Aviva’s latest Hot Issues Tracker research has looked into intermediaries’ use of technology and found that advisers are mainly using technology to assist with back office efficiency.
94% use technology to assist with research, and 92% use it to produce product quotes for clients.
The main benefits of technology for advisers are seen as being immediate access to client information (78%), followed by quick administration (66%), the way it allows immediate transactions (66%), and that it enables more time to be spent with clients (66%).
Aviva found that advisers still rely on personal contact with clients either face to face (97%), or by telephone (92%). However, emails are now used just as much as the telephone for communicating with clients (92%). Despite the hype, social media (15%) and instant messaging (6%) currently represent a tiny fraction of how advisers communicate with clients.
66% of advisers intend to spend less that 10% of their annual turnover on technology and training. Of these, 33% intend to spend between 0%-5% on technology and 33% intend to spend between 6%-10%.
53% are registered with three or more platforms however they are not using them all regularly as only 32% regularly use more than three. The main factors when choosing a platform are the research capabilities (55%), the breadth of online services (54%), the compliance risk/management support (45%), and integration with back office systems (36%). These all relate to how they enable advisers to run their business more efficiently rather than the range of products and fees charged/paid.
49% of advisers are now writing more than 40% of their business through platforms. And there has been a significant increase in the number of advisers writing more than 80% of their business through platforms since last year (up from 4% to 13% of advisers).
Advisers are intending to increase the use of technology in their communication with clients, with the most common increase being in website development (15%). Social media is also being considered as a tool for client communication going forward (11%).
32% of advisers say they are intending to increase their use of technology as a result of the changes the RDR will mean for the market.
Dean Lamble, Aviva’s director of distribution development, said: “Clients are increasingly demanding ever faster and different ways of interacting with their finances