Trending
Written by: Mitchell Bratina | FinTurk
Everyone in the wealth management industry has seen the headlines touting personalization being top of mind for clients, as investor demand shifts from chasing performance to planning for their entire financial lives. Financial advisors are listening, tailoring portfolios and strategies for individual investors’ unique goals and circumstances. But behind the curtain, many firms still rely on legacy CRM systems that were built on standardization, the antithesis of personalization.
The disconnect is tough to ignore. Research from McKinsey & Company found that the share of affluent investors seeking holistic financial advice grew from 29% in 2018 to 52% in 2023. Clients expect advisors to think about their careers, families and broader life goals when it comes to constructing a plan.
This has caused advisors to reflect on personalization within their practices in order to differentiate themselves as competition intensifies. Some advisors choose to focus on physicians, others on entrepreneurs, executives, business owners or retirees. Their value lies in their ability to deliver specialized advice and highly personalized experiences to these groups.
So why do so many advisors settle for legacy tech solutions that presume every practice is similar? If every client deserves a customized experience, shouldn't advisors utilize technology that can meet those shifting demands?
A new class of AI-native, deeply customizable CRM technology is beginning to close that gap, and the advisors paying attention will redefine how firms operate moving forward.
The problem
The wealth management industry has historically accepted a tradeoff, with most advisor-focused CRM platforms offering some level of customization, with surface-level improvements. Firms can indeed get utility out of the box, but the system was built around the vendor's assumptions about advisor workflows. That model made sense when CRM systems were primarily record-keeping tools. It becomes far more limiting when advisors are expected to deliver highly personalized experiences at scale.
Advisors used to view CRM systems primarily as digital filing cabinets, or Rolodexes. As client expectations have evolved, most systems supporting advisors were not designed to enable that level of personalization and engagement.
Consider two successful advisors. One specializes in serving physicians navigating practice ownership, complex compensation structures and retirement planning. Another is focused on startup founders managing equity compensation, liquidity events and concentrated stock positions. Their clients face different challenges and require vastly different planning conversations, which means those advisors also need different workflows.
But legacy CRMs force both into nearly identical structures. It's the technological equivalent of giving every client the same financial plan while simply changing the name at the top.
The turning point
The changes occurring at the client level are now permeating the advisor experience. There is a growing recognition that personalization should extend to those delivering the advice.
Advisors, operations teams, traders and client service associates all interact with client information differently. Each role requires different insights, workflows and priorities. Firms and advisors are questioning why everyone should be forced into the same digital experience, when their responsibilities are fundamentally different.
Concurrently, artificial intelligence (AI) is making hyper-personalization possible in ways that legacy CRMs weren’t built to support. Information was siloed, with valuable client information residing in email chains, meeting notes or even an advisor's memory. Capturing and organizing that information required endless custom fields and manual data entry.
Today, a few revolutionary CRMs are changing the game entirely. AI is equipped to capture contextual information, everything from communication preferences and personal interests to important life events, then surface those insights when needed by the advisor.
According to Cerulli research, 80% of affluent investors cite customized investment plans as a key reason for working with an advisor. Personalization has become an expectation.
The future
Successful advisors have built something distinct: a niche, a client base and a reputation that is uniquely theirs. Their CRM should reflect that same individuality.
Modern CRMs are becoming digital operating offices, and advisors who treat these solutions solely as data repositories will miss significant opportunities to deepen client trust and drive sustainable growth. Instead of advisors manually coordinating every task, a truly AI-native platform works within the system to surface what matters, act on it automatically and adapt to how each firm operates. Legacy tools retrofitted with AI cannot replicate these capabilities.
Modern CRM technology should feel and operate like an extension of who each advisor is and who they cater to. Personalization should begin with the tools advisors utilize every day, removing the roadblocks to positively impact the client experience as well as their own.
Related: Family Wealth Is Built on Conversations, Not Just Investments