✅ How Can Refinitiv Help Wealth Advisors Keep Up With The Times?
Our first article today covers the launch of Refinitiv’s new digital collaboration capability called Refinitiv Wealth Connect. The new offering is designed to help wealth management firms keep up with the growing pace of digital transformation in the industry. Firms who adopt the new Refinitiv Digital Investor will be able to collaborate with clients in a variety of different ways, tailored to meet the needs of the firm and their clients. There will be chat and chatbot services that encourage communication via AI-based support. There will be “cobrowsing”, a term used to refer to the ability of support personnel to observe live access by customers. It allows both users and advisors to access the online platform together for better browsing and collaboration. There will also be traditional messaging through SMS or embedded mobile device notifications. And of course, video and voice calls will be available on-demand with the click of a button.
Charles Smith is the Head of Digital Solutions at Refinitv. He says that a recent survey of over 1,000 investors found that only 37 percent gave their providers top- scores for their digital experience. Refinitiv Wealth Connect wants to address what it sees as a need for collaboration tools to help enhance the digital experience and drive client engagement. The tools developed at Refinitiv are designed to empower firms with faster time to market for digital solutions. The company offers a flexible framework consisting of web-based components, pre-built pages, APIs, mobile apps, and collaboration tools. And all of these options can be precisely configured for the needs of each firm.
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✅ Mogo Acquires Moka To Dominate Canadian Market
Our next article today takes us to Canada, where Mogo will be acquiring Moka in a $64 million dollar all-stock transaction. Mogo is a digital payment and financial technology company with over 1 million members. With Mogo, members can access a digital spending account with a Visa Platinum prepaid card. Features include automatic carbon offsetting, bitcoin buying and selling, free monthly credit score monitoring, ID fraud protection, and personal loans. And soon Mogo will be acquiring Moka, a savings and investment tech company also based in Canada. The Moka app is one of the country’s most popular investing apps due to its roundup feature. This automatically rounds up daily purchases and invests the spare change in personalized and diversified portfolios.
Moka allows anyone to start saving and investing simply by downloading the app and linking an existing debit or credit card. Once combined, Mogo will have a member base of over 1.7 million users. The acquisition will expand Mogo’s wealth offerings to include savings and investing products. It will also speed up Mogo’s plan to launch a free stock trading solution for Canadians. These moves will help to solidify Mogo’s position as the most comprehensive digital wallet in all of Canada. David Feller is the Founder and CEO of Mogo. He says that Moka has built an innovative solution that enables customers to easily save and invest money. And that by adding the Moka products and team experience, Mogo will dramatically enhance the company’s value propositions in Canadian finance.
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✅ Can Pricing Excellence Be A Strategic Differentiator In Wealth Management?
Today we close with a strategy article from financial writer Wei Ke at forbes.com. He argues that wealth management firms of all sizes need to start viewing pricing excellence as a competitive strategy. By adopting research-based pricing practices, they can address clients’ individual pricing sensitivities. This is a drastically different approach than the traditional method of calculating a fee based on a percentage of assets under management or AUM. The AUM model wrongly assumes that wealth is an indicator of need, and fails to account for clients’ unique situations. In order to adopt research-based pricing practices, a firm must first build an understanding of their clients’ needs as opposed to their asset level.
Ke’s firm recently researched and identified at least five customer archetypes with varying degrees of complexity when it comes to their financial advisory needs DIYers or experts are highly educated and knowledgeable and only use wealth managers for basic investing and advisory needs. This is in direct contrast to next-gen clients who are younger and seek much more expert advice. There is also the retired corporate executive archetype – knowledgeable but often in need of help with more complicated situations like retirement. And there’s also an entire category of wealthy clients with multigenerational family members and business owners with highly complex financial advisory needs. These client segments highlight Ke’s argument that there should not be a one-size-fits-all approach to products or pricing.
Simonet Financial Group offers a great example of a needs-based approach to pricing and services. Prospective clients can choose from 5 different packages, ranging in price from a one-time $1500 dollar option, to a $25,000 annual option. The services included with each option are clearly and fully communicated, allowing clients to see the value and services being offered. According to Ke, this approach removes cognitive strain on the client and makes it easier for them to determine what is being offered, which option is right for them, and whether or not it is worth the price.
