Ask anyone: paperwork is painful. Financial advisors and office personnel who handle reams of personal and regulatory information know the pain better than most. You can stop the suffering – with a document management system (DMS). DMS’ that are designed to reduce repetitive workload can not only help current advisors — it can also help them attract next-gen talent and grow their client base.
The Skills Gap in Wealth Management
Financial advisory firms across the asset spectrum face a looming personnel crisis, with 68% of advisors identifying an industry-wide talent shortage. Researchers cite a lack of career mentorship and promotion of financial services as a viable career path to high school and college students. Whatever the cause, RIAs and wealth management firms face the prospect of putting heavier workloads on fewer advisors.
Having a robust bench of talent is particularly vital for serving next-gen investors, who are poised to inherit $30 trillion from Baby Boomers, the wealthiest generation in American history, over the next two decades. With over 70% of current advisors at or above age 40 — and, presumably, planning to retire within the next 25 years — there’s a clear need for fresh blood. As wealth itself skews younger, recruitment and retention efforts will need to follow suit.
Professionals Want Top Consumer Tech Trends to Carry Over to Their Work
Younger clients and advisors who grew up living on the internet and sleek mobile devices in their hands expect top-tier digital tools to manage their finances, and this shift is poised to dramatically change the way wealth management functions. Gen X and Millennial clients keen to wisely manage their wealth will want advisors who mirror their tech-savvy and purpose-driven values.
Consumer-facing tech has rapidly evolved to allow people to store and access personal documents across multiple platforms, as well as offering intuitive UX that doesn’t require specialized training.
Professionals naturally expect to wield the same level of accessibility at work. Highlighting a sophisticated DMS that eases workloads and saves time will not only appeal to potential advisors on a logistical level but also demonstrate an overall commitment to investing in employee success.
Spending Less Time on Paperwork and More Time with Clients
For financial advisors, a fully integrated DMS can transform the way they allot their attention. Instead of spending time cross-referencing forms, manually updating information, and dealing with onerous onboarding processes, advisors can spend more time on what motivates them: serving clients.
In addition to providing more focused and consistent attention to their existing client base, advisors who use the right digital tools to free up their time can gather more investors. RIAs classified as “technology embracers” serve more clients per advisor, up from 70 to 72. On an individual level, an advisor can look forward to more commissions and more portfolio growth with more clients.
On a firm-wide level, wealth management executives recognize the critical importance of reducing repetitive administrative tasks. Sixty-five percent of them “view operational scale as ‘very important,’ pointing to a clear appreciation of the fact that future profitability depends on fewer financial advisors serving more clients, more efficiently.”
Clearly, hiring top talent in an industry starved for qualified applicants requires a commitment to scalable tools. If these professionals are required to shoulder more work, they’ll want as much help as possible. An agile and comprehensive DMS appeals to younger advisors and can help them grow thriving careers with the time they save on paperwork.
Judie Endemann is Head of Operations at Docupace. Judie has supported executive teams through a variety of growth cycles, from early-stage startups to publicly traded international companies. Prior to joining Docupace, she served as VP of Corporate Services for a global digital media technology company. It was there that, in partnership with the executive team, she designed an acquisition strategy that led to the purchase of a division of a multi-billion dollar, publicly-traded company.
