As a classic 90’s hit once coined, “life is a highway” and I must say that one thing I really enjoy in my gig as CEO of a fast growing fintech like myprosperity is hitting the highway for a national roadshow. Last week marked the end of the 2018 Connected Innovation Roadshow – a 3 week tour around the country to 6 cities with over 1,000 registered.
The Status Quo
Hot on the heels of the Royal Commission, it is clear that business models around the whole advice industry are under pressure. The shift from trail commissions to fee for service, the transition from compliance-only to advisory, and the search for new and profitable revenue streams are issues affecting accountants, planners and mortgage brokers alike.
The Royal Commission is putting a spotlight on bad behaviour in the industry but the reality is, even though most advisers are trying to do the right thing, Australians simply aren’t seeking advice. Only 15% of people use a financial adviser, yet 86% of those that don’t say they are concerned about their finances.
Interestingly, the reason people don’t seek advice isn’t lack of trust. Rather, there is a fundamental gap in the perception of value.1 The younger generations especially don’t understand the benefit in seeking financial assistance from an adviser or an accountant.
We believe the advice industry can do more to close that gap and technology will be the key enabler for any adviser wanting not only to survive, but indeed thrive, in this post-Royal Commission world of advice.
The 4 Drivers
Everything myprosperity does aims to do one of four things for our Partners:
Drive client engagement
Build a digital brand
Grow revenue
Achieve practice efficiencies
In his whirlwind of a presentation, our CIO, Stephen Jackel, showcased how both existing and upcoming features are built around these pillars. A big investment in mobile means we’re now in a position to deliver a fully branded mobile app as part of our Mobile First plan. How partners are leveraging this app and other tools to build a powerhouse digital brand will be the focus of a series of webinars we’ll be launching in July.
Form fill technology helps advisers automate cumbersome administrative tasks like fact finds and gather the data needed from clients in no time. Improvements to the tax assistant wizard which captures and organises tax related client data, and the recent release of a vehicle logbook ensure accountants have everything they need to make tax time a breeze.
Perhaps one of the biggest hits was the announcement of Kwidz, the finance app for kids. Designed to help children ages 8 to 16 understand the basic concepts of personal finance, Kwidz is also a great engagement tool for partners looking to build a lasting relationship with the families they support.
We’re especially excited about Kwidz as research by Sweeney has shown that children using technology to track savings earned through chores or a job have a better appreciation for the value of money. Kwidz is going through final testing at the moment and we’ll be kicking-off a pilot in the next two weeks.
A Connected Future
The true power of any platform is its ability to fit seamlessly with users’ existing tools & processes; we’re no exception. Connected Innovation was very much about showcasing the numerous integrations myprosperity has with forward thinking companies in the financial services space – and beyond.
One such partnership is with View Legal, bringing estate planning into the platform and allowing partners to offer their clients free automated wills and executor kits.
Other key partnerships included Spotlight Reporting for consolidated business and personal reporting, and Practice Ignition for providing myprosperity content to prepare beautiful proposals, including contract and payment terms for clients signing up to fixed fee offerings.
Last but not least, we announced a partnership with marketing specialists Bizink to embed some of their digital marketing services within the platform.
Straight from the Source
We also wanted to use the Roadshow to highlight some of the amazing things our partners are doing. We had 15 partners speak over the 6 events, sharing examples of how myprosperity has been used within their practices.
A recurring theme was how successful partners used myprosperity to drive the conversation with their clients.
A recurring theme was how successful partners used myprosperity to drive the conversation with their clients. Rather than sending out links to the platform and waiting for clients to instantly adopt the platform of their own volition, these partners tackled the bull by the horns. They invested time and resources into changing their internal processes, assigning a dedicated resource and embedding the wealth portal into their everyday business practices.
The upside to their business was compelling. From capturing client data wired up in real time, to significantly reducing the preparation time needed ahead of client meetings, these partners saw huge efficiency gains from using myprosperity.
Many were also delighted with the platform’s client engagement tools, such as to-dos which they used to maintain an ongoing dialogue with clients, and goals, which were praised as a way to keep clients engaged with their finances.
What’s Next
With so much on offer, 2018 is going to be a hugely exciting year for myprosperity and our partners. We’ll be kicking off a series of pilots in the next 2 weeks for both Kwidz and the estate planning features. Partners involved in the pilot will receive early access to the features and dedicated support for assistance in rolling them out.
Those of you who attended the Roadshow would have received an email with a survey link. If you’d like to get involved but haven’t received or filled in the survey, let us know below. Any partner can participate, regardless of whether you came to the Roadshow!
And if you haven’t taken up the Roadshow special, there is still time. The winner of the special marketing makeover from our friends at Bizink (worth $12,900) will be selected during the first week of July. Enter before June 29th to participate.
All in all, it was a fabulous event. We came away bubbling with excitement for what’s to come and our partners’ enthusiasm with the platform and the direction we’re taking it in.
Check out the highlights reel below for the best of the Connected Innovation roadshow.
1 Source: “The Truth about Gen X & Y”, ING Whitepaper, 2016
2 Westpac Kids and Money Report, Sweeney Research