for expert insights on the most pressing topics financial professionals are facing today.
Learn MoreIn case you missed it, last week was the annual T3 Advisor Technology Conference, an annual event that brings together financial advisors and technology vendors to explore innovations, announce new products, share feedback, and simply celebrate all things advisor technology.
Since the inception of T3, eMoney has made it a mission to make our presence known, and this year was no different. We had more than a few updates, unveilings and new releases in store for attendees.
Below is everything you missed from eMoney at the 2017 T3 Advisor Tech Conference, but you can also sign up for a live webinar on March 2 at 3:00 pm, to see a replay of our main stage presentation.
During the eMoney main stage presentation, our VP of Product Management, Jessica Liberi took the audience through our Integrated Experience, highlighting those products we’ve built, those we’re developing, and those we plan to create, that all tie together to deliver a fully integrated wealth management experience.
Toward the end of her talk, Jessica brought out Alexa, the now well-known artificially intelligent robotic cylinder. The brainchild of Amazon, Alexa is at the forefront of voice-activated technology and represents a new means of communication with service-providers. And at eMoney, we have been exploring merging this technology with ours so that we can stay ahead of evolving client needs and expectations.
As a demonstration of some of the work we’ve done, Jessica asked Alexa a few simple financial planning questions, such as “Alexa, ask my advisor will I meet my retirement goal?” and “Alexa, ask my advisor to get my budget for food?”
After a brief moment that felt like forever to all the eMoney developers in the room, Alexa responded to each, but in true T3 fashion, Jessica finished with a little flair by asking “Alexa, tell me what software advisors should use to grow their business?”
And like any good robot, Alexa’s answer was pure logic.
‘Alexa, tell me what technology advisers should use to grow their business?’ #T32017 pic.twitter.com/U2z5qaPo4S
— Abraham Okusanya (@AbrahamOnMoney) February 15, 2017
Aside from Alexa, perhaps the most popular part of the conference was the unveiling of eMoney’s Virtual Planning Experience: a prototype of our new virtual reality videos that will be included in the new Advisor Branded Marketing (more on that below).
These videos will be a completely immersive experience that takes clients or prospects through a 3D virtual world of the eMoney Application, helping them visualize the services, like interactive planning or a comprehensive client portal, you provide.
At T3, we demonstrated the power of this new medium at our exhibit booth using an Oculus Rift – the most advanced VR headset available. And in an informal poll, which consisted of this author standing by the eMoney’ booth and watching the reactions of advisor after advisor, the response to eMoney’s Virtual Planning Experience ranged anywhere from “Wow… that’s pretty cool,” to “Holy crap, that was amazing thank you!”
Want to have a virtual review meeting with your clients? Thanks to @eMoneyAdvisor the #technology is almost here! #T32017 #fintech #tech #vr pic.twitter.com/yZb9sTVGVI
— Alex Chalekian, CEP® (@AlexChalekian) February 16, 2017
While indeed certifiably super cool, there’s more to our work in virtual reality than just a neat gimmick for conferences. Virtual reality (and augmented reality for that matter) represents a promising new method of communication that could revolutionize the way we interact with another – or at the very least, become an extremely popular form of media that exists alongside the many options available today. So when looking at the future of our upcoming Advisor Branded Marketing, we knew that this new medium was something eMoney had to explore.
We are always working to make your experience using technology simpler and, in the case of integrations, seamless. That’s why this year, we announced three new integration partners: Charles Schwab, Envestnet, and Advent’s Black Diamond.
Our upcoming integration with Charles Schwab demonstrates our dedication to remaining custodian agnostic by enabling advisors who use both systems to travel seamlessly from the eMoney platform to Schwab’s OpenView Gateway. Alongside single sign-on capabilities, the integration – which is scheduled for later this year – is also projected to include reporting availability as well as trade confirmations, account statements and tax forms within the eMoney platform.
Sign up here to receive all the latest news on our Charles Schwab integration.
Already existing within eMoney was the ability to import and link Envestnet clients into eMoney, sync account data between the systems, generate Envestnet proposals from the client’s Plans page, and single sign-on between both platforms. But based on feedback, we recently added the ability to access Envestnet Performance Reports from the Client Overview page or Reports section of eMoney, creating a more consistent client experience.
Additionally, when a client is linked to the Envestnet integration, a new folder will be automatically created in the vault to sync and display the quarterly performance reports for that client. Read more here.
Scheduled for release in April of this year, the Black Diamond integration provides advisors who use both systems with the ease of single sign-on functionality, as well as the ability to link or import clients. Plus, advisors can deliver Black Diamond Quarterly Performance Reports to a client’s eMoney Vault, allowing for an integrated experience across two vital pieces of an advisor’s technology solution.
Despite the mundane nature of compliance, it is a topic we take seriously here at eMoney. Because regardless of the fate of the DOL fiduciary rule, the investment advice industry still faces more and more regulation each and every year. That’s why we’ve been working to provide advisors and firms with the tools they need to create a superior compliance workflow under a strategy we call Fiduciary Framework. And a key aspect of that framework is the soon-to-be released Advisor Assurance.
Advisor Assurance is a comprehensive compliance tool built seamlessly into the eMoney application that enables you to create a streamlined compliance workflow through the documentation and archival of key advisor-client interactions throughout the entire financial planning process.
With Advisor Assurance, you will have access to a multitude of automatically archived event logs for important events such as email conversations, financial planning presentations, client and advisor website activity, manual account changes, and more, helping you to comply in an increasingly regulated environment.
One third of all online activity is spent watching videos. And including a video in an email can lead to a 200-300% increase in click-through rates. Furthermore, personalizing those emails can deliver a six times higher transaction rate.
So imagine the impact of a marketing solution that serves up multimedia content, personalized for each recipient, connected to other tools you’re already using and that leverages data to target those communications more effectively. That’s Advisor Branded Marketing.
We’ve taken the best of what is offered in our current marketing tools and are adding several key features – like the ability to deliver personalized content based on the things that are happening in your clients’ lives.
It’s a marketing strategy that works -a solution that pulls prospects and clients in by providing them with engaging content, and relevant educational materials and resources. Not only will you be able to deliver those communications directly from your eMoney dashboard, but you’ll also be able to track their effectiveness, so you know who opened them, who interacted with them and who didn’t.
Advisor Branded Marketing is set to release early in the second quarter of this year, so stay tuned for more details as we get closer to the release.
Sign up for a live webinar that will take you through a replay of eMoney’s main stage presentation. Airing on March 2 at 3:00 pm, our Vp of Product Management will take you through the entire eMoney Integrated Experience. Sign up here.