Marketing fintech solutions to financial advisors

Despite the growing popularity of robo-advisors like Wealthfront as well as the proliferation of other automated tools to manage consumers’ wealth, the financial-advisor space is poised to grow 15% by 2031—a sizable increase for a role that already hires more than 300,000 people in the US alone.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, then, a who’s-who of fintechs and SaaS companies serve this established—but still growing—sector, finding in financial advisors a promising partner to ultimately reach millions of US consumers.

How are these partners marketed to, though, and what concerns do fintechs have to address when pitching their products?

Augmentation, not replacement

The proliferation of robo-advisors, while a worthwhile trend to take seriously, has not drastically affected the long-term viability of financial advisors’ careers. (That UBS withdrew from its Wealthfront acquisition and doubled down on high-touch financial-advisor strategies is particularly telling.)

Regardless, in marketing to financial advisors, fintechs have to emphasize the ways technology can make for more efficient processes—from proposal generation, to billing, to investment data, and beyond. Foregrounding advisor testimonials that show their peers finding multiplier value in this technology can be particularly helpful, proving that these products are an ally to financial advisors, not a threat.

Compliance

A promising gateway to converting financial advisors into clients and partners is through the compliance concerns they currently face. Beyond the Series 7, Series 66, or Series 65 qualification they all hold in the US, financial advisors have to ensure that the trades they make on clients’ behalf are in line with contractual and regulatory requirements, in addition to gauging the risk of different financial strategies.

From risk-tolerance solutions like Riskalyze or StratiFi to stress-testing platforms like Fabric and MacroRisk, established and burgeoning players still have the potential to expand their footprint, ensuring financial decisions are made that benefit advisors and clients alike.

The promise of scale through specialization

With the largest generational wealth transfer in human history already underway, financial advisors can also be enticed to ride the wave through the right technologies. Beyond lead-gen technologies are specialized planning products covering estate planning, retirement planning, legacy planning, and other niche workflows. By leveraging those technologies and the insights found therein, financial advisors can brand themselves as specialists in promising fields—going deeper into areas with greater ROI.