Technology Firms’ Integration Strategies Unfair To IFAs, says threesixty
IFA support services provider threesixty says that the integration strategies of large software houses may lead to an unwelcome restriction on IFAs’ choice of software.
With technology firms, such as Vertex and Capita, acquiring some of the software required for IFAs to perform their back office functions, quotations, research and mortgage sourcing in order to offer integrated solutions, there is a danger that decisions will be based more on politics than on the best interests of the IFAs they service.
Phil Young, Partner at threesixty, says: “There is certainly value in technology firms providing an integrated service to IFAs, but it is vital that they do not take a monolithic attitude to technology. IFAs prefer choice and want to mix and match the software which suits them best. Some of these software packages have provided real value for IFAs as stand-alone products for years, and this should not be sacrificed by placing commercial pressures on subscribers to standalone products.
Understandably they don’t react well to being told what to do; especially if it is not in the best interests of their own business. The IFA community needs to hold a consistent line that whilst we are all for integration, we will not have technology dictated to us.”
Recent research by provider-backed intermediary portal Assureweb supports this argument that advisers are more concerned about obtaining a system that works for them. Indeed, 84% of advisers¹ stated that ease of use and the flexibility of systems to support their process, rather than dictate it, were more important factors than getting all of their technology needs satisfied by one supplier.
Stephen Wynne-Jones, director of sales and marketing at Assureweb, says: “Our strategy is to work with a wide range of software companies in order to offer the widest possible choice to intermediaries. We see our role as working with our strategic partners to facilitate e-trading in the easiest possible way regardless of how the adviser works, not in prescribing a process.”