Consumers still prefer a human component in their financial advice

November 26, 2018 by Kelton Corcoran

About the author

Kelton Corcoran

Senior content marketing specialist

Kelton Corcoran is a senior content marketing specialist at NaviPlan, the financial planning technology provider of choice for more than 140,000 financial professionals.

With FinTech innovations such as robo advice and cryptocurrency constantly appearing in headlines, it makes sense to think that the days of the human advisor are numbered right? Not necessarily. Findings from a recent Charles Schwab study reveal that FinTech advancements are actually helping human advisors become more competitive, especially in the minds of Millennial clients.

Let’s take a look at some of the study’s most important findings and what they mean for advisors moving forward.

Consumers’ relationship with tech

Unsurprisingly, Millennials enjoy using technology for their money management. Nearly 75 percent say technology gives them peace of mind when managing their finances and has helped them reach their financial goals.

Despite all of the daily activities that technology continues to transform, the study also found that 25 percent of consumers would choose to automate their day-to-day finances before other activities such as to get food delivered, find a date, diagnose a minor health issue, or drive a car.

Consumers’ thoughts on the financial planning process

Fortunately, this preference for technology has consumers feeling more optimistic about simplifying the financial planning process, which they consider today to be as difficult as training for a marathon. Moving forward, 56 percent of consumers say they hope financial plan creation becomes just as easy as booking a hotel room.

The public presence of robo advice is becoming stronger as over half of Americans surveyed believe they will be using robo advice on a regular basis by 2025, even more so than AI (55 percent), virtual reality (54 percent) and cryptocurrency (36 percent).

Coupling functionality with a human touch

Though these findings may seem concerning for the fate of the human advisor, consumers instead see technology as an add-on that will improve the way advisors give advice. Of Millennial consumers surveyed, a resounding 79 percent said they prefer to build their financial plans either by using a combination of automation and a human advisor or by a human advisor entirely. Additionally, 64 percent of consumers say they would spend more time investing by having easy access to a financial advisor when needed.

So rather than being a threat to their book of business, FinTech is actually enabling advisors to take their advice to a new level. Leveraging technology to automate time strenuous tasks such as data entry means more time can be devoted to valuable client conversations such as investment strategies. And as plan creation is expedited with tools such as NaviPlan’s Client Portal, advisors are able to deliver engaging, interactive plans to more people.

To learn how a financial planning and wealth management firm increased revenue, reduced expenses, and nearly doubled conversion rates using NaviPlan, click here.