The key to growing a wealth management firm is to work smarter, not harder, by adopting BPM.
BPM, often referred to as business process management (BPM), manages and improves a firm’s operations. The goal of BPM is to match the operational processes with the firm’s overall objectives to create streamlined and productive workflows. In many cases, process management involves automating tasks to increase efficiency and adopting technology solutions to empower employees and condense tasks into the most manageable and efficient systems possible. The alignment between technology solutions and business processes is a key factor in successful implementation of BPM. Technology implementation alone cannot solve for inefficient processes, and optimal processes that are not supported by the technology cannot achieve maximum efficiency.
In a wealth management setting, BPM involves streamlining client onboarding, condensing data and records to a single source, and improving communication and collaboration.
There are numerous advantages to adopting BPM. Here are six ways BPM benefits wealth management firms.
Proactively Stay Ahead of Changes
The past two years have shown how rapidly the world can change, including how we work, live, shop, and communicate. These changes are especially evident in financial services, where many firms have had to dramatically adjust how they interact with clients and the services they offer. Regulations are expected to continue to change, meaning that the industry will likely see more disruption.
To succeed, firms need to adapt quickly as the market, technology, and client demands change. BPM allows firms to promptly review and update their processes to stay ahead of new trends. A critical component of the BPM is having the processes backed by the technology that is scalable and adaptable to the regulatory or market changes that may emerge.
Eliminate Roadblocks
BPM aims to reduce as many bottlenecks and redundancies as possible. Processes that run smoothly and automatically enable greater efficiency without roadblocks to slow things down. Without process management, tasks may get held up or delayed without advisors realizing it, leading to assignments falling through the cracks. BPM keeps tasks advancing efficiently so that the company is always moving forward.
Create Compliant Processes
The cost of non-compliance can be enormous and simply isn’t worth the risk for wealth management firms. BPM removes much of the hands-on management from employees and puts it on systems and technology. Automating and streamlining processes significantly decreases the possibility of human error and monitors end-to-end processes to identify and flag non-compliance.
BPM creates systems to ensure that every step is completed correctly, significantly improving compliance and leaving a paper trail of who did what and when. Of companies that introduce process management to improve compliance and risk management, 77% say they have seen a positive impact.
Process Management Boosts Employee Engagement
No one wants to spend their time doing busy work or sorting through red tape. Because BPM involves keeping an eye on how work progresses and identifying bottlenecks, it creates opportunities to automate and eliminate routine or mundane tasks.
As employees get their work done faster and more efficiently by automating tedious tasks, they can focus more on the work that brings them purpose and allows them to grow and develop. When employees are engaged, they naturally want to deliver fantastic service and are more loyal to the firm.
Process Management Creates Stronger Client Relationships
Clients want their financial interactions to be seamless. They don’t want their account changes or communication to get hung up in complicated processes and instead want quick service and results. BPM allows client queries and updates to move much more smoothly, which means clients get results quickly.
Process management and automation give RIAs and financial advisors more time to spend on their clients, which allows for more personalized service. Clients increasingly want an advice-based experience instead of a transaction-based experience, so firms that offer personalized financial advice have a competitive advantage. This is increasingly important as fee compression becomes a growing problem for RIAs with the increased adoption of robo-advisors and trading apps. Firms can set themselves apart by offering personalized service and advice without getting bogged down with process issues.
BPM Enables Growth Opportunities
All of the benefits of BPM feed into the most significant overall goal: growing the wealth management firm. Process management increases the workload and allows the firm to take on more clients with the same or fewer resources, at the same time highlighting areas for improvement and continual growth. Eliminating redundancies and streamlining processes also cuts costs and lowers the bottom line, which leads to higher profits.
Investing in process management can lead to long-term growth for wealth management firms and set them up for continual success.
Michael is the founder and president of Docupace Technologies, LLC. He grew up in Kiev, Ukraine, where he studied math from a very young age. In 1991, when he immigrated to the US, he turned that talent in mathematics towards focusing on technology and software development. After graduating from UCLA with a Computer Science and Engineering degree, Mr. Pinsker founded MPDN International Inc, a consulting firm specializing in workflow, imaging and document management services.
