The fee-based advisory marketplace has become increasingly competitive. As a result, new challenges confront advisors seemingly every week – the aging of baby boomers, the emergence of a new generation of tech-savvy investors, the rapid advancement of technology, and incursions from algorithm-powered investment platforms, to name a few. So, how do you continue to grow in this environment? Of course, winning new clients is important, but it’s equally important (and less expensive) to grow and strengthen your existing relationships and reduce the risk of client attrition.
The optimal scenario for growing and retaining clients is to become their most trusted lead advisor, engaged across their financial lives, not just their securities portfolios, including positioning to help them in such areas as life insurance and annuities. Historically, advisors have faced barriers to accessing insurance products for their clients, including high commissions and product complexity. Not surprisingly, many advisors have ceded that part of the relationship to insurance brokers.
That’s changing, and SS&C plays a pivotal role in the transformation. Technology has opened up new opportunities for fee-based advisors to actively participate in their clients’ insurance decisions and purchases. With the Advent Insurance Marketplace Powered by DPL (AIM), advisors have begun integrating insurance and annuities into their practices and their clients’ overall financial plans.
We’ve seen that advisors often start to leverage the AIM platform with clients and prospects that already own annuities. For example, advisors frequently have clients who have been sold a commission-based annuity at some point in the past. Until now, advisors could typically provide reporting on that holding and otherwise work around it with the rest of the assets they manage for that client. Now, however, advisors can offer a new service around these legacy assets by using the annuity comparison calculator within AIM, backed by a team of knowledgeable annuity consultants. As a result, advisors can easily show clients how their legacy annuity compares to commission-free solutions from various well-known insurance carriers and guide them to better solutions that either save them money or deliver more benefits. In addition, the AIM solution makes it easy to move their clients’ assets out of those legacy holdings and into the new products – a win for both the client and the advisor.
At a minimum, the ability to provide side-by-side product comparisons shows clients that you are thinking in their best interest, even if you are confirming that they already have the most suitable option. And, there might be a better option that enables you to grow the relationship and billable assets while also improving outcomes for the client.
This example illustrates how AIM can help advisors expand their offerings, strengthen relationships and grow their business. Along with annuities, the marketplace offers access to insurance products from several carriers, including whole and term life, long-term care, and disability coverage. What’s more, AIM integrates directly into SS&C portfolio management and accounting platforms, including the Black Diamond® Wealth Platform, making it virtually seamless to incorporate insurance holdings into a client’s aggregated wealth picture.
To learn more about the Advent Insurance Marketplace Powered by DPL and how to get started, request your personalized demo today.
