Tech takes centre stage at FPA Congress
Technology was a focus of the first day of the Financial Planning Association’s (FPA’s) Professionals Congress yesterday, with the organisation both releasing a fintech buyers guide and announcing a new app offering to match consumers with appropriate planners.
The Fintech Buyers Guide and Checklist was geared at helping planners assess their practices’ fintech needs, including a technology assessment checklist and tips for selecting the right technology partner to help improve financial advice delivery.
“We know business models from the past are not working efficiently in an environment of increasing costs, rising consumer expectations, and regulatory obligations; but it is equally clear that if technology investment doesn’t align with the financial planning process and business outcomes, it leads to inefficiency, duplication and additional cost,” FPA head of policy and standards, Benjamin Marshan, said, highlighting the need for fintech adoption.
“Technology must solve problems, not create more … Going through the checklist will help prevent wasting time and money on technology which won’t meet their needs, or those of their clients,” FPA chief executive, Dante De Gori, added.
The guide was a result of conversations with FPA members, consultants and fintech solution providers over the last year.
The FPA also announced its new online matching service, ‘Find a Planner’, which was slated for release early next year. The service would match consumers online with a financial planner based on a profile of money and life goals, rather than just location.
Consumers would be able to dictate how many planners matching their profile they’d like to contact them, while FPA members would be able to choose if their services are a good fit before responding to consumer match requests via an app.
AUTHOR
Hannah Wootton
Recommended for you
With regional and rural suburbs exhibiting high spare capacity to invest, Money Management speaks to three regional advisers on the opportunities beyond the major cities and the importance of a strong network.
Platform consolidation is expected to accelerate among financial advisers this year, as software company Finura pinpoints which two platforms are set to be the winners, thanks to this trend.
The software provider has made several appointments in its APAC wealth propositions team, with a focus on driving growth across digital advice, Xplan and strategic partnerships.
The platform has announced it plans to close its Xplore managed discretionary account service in 2026 which holds $2 billion in funds under administration.
