The Integrated Practice Blog

As the heat builds up behind the emergence of the new category of online financial investment management providers, the so-called “Robo-Advisers”, many in the industry are predicting they will have a big impact on how investment advice is delivered and charged for in the future.

Backed by millions of venture capital dollars, these technology disruptors have set their sights (and literally their sites) on the investment management industry and have introduced an automated, low-cost service model to capture market share.

While still in the early stages, Robo-Advisers are gaining some traction, and putting pressure on traditional advisors to respond to their threat and rethink their business models. I believe the new, low cost competition from online advice platforms are providing both financial advisors – and the institutions that serve them – with a wake up call to evolve their firms.

As part of our mission to provide advisors with the actionable tools and information they need to succeed, FFPN has taken a leadership role in the industry to conduct in-depth research on the main Robo-Advisers, their business models, how advisors can respond, and ironically, which ones are actually friendly to human advisors.

This research is the basis behind our just released new white paper, How to Build a Robo-Shield™ for your Financial Advisory Firm: 20 Effective Tactics to Marginalize the Rise of Robo-Advisers. By taking a practice management approach, this industry report is the first to focus on solutions by providing advisory firms and institutions with specific business planning and practice management ideas they need to consider adopting in order to thrive in the coming years.

It is time to go beyond just acknowledging the presence of Robo-Advisers and predicting how they will affect our industry. I wanted to be the first company to provide advisory firms and institutions with an in-depth discussion of specific tactics they need to consider adopting. A Robo-Shield™ is the name we have given to the combination of operational efficiencies, staffing and practice management changes firms choose to implement in order to evolve their firms. In the report you will find concrete suggestions on how to update marketing messages, embrace technology, streamline operations, provide outstanding client service and maintain profitability in a more transparent, price-aware marketplace.

The good news is there is an incredible opportunity for firms to defend – and actually improve – their industry position by focusing on an efficient infrastructure that delivers a consistent and outstanding client service experience with well thought out systems, adoption of best-in-class technologies and clear pricing and client communications. I believe Robo-Advisers will actually serve as a catalyst to get firms to finally do what they should have been working on all along – upgrading their firm’s infrastructure and how they communicate and deliver their client services.

The white paper was released recently at the LaserApp Financial Services Conference. Read the press release here . To download a copy of the white paper at no cost, click here.