Illustrate That You're More Than Just a Bank

By Matt LaBenz, Senior Account Manager, Emerging Enterprise Solutions

Historically, banks haven’t made much of an impact in the wealth management industry. There have been long-standing roadblocks - like cost and technology implementation involved in providing a high-quality client experience - that have prevented them from fully, and successfully, transitioning into this space.

However, it makes sense for banks to continue focusing more attention on their wealth management services. Not only does wealth management provide a steady revenue stream, but it also tends to be the most profitable banking service.  For example, at JPMorgan Chase the wealth management unit tripled the firm’s return on equity.

Commercial banks have long sought ways to make the transition into wealth management more effective by investing millions of dollars in financial technology solutions, including robo-advisor platforms. However, the investment in new tools to facilitate these types of changes should prioritize the value of a personal client relationship.

In fact, given the option, 84 percent of Americans would rather work with a human advisor to invest their money. And only about 31 percent say they feel very confident about their growth potential when using a robo-advisor.

Banks need to invest in technology that helps them improve client relationships, and emphasize more holistic, comprehensive financial conversations.

Expanding the Conversation

To be successful in wealth management, banks need the ability to seamlessly transition from traditional banking services to financial planning while also creating a more engaging client experience.

Asset-Map accommodates both of these initiatives. 

By equipping bank advisors with the ability to quickly organize a client’s financial life on a one-page visual plan, Asset-Map makes it simple to engage clients in new, more personal ways.

Asset-Map also reduces the complexity that typically comes with complex, financial plans and generates more opportunities for deeper conversations.

How can you have a holistic conversation when a client only wants to discuss a bank CD that’s earning them two percent? Easy. Build a financial map, and then visually show the gaps by comparing the client’s financial landscape with their peers by overlaying an Asset-Map Stencil (a template based on their peer demographics) on top of their own.

Psychologically speaking, clients feel the need to fill in their missing financial gaps with accurate information, as these “stencils” are a way of suggesting to them that they’re not keeping up with their peers.  

At a minimum, the financial boxes left unfilled generate conversation topics for an advisor to deliver more comprehensive advice.

Using a Team-Based Approach

As banks adopt a wealth management focus, they need to create a smooth transition from the banking relationship to a financial planning conversation.

One way to streamline this is to establish a repeatable referral process involving both bankers and advisors. As many banks continue moving towards “wellness” checks, appointments where bankers meet with clients to ensure they are taking advantage of all their services, advisors are given the perfect opportunity to establish this referral process.

Using an Asset-Map, the banker can have a comprehensive conversation with a client, give added value by organizing their financial life, and also guide them towards a wealth management relationship with the bank.

By introducing Asset-Map early into the client relationship, banks can open the door for a referral stream for its in-branch advisors.   

Discovering More Opportunities

Bank advisors need new ways of fact-finding so they can capture their clients’ full financial stories and be confident in the advice they give.

However, many clients aren’t accustomed to banks asking for information outside of their checking and savings accounts, so they’re less likely to complete an extensive questionnaire. They need to be able to offer something simpler and more intuitive.

Asset-Map’s digital fact-finder, Discovery, gives banks a direct-to-client experience that helps them obtain critical information fast. On top of that, it provides the advisor a complete Asset-Map delivered straight to their inbox. 

Many advisors are successfully utilizing this approach for mass outreach and have even embedded Discovery on their website, along with a message explaining the importance of financial organization.

This kind of quick data-gathering also allows for more in-depth data analysis. As more household data is gathered, a bank advisor can quickly filter through an entire list of clients to identify who needs more attention. 

Does one client need more insurance coverage? Do they have children, but no education plan? Are they on track for their retirement goals?

Finding opportunities like this historically meant drawn-out, in-person conversations. Asset-Map, though, optimizes an advisor’s time for targeted outreach and reengagement of clients by making client data easily accessible to them from the start.

Aligning Your Interests

A majority of bank clients may not have the need for extensive financial planning, but it’s important to have a full picture of the client’s financial life before recommending solutions. This is especially relevant due to the rollout of Regulation Best Interest. 

Asset-Map provides the bank advisor a quick and effective way to fact-find, and it ensures suitable recommendations are made based upon the client’s unique situation and overall financial well-being.  

By walking through the Asset-Map with a client, advisors can identify potential gaps and financial needs that assist in achieving the client’s goals. 

Creating Firm Success

What can a bank’s leadership expect from Asset-Map at the firm level? We conducted a study with 5,000 advisors at an international broker-dealer to find out.

The results showed that Asset-Map users generate double-digit production lifts across multiple lines of business, including life insurance, annuity, and advisory sales.

More than increasing business, Asset-Map users also stick around longer. Up to 56% of advisors consider switching to a different broker-dealer in their first few years in business. Our study showed that twice as many developing advisors who used Asset-Map made it to the end of their four-year training period than those who did not use Asset-Map. 

Advisor and client turnover is inevitable but Asset-Map can help mitigate the issue, especially when clients need to transition from one advisor to another. 

Through the use of Asset-Map, an advisor can get right to analyzing a client’s financial life and identifying gaps to discuss, instead of going back to the discovery process again.

As a result, the advisor is more efficient, and clients are more likely to be satisfied with their service.

Finally, with stricter compliance oversight as well as the rollout of Regulation BI, it’s crucial that advisors are diligent when delivering advice. By using Asset-Map, advisors can discuss every aspect of the client’s financial life and collect critical decision-making information.  

See how your bank’s wealth management division can improve with Asset-Map. Click here to schedule a demo today.