Steve Beals Senior Vice President,
Client Service and Operations Beacon Pointe Newport Beach
When you think of financial services, technology may not be one of the first words that come to mind. In our business, however, this couldn’t be further from reality. Technology is at the heart of how we run our business, cultivate new relationships and service our clients. Outside of people, it’s one of the most valuable tools to leverage when differentiating your team’s services in a highly competitive marketplace. Knowing this, Beacon Pointe has always valued innovation—given our entrepreneurial spirit, and independence as a registered investment adviser.
To stay on the technology forefront, our approach has always entailed leveraging cutting-edge hardware and software designed to meet our client needs and empower our employees. For example, we recently deployed the use of Microsoft Surface Pro to our firm’s wealth advisory team. The Surface Pro has many distinct advantages, making it invaluable to our client-facing employees. Those include offering a desktop in the office and a tablet when traveling. Having the ability to conduct business meetings and presentations anywhere at any time has proved immensely valuable in driving efficiency with an added key benefit—our clients love it.
Everyday integration of technology also includes the use of sophisticated portfolio management, performance reporting and client relationship-management tools. Those solutions are highly customizable, rich in functionality, cloud-based, and provide integration touch points between multiple systems. They allow our firm to quickly analyze client portfolios, implement investment instructions and create performance reports with a click of a few buttons. That type of technology muscle creates operational efficiencies while empowering employees to deliver a consistently high level of service to our clients. This same technology allows clients online and mobile access to their investment portfolios, financial plans, and specialized reports within a safe, secure environment. That is a win-win.
Lastly, technology allows our teams to more effectively communicate with each other and therefore our clients. For example, we recently launched a messaging system to further improve internal communication. The new desktop and mobile collaboration tool creates the ability to send instant messages to individuals, as well as teams via “channels,” further fueling teamwork and efficiency.
While long in features, these tools do come at a cost. However, we believe the benefits of being on the technology forefront far outweigh the costs. That position is solidified by feedback we receive from our employees and clients.
Stewart Darrell Managing Director Delphi Private Advisors Newport Beach
At Delphi Private Advisors, we have committed a tremendous amount of research, thought and investment dollars in acquiring, developing and maintaining cutting-edge portfolio-management technology. The technology plays a key role in helping us engineer, construct and manage sophisticated portfolio strategies on behalf of our clientele.
Our next-generation systems allow us to provide what we believe to be a superior overall investment experience, as illustrated below:
Family-level portfolio management: Multiple family accounts are aggregated into one integrated strategic portfolio.
That maximizes efficiency through thoughtful asset location across account types.
Custom integration of legacy positions: Existing positions are integrated into forward-looking investment strategies to address tax sensitivity, charitable gifting, and other estate planning goals and new account transition optimization.
Rebalancing: Algorithmic or rules-based progressions are used to establish ideal rebalancing bands to take advantage of momentum or other predetermined opportunity sets.
Tax management: Diagnostic functions are used to identify and execute tax loss harvesting opportunities based on existing and future tax circumstances of each client.
Performance Reporting: Customized portals allow clients to access data according to their personal preferences. Reports and other documents are also delivered through this secure online environment.
Technology plays a pivotal role in providing truly differentiated investment solutions built on the principles of transparency and collaboration with our clients.
David Hutchison Partner, Portfolio Manager Triad Investment Management LLC Newport Beach
Triad manages separate client portfolios, as well as a small-cap mutual fund. Providing our clients with accurate and secure information is a top priority for our firm. Our clients need to know and trust that we are using best-in-class technologies to serve their needs.
Technology is a significant investment for us in money and time, but we have found that the investment pays off by helping us run reliably and more efficiently. We have retained an IT management firm to oversee our technology choices and provide technical support. We believe it is more effective to have a specialist do this for us rather than having to become IT experts ourselves.
For our firm operations, we have adopted several different solutions.
Advent OnDemand uses direct data feeds from our custodians to update each of our portfolios and track our performance. It saves us a significant amount of manual work in portfolio reconciliation.
We use Morningstar Direct to provide us with attribution analysis for our investment strategies. Microsoft Office 365 serves as our email platform and provides access to the current version of Microsoft Office, both desktop and mobile versions.
Given the regulatory requirements to archive email, we are using Redtail’s solution to archive all of our inbound and outbound emails. We also use a password-management system that enables our team to securely save and access their login credentials.
On the client relationship side, we use Salesforce to manage our client and prospective client relationships. It’s a very flexible platform that we have customized to meet our firm’s unique needs and provides an iPhone app to allow us to access this data anywhere. We create client reports with Advent OnDemand, and we send out our monthly commentaries to our clients and friends with Constant Contact. It is a very efficient way for us to handle group emails.
Technology is also behind our business continuity planning. Nearly all our applications are Web-based, and our client files are backed up on Dropbox, enabling us to operate at an alternate location if needed.
Andi Kang President Crown Wealth Management Inc.
Costa Mesa
At Crown Wealth Management, we have a wealth of ways that technology assists our relationships with our clients. At the heart of our relationship management, our contact management system archives all of our notes, schedules our calendar, and ensures that all tasks are completed. We use a complex portfolio modeling tool that helps us show clients how they could potentially lower their expected risk while keeping their expected returns the same or keep their expected risk the same and increase their potential expected return. We also utilize technology for client-protection purposes. For instance, before making a presentation or even writing an article, we upload the draft, and our compliance department will review the text and coach us for required and recommended changes so that clients are receiving the intended message. Emails also are reviewed through an online system for further protection. Another recent technological improvement is the use of a mobile check deposit program where client deposits can be uploaded directly into their accounts as opposed to overnight-mailing their checks to our custodian.
At the end of the day, while the technology assists us, it is the relationships that matter. If the systems we use enable us to spend more time with our clients, then we are free to ensure we are listening intently and understanding their goals and requests.
Robert McDaniel
President, Chief Investment Officer Lighthouse Financial Services Inc.
Brea
Although wealth management involves solving complex financial matters, at its core it’s a people business. The client experience is just as important as the investment returns we generate and the financial advice we give throughout the year. Growing firms such as Lighthouse Financial Services Inc. use technology to gain efficiency in daily operations by automating time-intensive complex functions, such as daily downloads and reconciliations, trading and trade audits, performance reporting and accounting gain through technology free up our team’s time so that we can more acutely focus on improving the client experience. Technology also allows our team of in-house experts to leverage their expertise in portfolio management, wealth planning, and tax-planning matters. Our team can now focus time and energy on the client and their individual circumstances.
Furthermore, we don’t just use technology for our own benefit; we leverage it for our clients by providing them with a secure Web portal that consolidates all of their important documents in a digital format that can be easily accessed.
Our clients now have their tax returns, trusts and wills, insurance policies, performance reports, and statements at the tip of their fingers from anywhere in the world. We have also recently launched an enhanced communication section within the Web portal that allows clients to securely communicate directly with any team member in the firm. Our clients can transfer documents within the Web portal, and the receiving team member gets promptly notified. Clients love the fact that they can securely communicate with our team within the digital world.
Ethan Morgan Managing Director J.P. Morgan Private Bank Irvine
From San Diego to Seattle, technology is a vast and ever-expanding part of the economy in the West region. And as the industry grows, the wealth it generates creates a larger and larger opportunity for private banking and wealth management.
Here in Orange County, we are seeing this firsthand. We’re not Silicon Valley yet, but there is a burgeoning technology base here that is reaching a critical mass. With so much wealth being created so quickly, we have allocated part of our team to focus exclusively on the technology, media and telecom space to help identify prospective clients and most efficiently connect them with the best-in-class services and solutions that are the hallmark of J.P. Morgan Private Bank.
Having part of a team dedicated to this specific space is more than just our recognition of the changing face of wealth in Orange County as technology becomes an increasingly dominant player. We recognize also that the men and women creating this new wealth are frequently facing many of the same challenges that are characteristic of a rapid-growth industry. Many of those companies experience tremendous increases in equity valuations, which can leave them vulnerable. Many of those private tech business owners look to us for guidance on bridge loans, personal credit and liquidity solutions. Our broad experience in helping nascent enterprises navigate tax planning and monetization strategies brings a fantastic value add to the region’s technology space.
Additionally, those wealthy individuals get more than that white-glove boutique service of J.P. Morgan Private Bank. They have access to the broad, global expertise of JPMorgan Chase. Our private bankers in Orange County can partner with our colleagues in technology banking so that our clients’ needs can be met with the most powerful and efficient solutions.
From the rise of crossover investors to early venture capital trends and enterprise adoption of the cloud and the Internet of Things, it is clear that technology remains a dynamic industry. So we will continue to focus on the technology sector to ensure our clients and our prospective clients are able to effectively handle the challenges that that ever-widening industry presents.
Michael Shockley Managing Director RGT Wealth Advisors Irvine
New technology continues to empower advisers to stay connected and service our clients more efficiently than ever, including when we are on the move. Cloud-based, secure, integrated mobile computing coupled with wireless tablets enables advisers to securely gain access to all pertinent information regarding our clients from any location with Internet access. In the old days, we would spend hours printing reports, statements, and Excel schedules while connecting to many different data repositories to gather the most recent information. That process, while effective, was arduous, and often the materials became dated shortly after printing. Since the move to the cloud, we are no longer tied to conference rooms or heavy briefcases full of paper. With technologies such as Tamarac’s Advisor Suite, advisers are able to see in real time all activity, performance, and back-office work regarding our clients. Advisers can now bring their “office” to the most convenient location to meet our clients and continue to deepen the relationship. Platforms like Dropbox and Box enable us to quickly and securely transfer information with our clients’ third-party providers.
Additionally, clients can access portals through our websites to access quarterly reports, tax returns, estate planning documents and other important information. Clients now have the ability to send advisers important documentation from their own devices, including the ability to electronically sign documents. New technologies also offer robust integration that enables back-office professionals to efficiently work with advisers. Rebalancing portfolios, processing financial statements, and creating retirement projections has never been easier and more consistent. Given the developments over the past five years, adviser technology should continue to move toward secure cloud platforms, with more virtual reporting and client-facing technologies available. The technology-wise adviser has never been more empowered, and that trend should continue.
Christine Tang and Anh Tran Managing Partners, Co-founders Modern Wealth Advisors Costa Mesa
Technology has been instrumental in the growth of our company and has redefined the way we conduct business. Not only has technology allowed us to create a more efficient system and workflow, but it has also given us the ability to strengthen our client relationships.
Over the last few years, we have worked toward creating a more efficient and secure operations system. We implemented a CRM system, added integration tools, and invested in financial planning software that enables us to access client data quickly and from any location with the highest levels of security and privacy. The technology has allowed us to work collaboratively and share information with our clients and our team in an efficient manner. The ability to share information with clients in real time helps us better advise our clients and makes sure the strategies we are recommending are up to date.
Technology has helped us build our client relationships by giving us the ability to communicate and interact with clients in a number of different ways based on the client’s preference. We are no longer limited to just face to face meetings or phone calls, but we can also email, conduct meetings via online conferencing, or send news updates over social media. That gives our clients flexibility and the option to choose how they want to receive their information and how frequently they want to receive it.
Incorporating technology into our client meetings has also proven to be highly effective. We often use our iPad or laptops at our meetings to present the ideas we are discussing with clients. Our clients appreciate that interactive approach because it helps them better understand complex concepts, which allows clients to give more informed input on their financial plans. There is a sense of accountability when clients can work on their financial plans with us in real time.
We will continue to embrace technology and innovation as we see how beneficial it has been to growing our business and our client relationships.
