news is—cybersecurity is improving.…

I recently presented on exchange-traded funds’ impact on wealth management at the ETF Summit in Toronto, and thought I’d share with you some of the key points we discussed. Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have been in a state of flowmageddon for several years now, with an annualized growth rate of roughly 20 percent. Globally, a whopping…

The changing expectations of modern investors and the industry pressures to grow revenue and improve efficiencies have made it harder for wealth management firms to keep up with client demands. Clients are shopping around more—and 64 percent of the time they do this to seek a better digital experience.[1] Wealth firms need to truly understand…

Today’s investor demands holistic financial engagement. While the wealth management industry has begun to use digital practices, most have focused their efforts on either the client-facing applications (front-end applications, platform-based tools, onboarding) or execution-oriented functions (legacy-system retirement, removal of manual processes, automation). It’s now time for firms to turn their attention as well to connecting…

In the rush to convert to hybrid advice, a model that combines human and digital capabilities, and establish digital platforms to better serve clients, some wealth managers are forgetting one major component: their workforce. While changes are made ostensibly to better serve clients, that generally happens when workforces are better served by their employers. When…