Alan Easter, chief commercial officer at intelliflo, highlights the growing need for more connected technology across the advice process, warning that fragmented systems and manual workarounds can undermine both efficiency and client experience.
With technology now central to the advice journey, ensuring that systems work together seamlessly is more important than ever. While you have put in the hours to ensure your recommendation includes market-leading funds and well-established MPS solutions, a well-designed client plan can easily be let down by fragmented systems and manual processes when it comes to implementation. Something well outside of your control.
The efficiency challenge
This frustration is well documented. Our 2025 marketwide intelliflo Advice Efficiency Survey showed us that advisers feel they are losing too much time rekeying information, switching between systems and managing manual workarounds. We found that onboarding alone takes around 15 hours per client, with more than half of that time not spent with the client.
In addition, NextWealth’s 2025 Financial Advice Business Benchmarks report found that just 13% of advisers are fully confident in their technology and levels of efficiency, with integration highlighted as a key problem.[i] It suggests that the growing use of standalone AI tools, intended to improve efficiency, is adding further complexity to adviser tech stacks in some cases rather than reducing it.
Over time, a lack of system integration impacts the client experience, increases operational risk and puts pressure on margins. The challenge is finding a way to simplify the process without compromising advice quality or investment choice.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that simply adding more tools is not the answer. Instead, firms are rethinking how their technology fits together. Rather than adding extra layers of tools onto existing systems, many are focusing on creating a more connected ecosystem where data and processes flow effectively. That often means making better use of what you already have in place.
When systems are properly connected, you can move from recommendation to implementation with fewer manual steps. This reduces duplication, lowers the risk of error and cuts the time between advice and execution. Less time navigating multiple systems means more time to devote to clients, grow your business, or achieve a more manageable workload.
Same destination, different journeys
As technology becomes more embedded in advice processes, the focus is moving from individual tools to how those tools work together. Instead of a single piece of technology driving efficiency, the real gains come from streamlining the overall journey.
Think of the investment process as a long drive. Part of the client plan might include an MPS solution, so the destination is clear, but how you get there can look very different.
One route is along narrow lanes, with delays caused by multiple junctions, sharp bends and slow-moving vehicles. It’s certainly not the route your SatNav would suggest, but it’s a reality many of you will recognise. When implementing investment plans, this route is often shaped by legacy systems. You may find yourself dealing with duplicated data entry, disconnected systems and manual interventions, all of which contribute to longer client servicing times and higher operational costs.
Or you could take the direct route. It’s faster and far less demanding, with client data flowing automatically between systems, so there’s no rekeying or time wasted navigating manual processes and multiple screens. With this approach, you can implement plans more quickly and deliver a more consistent experience for your clients.
Both routes ultimately arrive at the same destination, but the efficiency of the journey can differ materially. When repeated day after day, these differences accumulate, affecting your capacity, cost to serve and ability to scale. Over time, the route you take becomes a defining factor in how your business performs.
One connected journey
When technology is embedded effectively in the advice process, it can give you back meaningful time.
It’s becoming more common for firms to use tools that automatically record client meetings, ingest physical or digital documents, update fact-finds, plans and documents, and generate a personalised summary to share afterwards. Digital engagement solutions are also improving how information is shared with clients, supporting better understanding, more informed decision-making and helping meet Consumer Duty expectations. Additional tools, such as pre- and post-advice health checks and investment suitability reviews, are emerging to further support you in delivering consistent, high-quality advice.
However, disconnected tools can create additional friction, undermining the intended efficiency gains. The greatest efficiency gains will come when this functionality sits within a single, coherent workflow. As a result, many firms are looking to simplify their technology stacks, rather than simply adding more layers of complexity.
By prioritising integration and data flow, you are better positioned to reduce complexity, improve efficiency and deliver stronger client outcomes. Put simply, firms that remove friction from their processes will have more time to spend where it matters most. In a profession where time is one of the most valuable resources, simplifying the journey from advice to implementation could prove to be one of the most meaningful changes technology can deliver.
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