Sophisticated Clients, Increased Competition and Forecasted Growth: Are You Ready?

Today’s sophisticated clients are demanding more from their wealth management firms: holistic and timely advice, superior and complex services, unconstrained access to products, and of course, solid portfolio performance. Firms continue to seek the elusive turnkey client experience through client segmentation, the provision of tiered services via multiple distribution channels including advisor, online and call center, and the increased utilization of technology to automate key processes.

Wealth management organizations face increased competition for both up (U / HNWIs: private banks, family offices and trusts) and down (mass affluent / retail: banks, brokerages, independent advisors and online trading sites) market clients. Firms are consistently looking for ways to differentiate themselves and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage, while lowering internal costs and raising margins. To attain these goals, firms should focus on the following key areas:

>	People
	●	Clients – Firms must create a strong client segmentation and tiered services strategy that aligns each product and service offering with its appropriate market segment.
	●	Advisors – Today’s advisors spend too much time on administrative activities and not enough on high-value activities such as meeting with clients, portfolio management and cross-selling additional products and services.
>	Process
	●	New Products / Services Launch – For a new offering to successfully go to market, it is necessary that its value and differentiation be clearly articulated, a targeted segment identified and a defined process put in place.
	●	Client Servicing – Firms are challenged by account opening processes, are unable to provide aggregated client performance reporting, and are not in tune with actual advisor business processes – to the point that client servicing levels are adversely affected and advisor optimization is restrained.
>	Technology
	●	Advisor / Call Center Workstation – Firms continue to maintain and build redundant applications that are not integrated, do not provide value-added functionality and are increasingly being commoditized by third-party wealth management vendors.
	●	Client Online – Clients expect real-time account information, aggregated financial views, bill paying, alerts and notifications. The client experience, overall usability and capacity for online collaboration are key focus areas for firms striving to improve client satisfaction.
	●	Data Provision / Management – Firms must focus on the delivery of client centric views, the provision of aggregated account data (custodied / held-away), accurate performance data and robust portfolio accounting.

Expertise And Assets
Our approach to wealth management begins with our deep domain and content knowledge. Our industry thought leaders bring an average of fifteen years of experience to bear on the ever-shifting challenges facing today’s firms. Additionally, we have built a significant knowledge repository of wealth management solution assets, including market research and best practices, that jump-start initiatives and ensure the rapid and successful delivery of solutions to clients.

A Winning Combination
BusinessEdge wealth management offerings focus on addressing the major pain points of firms and the clients they serve. In addition to the traditional suite of capabilities – including requirements / process gathering, roadmap development, program / integration management, quality assurance, IT strategy and transformation, and regulatory and compliance – BusinessEdge provides the following offerings specific to wealth management:

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>	Channel Management – optimization of multi-channel advice delivery (advisor, call center and online) based on client preferences and segmentation.
>	Product Launch Management – product and services launch roadmap, new product platform requirements and design, dependency management and operations
>	New Account Opening – account opening process and forms redesign and automation, client-centric data model design, and family office client on-boarding
>	FA Desktop – the definition of leading practices and requirements for the FA desktop platform, business case development, vendor selection, proof of concept management and an implementation roadmap
>	Wealth Management Online – competitive benchmark, leading practices and requirements definition and user experience design
>	Client / Performance Reporting – AIMR 2010 performance measurement readiness and roadmap, client reporting design and client reporting delivery processes
>	Customer Data Architecture – data consolidation, stewardship and integration strategy
>	Advisor Adoption – change management strategy, communication planning, training and branch rollout planning

If you are looking for an experienced partner with deep wealth management domain expertise, then please contact us – together we can plan and implement a winning solution that will provide you with a sustainable competitive advantage.