Disrupted by technological innovations, entire industries, from horse-drawn carriages to audiocassette tapes, have collapsed, a process 20th century economist Joseph Schumpeter famously called “creative destruction.” Now one breed of financial professional wonders if it’s next to face extinction: the registered investment adviser.
认识到所谓的浪潮波罗顾问— automated investing platforms that use algorithms to construct portfolios based on client goals and risk preferences — is a threat to the profession, RIAs have tried to harness technology to compete with these Silicon Valley–born service providers, as well as with more traditional advisers. In addition to allowing them to launch their own automated services, new software for portfolio accounting and management, risk management and marketing can help advisers broaden their reach, streamline their services and improve the client experience.
No firm exemplifies this paradigm shift better than Charles Schwab Corp. The San Francisco–based discount brokerage launched its own robo-adviser,施瓦布智能投资组合，三月然后通过施瓦布机构智能组合于6月份开设了独立顾问的平台。
“有一年或两年大量的关注ago, when the concept of the robo-adviser was first being thrown around, but that has done a 180,” says Bernard Clark, executive vice president and head of Schwab Advisor Services. “From our advisers, we’re seeing an awful lot of embracing of this concept.”
Between April and December of last year, assets under management of the top 11 robo-advisers swelled some 65 percent, to $19 billion, according to a report by Manhattan-based financial research firm Corporate Insight. This growth doesn’t appear to be slowing. Chicago-based consultancy A.T. Kearney predicts that robo-advisers will break the $2 trillion mark in five years.
With Schwab Intelligent Portfolios, retail investors log on through a computer or mobile device and receive recommendations for investing in 54 different exchange-traded funds across 27 asset classes based on their stated goals, risk tolerance and time horizon. Institutional Intelligent Portfolios, on the other hand, provides a platform by which advisers can choose from more than 450 ETFs to construct their own set of portfolios; clients can then interact with those portfolios digitally.
虽然技术将改变顾问如何与投资者合作，但克拉克坚持认为RIAS可以保护与客户区分自动投资服务的客户的个人联系。“现在，顾问在电子产品上制作了一段关系，”他解释道。“他们可能希望有定期的会议，但他们不必亲自才能。”Clark补充说，制作投资组合可能是关系的大部分关系，但它更有效地与遗产规划和生活教练更有效，只有人类顾问可以提供。
风险软件开发商的首席执行官和联合创始人Aaron Klein冒险，同意克拉克对人际关系的重要性。“投资的最大问题之一是我们破坏自己，”克莱林说，他强调顾问作为行为教练的作用，保护客户在公牛和熊市中制作皮疹决定。
Founded in 2011, Riskalyze created a questionnaire that produces what it calls a Risk Number on a scale of 1 to 99 that corresponds to the level of downside risk a person will tolerate over a six-month period. “Some people say it’s the ‘sleep number’ of risk,” Klein jokes. After administering the test, advisers can then use the Auburn, California–based company’s platform to calculate risk numbers for a set of portfolios, which they can rank according to results of their client’s questionnaire. Riskalyze’s 10,000 users manage more than $90 billion on the company’s platform.
在Klein的观点中，通过减少顾问正在制定风险投注的担忧，以危害令人担忧，危害顾问将更多的业务，风险为中心的技术通过减少危险的赌注来加强rias和客户之间的关系。“当您停止吹捧返回并开始关注风险以及您为客户设计投资组合时，这构成了大量信任，”他坚持。
Orion Advicor Services（ORION Advicor Services）组合会计软件提供商的Eric Clarke表示，建立数字时代的信任需要对更大的规模定制对个别客户的服务。“RIA技术的最重要方面是大规模定制，”克拉克说，其软件被顾问使用总计2.25亿美元的资产使用。orion构建移动应用程序和网络门户网站，其中它集成了RIA公司现有的财务计划系统。奥马哈，基于内布拉斯加州的公司还在文件共享和存储功能和数据聚合功能中构建。
猎户座帮助顾问解决大规模定制problem by giving them tools to create personalized digital video statements. RIAs record a generic video, and then information from the client’s account is displayed on a screen at different intervals. To further personalize the experience, Orion will integrate instant-messaging services and video-calling capabilities into clients’ web sites to help advisers build relationships with their customers and improve users’ experience.
“Firms that aren’t focused on improving client experience are going to struggle,” Clarke predicts. He sees the industry being shaped not by the robo-advisers or other technologies but by demand for easier, more convenient access to investment advice. Automated advisers have excelled in this area by allowing users to sign up easily online and log in any time to access their portfolios. “The other thing I think robos have done a great job at is advertising online,” Clarke adds. “I think advisers should be looking at social media platforms and figuring out different niches that they can focus in on to bring more prospects to their web site.”
As RIAs and robo-advisers broaden their reach by rolling out new electronic offerings, online and social media marketing and related technologies become all the more important. To address this need, marketing and design firms like Blu Giant have sprung up to serve the investment advisory industry. “The robos that are going to grow and be a threat are the ones that drive traffic to their web site,” says Blu Giant’s CEO, Brett Clarke, citing Schwab Intelligent Portfolios as a fast-growing service spurred by effective advertising. “So, the biggest thing for these robos and for advisers alike is to drive traffic to their web site.” He points to ad campaigns targeting specific demographics, social media marketing and landing pages that simplify the sign-up process as key elements of a successful strategy. “If advisers can do that, there’s no reason they shouldn’t be able to grow right alongside the robo,” Clarke says.
基于奥马哈的代理商成立于2012年，与顾问合作，以制作品牌标识来构建周围的网站。“如果你要继续作为顾问，你必须能够告诉我你带来的等式，”克鲁·巨人的创意总监Christopher Norton说。“你给我什么技术本身不能？”为了回答这个问题，通过开发客户网站的自定义视频，动画和交互式组件，可以尝试围绕每个顾问的方法和个性进行围绕的独特故事。亚慱体育app
通过新的技术发展，允许顾问与更广泛的客户群体达成和建立个人关系，危险的Klein并不认为RIA公司应该专注于试图模仿Robo顾问。相反，他认为他们应该利用技术来展示他们独特的技能，并让他们更多的时间专注于行业的方面，这些行业不易自动化。“在争夺您的服务的比赛中，具有风险投资资金的人将获胜，”Klein警告说。