This month's headlines feature several firms that are taking action to deliver for the wealth management industry. Whether that's listening to advisors and providing solutions or advocating for customers in this Wild Wild West era of data, we're happy to see companies pushing to do more and do the right thing. Here we present our Word on WealthTech take on November's five headlines.
FactSet has long brought value to a very specific area of the value proposition, but now it appears the organization is moving toward helping advisors in other areas. By working with CapIntel, which helps advisors take data and talk to clients about it, FactSet can help advisors go beyond researching information to have better conversations with clients. These partnerships are the early stages of FactSet becoming a more tangible element of the advisor desktop. In our opinion, it's great to see Greg King and his team expanding the value proposition for advisors.
Orion's advisor survey identified key insights on AI use and expectations in wealth management, preferences for separate versus packaged technology solutions and more. Orion is actively listening to advisors and reporting to the industry what they need, where they have frustration points and where businesses are going, and then uses that information openly to drive their innovation. The most impressive thing about this survey is that Orion is sharing it publicly. This is good for the industry.
F2 is seeing an increase in interest in large institutions innovating or changing their portfolio management or trading accounting systems going into 2025. A large group will spend money on this in the coming months, so Cheryl Nash to lead InvestCloud APL is a good move. Cheryl is a phenomenal wealth technology leader with experience leading complex technology. She has tremendous credibility in the industry and people really trust her to deliver results.
Fidelity intends to block third-party tools
Fidelity will prohibit unaffiliated advisers and independent practitioners who use it for custodial or clearing services from using fintech operations like Pontera to access and manage accounts they do not advise. We're not surprised that Fidelity is pushing back on this, but it has a legal, fiduciary and brand obligation to protect clients from their information being consumed by places it doesn't understand or used to represent advice without involving the adviser or Fidelity. It's unfortunate for people whose Fidelity accounts no longer show up in their mobile planning app or collection platform, but the downside of not being able to control where that data goes is worse. Fidelity may be the first custodian to do so, but this is likely the start of a broader trend of large institutions tightening where they send data.
F2 published a report that examined the satisfaction of wealth management firms with their CRM tool. Satisfaction rates are not high. But we believe that if you are unhappy, it is not the tool; it's you You haven't thought enough about how you want that CRM to work and the experiences you want to create. It's like going to the grocery store and buying all the main ingredients and throwing them in a pot and wondering why it doesn't end up being a great recipe. To get the maximum benefit, it takes care and partnering with someone who can customize workflows, integrations and processes based on how your firm operates. We just don't see enough firms thinking about how to use their CRMs properly. Remember, it doesn't matter what CRM you have, but how thoughtful you have been about designing the process.
One more month left! Stay tuned for what we reveal in the final edition of Words for WealthTech in the year 2024.