An overview of a recent webinar hosted by this publication and US-based Archway Technology Partners, on seven big technology innovations for wealth management.

Many firms in the wealth management space are having a tough time sifting through the industry’s growing roster of technology products and services, which is unsurprising given the pace of innovation seen in recent months and years. 

WealthBriefing, sister publication to Family Wealth Report, recently hosted a webinar with US-based software provider Archway Technology Partners.

Founded in 2002, Archway Technology Partners is a software company whose products support the accounting, investment management and reporting functions for single family offices, multi-family offices, investment advisors and hedge hunds. Archway's technology platform, ATWeb, is a web-deployed application that enables clients to simplify the operations and reporting of their firm through a single software solution.

The 7 Technology Innovations for Wealth Management webinar walked through a list of seven technology innovations that Archway believes are changing the way those in the wealth management space operate. Specifically, the webinar highlighted several main points centering around an increase in efficiency and cost savings.

The webinar was hosted by Stephen Harris, chief executive of ClearView Financial Media, publisher of this website, and Dennis Mangalindan, vice president of sales and marketing, North America, at Archway.

A synopsis of the seven innovations is as follows:

1. Batch reporting

Participants heard that reporting can be a very time-consuming process and a daily, weekly, monthly or even yearly task carried out by a firm for an individual investor or multiple clients.

Put simply, batch reporting is a feature that facilitates the creation of scheduled, automated reports based on specific criteria such as time periods, asset classes and benchmark indices.

In one example given by Mangalindan, a client saved 40 hours a month – equal to $8,000 – by investing in batch reporting technology.

The wealth management industry as a whole has, in recent years, faced an increase in compliance and related costs, which consume a hefty chunk of organizations’ time.

While various technologies claim to offer effective and cost-efficient solutions to address and comply with new standards, other recent findings suggest that providing truly customized reporting remains a challenge for many industry players. 

2. Application Programming Interface – or API – calls

Indeed, rarely is a business able to consolidate all its operations into a single software application.

However, where disparate systems do not link, API calls automate the flow of information from one database to another. This minimizes the risk of errors occurring during data transfer or updates (including the deletion of data, for example). 

Also described as a set of programming instructions, an API can also schedule operations, tasks or routines.

“So many of us are used to copy and pasting or manually keying in data back into another application, but an API call really eliminates the need to do all of that,” Mangalindan said.

3. Data integration

Data integrations allow for the automated retrieval of bank and custodial data including transactions, positions and pricing.

Data integrations can, in today’s information-hungry world, also import benchmarks, indices and descriptive security information for a wider range of reporting options.

At a glance, data integrations allow access to some 2,600 financial institutions.

4. Dashboards with drill through

It is not secret that the ability to view a summary of financial data is paramount for any business.

While detailed reports – aggregated via methods mentioned above – are excellent tools for analysis, an overview of the information is just as critical.

Dashboards eliminate the need to run daily reports for common metrics like performance, asset allocation and account balances, providing instant access to detailed information.

Users can choose from between five and 25 inserts to customize a dashboard for roles (such as for accountants, investment managers and executives).

“If you couple a dashboard with API calls and data integrations, you have the ability to access real-time information across a variety of holdings,” Mangalindan said. “The beauty of dashboards is the ability it gives you to really drill down.”

5. Client portal

This is something that many technology vendors today are offering either as a complementary product or as an add-on from a third-party vendor.

The ability to provide clients with access to their financial information 24/7/365 is a competitive advantage to any firm. Essentially, client portals provide clients with secure access to their portfolio data.

Rather than sending email updates or static reports, client portals facilitate the delivery of dynamic information in a very flexible format. Information can also be stored and shared with clients.

“When I talk to wealth managers today, many say ‘I want a client portal,’ but what they’re really, I think, saying, is ‘we want a better ability to communicate with our end-clients,’” Mangalindan said.

Indeed, there may be instances where having a client portal doesn’t make sense, such as when there is a risk of clients becoming overwhelmed by the information.

“It’s up to you to decide what client can really use this to their benefit,” said Mangalindan.

6. Document management

The best image to depict the notion of old school document management would be a block of file cabinets – a very tangible way of storing information and client data, but also time-consuming to access and vulnerable to physical disasters.

Executed correctly, document management can create a much more organized and accessible file repository with multiple locations. Being able to attach documents to transactions and invoices, for example, creates a whole new level of organization and is safer due to features like disaster recovery.

Many vendors today offer document management as a complementary tool within their application, said Mangalindan.

Digital technology has also enabled clients to scan documents or take photos of, say, art. Even appraisals of their assets can be used to help with insurance claims, for example.

7. Software-as-a-service (SaaS)

Gone are the days of CD-ROMS and hardware installs – SaaS offers a new method of delivering software.

SaaS is best described as a software delivery model in which software and associated data are centrally hosted in the cloud by independent software vendors, or by various application service providers.

It has become a common delivery model for many business applications and a growth area in the wealth management space.

“You often don’t know where your data center is located, let alone where the servers are located,” Mangalindan said.

Security and data protection can reduce labor costs by eliminating the need for an IT department; it’s a hot topic in the industry today.