James Pershing, partner, SunGard Consulting Services, and wealth management practice lead, writes about some of the challenges and opportunities for wealth managers in the digital age.

James Pershing, partner, SunGard Consulting Services, and wealth management practice lead, writes about some of the challenges and opportunities for wealth managers in the digital age. The views expressed here are those of the author and not necessarily endorsed by the editors of this publication, although we are grateful for its contribution to debate about the industry.

When it comes to generating ideas, collaborating on plans and accomplishing goals, many believe that two heads are better than one.  And, logically speaking, the key ingredient required for two heads to function successfully as one must be effective communication.

Further, it is safe to assume that the communication between a financial advisor and his or her client must be effective and carefully balanced. Constant communication resulting in noise overload doesn’t work, nor does sparse communication that becomes disjointed and disorganized.

The trick is getting the right level of communication between the advisor and client to accommodate each client’s unique desires for how much information is communicated and at what frequency.  Every client is different.

However, regardless of how much information is required by a client or the frequency at which the advisor and client communicate, one thing is certain:  the advisor and client should always be on the same page.

With the proliferation of devices and apps and an ever-accelerating number of clients demanding digital information whenever and wherever, the digital experience between advisor and client must become more effective.

For instance, an advisor and client might spend valuable time building a plan for retirement or managing wealth, but once this plan is in place, the common understanding of the plan between the advisor and client often starts to fade. Why does this happen?

One reason is that many of the applications that service the two parties were built with only one party in mind.

Most financial institutions have spent millions on acquiring technology that enables an advisor to be more efficient and effective at pitching their expertise to prospects, acquiring them as clients, building the client’s plan, on-boarding the client and managing the client’s portfolio.

In the meantime, the same financial institution has dedicated a separate technology budget for the purpose of satisfying the end client. Clients require access to their financial information anytime, anywhere, so they can electronically view their (and their family members’) accounts, make deposits, transfer funds, review performance, manage debts and expenses, check their total net worth, and so on.

Unfortunately, most financial institutions have not been successful in digitally melding or “mashing-up” advisor and client communication. Digitally speaking, advisor and client should be on the same “web page,” be it desktop, mobile, or tablet.

Imagine if anytime, anywhere the advisor and client could be viewing the exact same digital information. Not in different screen formats; rather, in the exact same format.  The same screens, the same look and feel, and the same navigation. And imagine if the financial plan that was originally created could be updated while both the advisor and the client were viewing the exact same screen - but on separate devices. Both the advisor and client can simultaneously view and collaborate live as they consider a new asset allocation, perform “what if” scenarios and view the resulting future projections of the client’s portfolio.

Finally, imagine if the client knew when the advisor was online while reviewing information online. A small circle icon might light up in green like Facebook, telling the client that the advisor is online and available. The power lies in the client’s hands either to instant message the advisor or simply ignore them. The client decides.

This is the definition of effective digital communication: connected, in tune with one another, anytime, anywhere.

Two heads are better than one and four eyes are better than two. Instead of building digital advisor and client technology in separate vacuums, let’s embrace the mash-up between the two, creating effective (digital) communication and smarter advisor-client technology to serve both parties synchronously.