The concept of a “trust,” a designee who maintains assets on behalf of someone else, has been around since the 12th century when English soldiers transferred ownership of their lands to another to manage in their absence. However once they returned home, many encountered a trustee who refused to return the property. To solve this problem, England’s Court of Chancery recognized the returning individual as the true beneficiary of these arrangements, and the concept of a trust became widespread. Today, trusts have become beneficial wealth management and transfer tools to carry out the wishes of investors and property holders.
Advances in technology have been a great boon to today’s modern trust experience. However, due to the highly regulated nature of trusts, some banks and trust companies still rely on legacy systems, paper reports, and manual processes since a trust is challenging to change once put in place. As a result, trustees, beneficiaries, and executors’ have not all had the opportunity to avail themselves of such things as interactive digital portals or mobile applications.
In today’s environment, end-client expectations change rapidly, and leveraging digital tools is imperative for banks and trust companies. Upgrading to a modern, easy-to-use application empowers trust firms to provide a more engaging client experience, and allows them to stay relevant as markets evolve.
In fact, according to a recent SS&C whitepaper, Modernizing the Trust Company Client Experience,
"Upstart competitors and new digital players are disrupting the conventional way high net worth investors view their wealth picture. Investment advisors can leverage third-party providers to deliver trust services. As a result, trust companies are at risk of seeing assets migrate to less established but more agile platforms.”
This potential risk indicates banks and trust companies need to take a renewed focus on the client experience. Clients now expect their service professionals to deliver a similar experience to those they use to manage other aspects of their daily lives. For example, the whitepaper also discusses how:
"The great generational wealth transfer is in full swing. Research has found that a majority of those who inherit wealth are likely to fire their parents’ primary advisor, creating a missed opportunity for trust firms to cross-sell other banking and investing services. Trust companies need to make themselves relevant and indispensable to the next generation.”
Ultimately, what is needed is the continued digital transformation of the trust industry. Many leading companies are rapidly embracing cloud technology to replace their legacy mainframe systems to make the deployment of modern client-facing applications quick and cost-effective. Not only does this digital approach enhance the client experience, but it also provides operational efficiencies and cost savings by outsourcing time-consuming and repetitive tasks such as daily data management and reconciliation.
The benefits for upgrading the client experience are many, including creating new business growth opportunities through cross-selling and keeping relationships once assets transfer to the next generation. Additionally, cost-savings and productivity enhancements via automated workflows free up resources for more value-added tasks while reducing risks.
Download the complete whitepaper today to learn more about how your trust company can stay relevant and competitive in this digital world.
For more information on how the SS&C Trust Suite can be configured to the unique needs of your business, contact us at (800) 727-0605 or email info@sscinc.com.
