Andrew Au: «Wealth Managers Need to Provide Higher Quality Services»

Andrew Au: «Wealth Managers Need to Provide Higher Quality Services»

Furthermore, investor demands are evolving, with investors now becoming more and more digital and expecting information immediately anytime, anywhere. They are expecting quicker service, information available immediately and often through digital channels, they expect more choice, and more investment products and advice that are relevant to them, are safer and suitable.

Wealth managers are struggling to keep up with these expectations. They are burdened with compliance paperwork and processes, and struggling to meet the high customer demands and timely advice.

«The cost of delivering financial advice and services needs to be reduced»

All these factors and more are keeping the cost of providing wealth management high, and leaving many Asians behind. If the industry is to democratize, and expand beyond its current base, two things need to happen.

The cost of delivering financial advice and services needs to be reduced, and wealth managers need to be able to provide higher quality services to more investors – in other words do more with less. Digitization of the financial services ecosystem will allow both of these things to happen and more.

Today, digital investment platforms are available that incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analytics and can automate many of the tasks that currently bog down bankers and financial advisers. Furthermore, they can now go beyond this and proactively identify and guide the users to suitable opportunities that they may have missed.

The most obvious benefit is the ability to overcome the «scourge» of compliance. Digital wealth platforms are able to automate much of the compliance process, ensuring financial products are aligned and in compliance with the latest rules and regulations across multiple markets and jurisdictions.

«Digital platforms provide a mix of transparency, speed, choice and safety»

In fact, the benefits for the supply side of the industry are enormous, as they are now able to push products that have automatically gone through a compliance process and the relevant safety procedures, allowing quicker passage through banks.

For financial advisers and wealth managers, these digital platforms will allow them to compare and contrast a number of different products with all information clearly laid out in real time – importantly, this information will be made available to them anytime, anywhere. 

Ultimately, what digital investment platforms do is provide a mix of transparency, speed, choice and safety, allowing wealth managers to spend more time with their clients, and provide advice beyond the portfolio, and advice that is customized to each of their clients – all with greater speed.

The knock-on effect of this is the ability to provide better wealth management for a wider target market, making wealth management accessible to more people, and democratizing the industry.

Andrew Au is co-founder and CEO of AGDelta. Prior to establishing his business Au worked for Bankers Trust, Macquarie and Deutsche Bank and SunGard, before he founded AGDelta in 2004.