JERSEY CITY, N.J., April 30, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Leaders of some of
the nation's largest advisory firms attending the 2019 Elite
Advisor Summit held by BNY Mellon's Pershing ("Pershing") last
month underscored how technology continues to be both a strategic
business imperative and a primary business challenge.
In fact, implementing new technologies or solutions to meet
client needs was viewed as the biggest challenge to business by 37
percent of advisory firm executives responding to the 2019 Elite
Advisor Poll conducted at the Summit—second only to hiring and
developing talent, which 41 percent of executives deemed to be
their biggest challenge.
"As firms allocate a growing portion of their budgets to
technology, a significant number of them are still challenged with
reaping the desired returns from these investments," said
Christina Townsend, director of
advisor platform strategy at BNY Mellon's Pershing. "This reaffirms
our belief that technology must be viewed within the broader
context of business goals and the optimal client experience that
firms are looking to deliver. In some cases, this means going back
to the basics and getting advisors to leverage what's already at
their fingertips."
An overwhelming majority (80 percent) of advisory firms are
planning to increase investments in technology in 2019, according
to the Elite Advisor Poll. Almost half (45 percent) of respondents
to the Poll cited creating a better client experience—online or
otherwise—as the top goal for technology investments, followed by
creating more capacity for advisors (29 percent).
Meanwhile, the biggest technology challenge, according to 44
percent of respondents, was adoption of technology by advisors,
followed by identifying the right technology stack (28
percent).
"We realize that building the right technology framework is a
challenge for many firms—especially as a growing number of them are
looking to create a unique experience designed specifically for
their optimal client," continued Townsend. "That's why we are
expanding our team of technology consultants, who will work
side-by-side with advisory firms, with the sole focus of helping
clients achieve their digital transformation goals—regardless of
whether they leverage Pershing technology, choose to integrate
third-party solutions, or create their own experiences."
In building an optimal client experience, a majority (62
percent) of respondents said they were funneling their technology
investments toward integrations (customer relationship management,
custodian, account opening, etc.), while slightly over a quarter
(27 percent) said they were focusing on building client portals or
websites. Further underscoring firms' efforts to get the basics
right, new technologies such as artificial intelligence are falling
down the priority list, with less than one tenth (8 percent) of
respondents indicating that they were focusing investments in this
area.
About the Elite Advisor Poll
The 2019 Elite Advisor
Poll was conducted live via mobile phones during the Elite Advisor
Summit, which took place March 11-13,
2019, in Ft. Lauderdale,
Florida. The poll gauged advisors' views and concerns around
talent and technology. An average of 27 executives responded to the
technology-related questions.
About the Elite Advisor Summit
The Elite Advisor
Summit, hosted by BNY Mellon's Pershing, is a two-day,
invitation-only event with some of the country's most preeminent
executives of RIAs and institutional firms. The event is designed
to help advisory firms compete in today's fast-changing environment
and facilitate meaningful conversations, ideation and networking.
The inaugural Elite Advisor Summit was held Feb. 28–March 2, 2017,
in Aventura, Florida. This year's
Summit hosted 86 executives from the nation's largest RIA firms,
representing an average AUM of $9
billion and a median AUM of $1.8
billion.
About BNY Mellon's Pershing
BNY Mellon's Pershing and
its affiliates provide a comprehensive network of global financial
business solutions to advisors, broker-dealers, family offices,
hedge fund and '40 Act fund managers, registered investment advisor
firms and wealth managers. Many of the world's most sophisticated
and successful financial services firms rely on Pershing for
clearing and custody; investment, wealth and retirement solutions;
technology and enterprise data management; trading services; prime
brokerage and business consulting. Pershing helps clients improve
profitability and drive growth, create capacity and efficiency,
attract and retain talent, and manage risk and regulation. With a
network of offices worldwide, Pershing provides
business-to-business solutions to clients representing
approximately 7 million investor accounts globally. Pershing LLC
(member FINRA, NYSE, SIPC) is a BNY Mellon company. Additional
information is available on pershing.com, or follow us on Twitter
@Pershing.
About BNY Mellon
BNY Mellon is a global investments
company dedicated to helping its clients manage and service their
financial assets throughout the investment lifecycle. Whether
providing financial services for institutions, corporations or
individual investors, BNY Mellon delivers informed investment
management and investment services in 35 countries. As of
March 31, 2019, BNY Mellon had
$34.5 trillion in assets under
custody and/or administration, and $1.8
trillion in assets under management. BNY Mellon can act as a
single point of contact for clients looking to create, trade, hold,
manage, service, distribute or restructure investments. BNY Mellon
is the corporate brand of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation
(NYSE: BK). Additional information is available on
www.bnymellon.com. Follow us on Twitter @BNYMellon or
visit our newsroom at www.bnymellon.com/newsroom for the
latest company news.
Sanuber Grohe
+1 201 413 2247
sanuberbilguvar.grohe@pershing.com
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SOURCE BNY Mellon