If there’s one area that continually leaves advisors wanting more from their firms, it’s “technology tools and advisor desktop.” This was the case yet again this year.
Advisors surveyed for Investment Executive’s 2010 Brokerage Report Card rated their firms at 7.6 in the category overall — a drop of 0.3 of a point from 7.9 in 2009. Even more telling is the discrepancy between the overall performance rating and the overall importance rating (8.8) that advisors gave to technology. This 1.2-point gap is the largest in any category in the survey; the gap was also up from 1.0 last year, proving that firms still have a way to go in meeting advisors’ expectations.
This dissatisfaction is even more evident at the firm level, as four brokerages in particular —Montreal-based MacDougall MacDougall & MacTier Inc., Toronto-based Raymond James Ltd., Montreal-based National Bank Financial Ltd. and TD Waterhouse Private Investment Advice of Toronto — saw their average technology tools ratings drop by a half a point or more. In contrast, only one firm, Vancouver-based Odlum Brown Ltd.,saw its rating in the category increase by the same margin.
Toronto-based ScotiaMcLeod Inc., the perennial whipping horse in the category, once again had the lowest technology rating (5.0) in the survey.
It should also be noted that all firms saw a negative gap in their performance ratings vs importance ratings.
Advisors with 3Macs, who rated their firm a full point lower in the category compared with last year, generally felt that their firm’s technology offerings were lacking.
“The system does not seem to be very good,” says a 3Macs advisor in Ontario. “It provides clients’ positions; not anything on portfolio management or contacting clients. I find it difficult to trust.”
But Daniel Thompson, 3Macs’ president and CEO, says the firm is making major investments related to technology: “We are in the middle of a very big project — adding a new portfolio management platform, which is expected to be fully operational in 2010. It’s coming along just fine, but it’s a tremendous amount of work and it costs a lot of money. We’re spending it to make sure that the advisors have the tools in place to do their jobs properly.”
TD Waterhouse advisors also complain about their software — especially the client-relationship management program.
“The CRM system is slow, antiquated and ineffective,” says a TD Waterhouse advisor in Ontario. “For us to do a good job for clients, it should be state of the art.”
Some TD Waterhouse advisors say change is coming, but note the speed has been “glacial.”
Mike Reilly, the firm’s president and national sales manager, adds that TD Waterhouse is investing heavily in technology — and that a very robust set of tools will be rolled out this year. “We’re at a convergence,” he says, “where there’s no question that our population is saying that there’s a lot of things that are changing. They’re just not changing fast enough [for advisors].”
Similarly, ScotiaMcLeod’s head, Hamish Angus, says technology continues to be a financial priority for the firm, which is aiming to hit a home run with its new Mobile Advisor initiative: “Our advi-sors’ contacts, client contacts and client information will be available through their BlackBerrys — and we’ll allow them to start to use some [other] mobile applications.”
If there’s any consolation for these firms, it’s that making an investment in technology pays off. Odlum Brown saw its technology rating increase to 8.1 from 7.6 last year, in part because it rolled out remote access to its advisors’ desktops.
“We have remote access now, which allows us to work from anywhere,” says an Odlum Brown advisor in British Columbia. “The firm keeps up with technology.”
This past year, Odlum Brown also streamlined account-opening forms to eliminate duplication and have data automatically populate redundant fields — to the extent that regulations allow, says Doris Gnandt, the firm’s vice president and director of sales services. “We’re constantly looking at ways to improve our portfolio-management application.”
The top performer in the category with a 9.0, Toronto-based Richardson GMP Ltd. , also saw some significant changes to its technology offerings the past year. In fact, given the merger the firm went through last year, it’s surprising it was able to do so well.