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Progress At Last For Pensions Dashboard
Back in 2018, we were lauding the arrival of a new pensions dashboard – probably the following year. Well, we got that one wrong!
June 12, 2025
Ongoing servicing: FCA findings for firms
A couple of weeks on from the FCA’s commentary on ongoing servicing, what do their findings really mean?
April 24, 2025
Strategic, sustainable and selective: 3 ways to manage retirement income
PIMFA Guest Blog: Alasdair Wilson, Investment Specialist at Verve disscusses 3 ways to manage retirement income
March 31, 2025
Top considerations for financial intermediaries 2025
We identify the five considerations that we believe financial intermediaries should have front and centre as they look ahead.
March 24, 2025
Finding annuity purpose
PIMFA Guest Blog: Finding annuity purpose, here Grant Callaghan, Financial Planning Specialist at We Are Verve, discusses annuity sale increases.
March 11, 2025
The suitability of suitability reports
As an outsourced, multi-service provider I have seen my fair share of suitability report templates. The good, the bad and the downright (Times New Roman) ugly.
February 6, 2025
Why Wealth Management Firms Must Prioritise PEPs and Sanctions Screening
For wealth management firms, trust and credibility are their pillars of success. Clients entrust firms with their life savings, investments, and future security. Any association with individuals or entities involved in illicit activities can irreparably harm a firm’s reputation, leading to decreased client trust, loss of assets under management, and a tarnished market standing.
January 30, 2025
Wealth Management: Finding the Industry’s iPod Moment
Wealth Management: Finding the Industry’s iPod Moment When I left my first city job back in 2006, my colleagues gifted me an iPod. At the time, I didn’t fully grasp its value and left it boxed for over a year. Eventually, I gave it a go, and it completely transformed the way I experienced music. My CD collection, once a source of pride, was relegated to memorabilia, later encased in a friend’s clear flooring—a quirky reminder of the shift in how music was consumed. This experience feels oddly parallel to where we stand in WealthTech today. The industry is brimming with innovative technology, but its value remains underappreciated or misused. Much like my pre-iPod music world, wealth management is struggling with outdated systems and the challenge of integrating new tools into a legacy infrastructure. Without a unifying leap forward—a “Bluetooth moment”—we risk limiting the full potential of emerging advancements. The Industry’s Tipping Point Nearly half of IFAs (Independent Financial Advisers) are expected to retire in the next five years. This inevitable shift is fuelling a wave of consolidation and represents a golden opportunity for the next generation of business leaders to reshape the status quo. Digital transformation is no longer optional; it’s essential. However, transformation doesn’t have to mean adopting fully automated robo-advisors. Instead, it’s about harnessing technology to improve efficiency and refocus on what truly matters: building relationships and delivering value. A significant roadblock is integration—or the lack thereof. Across the supply chain, too much time is spent transferring data manually between systems. In few other sectors do key personnel waste so much time wrestling with outdated processes. My iPod moment came when a colleague helped me load my entire music library. Suddenly, I had access to a vast collection, streamlined for every context: jogging, reminiscing, or hosting a party. It revolutionised my relationship with music, much like better integration could redefine wealth management workflows. Streaming, But Not Yet Streaming-Ready In a previous blog, I touched on the need for streaming-style services in wealth management: low-cost, high-accessibility, and client-centric solutions. But the reality is that many businesses aren’t ready for this kind of disruption. Without tackling the challenge of integrating legacy systems, the industry risks skipping a crucial evolutionary step. Wealth management has yet to experience its iPod moment, let alone its Spotify revolution. To unlock the benefits of cutting-edge technology, we must first embrace solutions that bring cohesion between the old and the new. The tools for automation and AI are already accessible; what’s missing is a willingness to take that leap, often requiring a champion within the organisation to show the way. Platform 3.0: Consider the emergence of Platform 3.0, the new generation of investment platforms. These promise richer functionality, tighter integration, and even innovative business models, such as Adviser-as-a-Platform. However, integration challenges remain. Asset allocation processes, for example, are still disconnected. Similarly, portfolio products rely on a supply chain push model with minimal coupling due to a lack of straight-through processing. Advisors influence where assets are directed, but the upstream inefficiencies often go unnoticed. In an integrated ecosystem, the industry could achieve far more. Advisors could offer bespoke products tailored to specific investor groups, while discretionary portfolio managers could keep allocations aligned with greater precision. Platforms would better manage liquidity and inventory, and fund managers at the top of the chain could expedite the release of funds and special share classes. The result? More choice, lower costs, enhanced risk management, and improved outcomes for end investors. Andrew Spence, of Aspen Advisers, has often presented the game changing effect that multi-platform integration could have on the model portfolio (MPS) landscape. Commenting on his vision, he stated that “The Aspen business was initially going to be fully customisable portfolios – the optimal mix of assets for a client’s circumstances and needs – in a move away from traditional “cookie cutter” models. But it was a non-starter across multiple platforms. So, we needed to scale that back and offer advisers a complete CIP experience using model portfolio building blocks. Still, multi-platform integration of this scale takes time and resource. Better integration is badly needed”. Tikker are working with Aspen to automate Portfolio Operations cross-platform, bringing this evolution within reach. Overcoming the CD Era Right now, the wealth management industry feels stuck in its pre-iPod phase—juggling stacks of CDs, painstakingly organising them, and dealing with inefficiencies that make progress feel like an uphill climb. Worse still, these inefficiencies ripple through the supply chain, consuming valuable time and increasing the risk of errors. What’s needed is an iPod moment: a unifying system that bridges legacy technology and modern tools, streamlining processes to unlock new possibilities. With integration and automation, the industry can shed its clunky inefficiencies, empowering advisors to focus on delivering genuine value to clients. The Next Generation’s Opportunity The next wave of wealth management leaders holds the key to this transformation. They must embrace technology not as a threat but as an enabler of better client experiences and operational efficiencies. This might mean prioritising solutions that balance creditworthiness with operational risk, acknowledging the role of custodians in securing holdings. By bridging the gaps between legacy and modern systems, the industry can evolve into something far greater. The question is whether today’s leaders will seize the opportunity—or let it pass, leaving the wealth management sector to languish in an outdated era. For those ready to embrace change, the tools are already within reach. What’s needed now is the courage to press play. Tom Whittle, Founder, Tikker tom.whittle@tikker.co.uk
January 10, 2025
“I Want to Break Free” (from Operational Complexity): Building Scalable Wealth Management Operations for Growth
In an industry where client demands are increasing, wealth managers face the complex task of balancing operational efficiency with comprehensive service offerings.
November 12, 2024
Protecting the workforce: preparing for the new duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment
Under the new duty, employers are required to take a proactive approach to tackling sexual harassment, the intention being to shift the emphasis from redress to prevention.
October 29, 2024
Why is the Wealth Management Industry Building Blockbusters When the Consumer Needs Netflix?
The digital generation changed everything. This is why the FCA’s recent Consolidator Review is so important.
October 24, 2024
Digital Transformation in Wealth Management: A Path to Efficiency and Compliance
In the fast-paced landscape of wealth management, digital transformation has emerged as a necessity to meet rising client expectations and adapt to evolving regulations.
October 22, 2024
Overview – AI models in the insurance sector
The use of AI models in the insurance sector raises significant concerns, according to Nikhil Rathi, Chief Executive of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
October 8, 2024
How to Leverage Real-Time Notifications in a Hybrid Wealth Business
The initial stages of financial planning receive the lion’s share of attention in digitalised and physical investment advice experiences. However, once the prospect becomes a client, an important part of the relationship is often neglected: engagement after purchase often decreases. Without ongoing support and guidance, clients may feel disconnected, leading to missed opportunities for the client and the wealth manager.
October 3, 2024
Avoiding Stress-related Errors
The pressured environment of the wealth management sector can be a breeding ground for stress.
September 24, 2024
The Evolution of Identity Verification in Wealth Management: From Paper to Digital
Identity verification has undergone a significant transformation in the last decade, moving far beyond the traditional methods of validating, such as posting paper documents and physical IDs.
September 16, 2024
Nature or Nurture? The role of Training and Competence (T&C) in modern financial services
PIMFA Guest Blog: Head of Market Engagement at Worksmart discusses, the role of Training and Competence in modern financial services.
September 4, 2024
TCFD Reporting: How to Win Over Climate-Conscious Clients
PIMFA Guest Blog: TCFD Reporting: How to Win Over Climate-Conscious Clients, here Joshua McAlpine, Content Manager at Morningstar, discusses what the TCFD Reporting requirements are and how they can benefit wealth managers.
September 3, 2024
Accelerating capital deployment within a multi-sleeve private markets programme
PIMFA Guest Blog: Accelerating capital deployment within a multi-sleeve private markets programme, here Sebastian Maciocia, Director of Wealth Management at Mercer discusses considerations for wealth managers venturing into private markets.
August 30, 2024
Enhancing Operational Resilience through Data-Centric Supply Chain Solutions
Operational resilience has become a critical priority for institutions of all sizes. The increasing complexity of global supply chains, coupled with growing regulatory pressures, demands a robust approach to managing risks and ensuring continuity. For financial services firms, this means adopting data-centric solutions that not only provide deep insights into supply chain activities but also empower proactive decision-making.
August 22, 2024
A Deep Dive into Deepfakes
Deepfake technology, which uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to create highly realistic but fake images, audio, and videos, is rapidly emerging as a significant threat in the cyber security landscape.
August 5, 2024
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