This is the first article in a brand new mini-series for IFA Magazine by Rowan Whittington, Chief Product Officer at Dynamic Planner. Over the next few months, Rowan will be delving into the building blocks for adviser success in 2026 and sharing practical tips to help you make the most of what technology can do for you, your business and your clients.
Many advice firms are already reaping the benefits of automation. Processes that once took hours, such as the annual client review, are down to just minutes. Technology isn’t replacing the relationship at the heart of the process but allowing advice to be delivered more engagingly and efficiently, with benefits for adviser, client and firm. Now, artificial intelligence and other technological advances could help you supercharge those gains.
How do you make the most of the opportunity? In this new monthly series, which will run through the springtime editions of IFA Magazine, I’m going to look at how you can use technology to unlock capacity in your advice business and deepen connection with your clients throughout the advice process.
I want to start, though, by looking at the foundations: the building blocks that, once in place, will let you make the most of what technology can do for you and your business.
- Data you can trust
The financial planning process requires – and generates – huge amounts of data. In the past, you might have thought of this simply as the records you were required to keep. But now it can be hugely powerful for your business – if you can get it working for you.
A complete client picture, held in one place, is the key to delivering a personal service at scale with technology, enabling you to get advice to more of those who need it. It can also help you identify anomalies, surface revenue opportunities and flag risks automatically. To achieve all of this, though, you need well-structured data you can trust, stored in a way that lets you access it readily.
The project of cleaning up your data might feel significant. But the benefits make the task worthwhile. And many firms are already taking this step, turning the information they hold on their clients into a competitive advantage.
- Integrated systems
Once you have clean data, the next task it to make sure it’s where you need it, when you need it.
In Dynamic Planner’s annual industry survey, advice professionals consistently identify integrations as their biggest tech headache. Your data should flow freely between systems, but advisers and paraplanners are still spending too much time rekeying data and chasing up valuations.
However, the last few years have brought substantial advances, with API technology enabling the various systems used in the financial planning process – from the CRM to the planning system to the platform – to communicate seamlessly.
If you aren’t quite there yet, there’s even more incentive to address the issue. Beyond generative AI – the large language models many of us have got used to using in our work and home lives – the next phase is agentic AI, which can carry out simple tasks without human intervention. This technology has the potential to create huge efficiencies in your business if you can remove the roadblocks in your data flow.
- App technology
The average smartphone user spends three hours and 10 minutes a day on their device, with 90% of that time spent using apps. Apps have become central to running our lives: they’re how we connect with our friends, do our banking, order our groceries.
For advice firms, apps can enable you to serve more clients, more efficiently, with an engaging, always-on service and a built-in audit trail. They can take the communications load and empower the client to do more themselves, before meetings and throughout the year, in a way that’s seamless and enjoyable. And they can let you deliver your service model, your way, and unlock your ability to deliver targeted support.
While many firms already recognise the benefits of app technology, some I’ve spoken to have been nervous about introducing apps because of a belief that they’re not appropriate for the age of their client base. The data doesn’t bear this out.
As you might expect, usage is higher among younger groups – making apps a great way to connect with the next generation of clients, potentially though digital-led services. However, app use has become widespread, with mobile users over the age of 65 clocking up an hour a day. The oldest active user of Dynamic Planner’s financial planning app, Tram, is 83. She checks in three times a week to make sure she’s on track.
*In the upcoming columns I’ll be writing for IFA Magazine, I’ll look at what these building blocks can help you achieve, in processes throughout the client journey. First up next month, I’ll be delving into pain-free and engaging digital onboarding and fact find. I hope you like it!
About Rowan Whittington
Rowan is Chief Product Officer at Dynamic Planner. Her role in the Senior Leadership Team is to create, accelerate, and deliver on new and emerging initiatives whilst also contributing to the overall running of the business.
Focussing on Tram, Dynamic Planner’s white-labelled mobile app for customers, Rowan focuses her energy to better support our existing partners in delivering digital, capacity building seamless financial advice journeys. Using her previous experience as Director of Product and previously Head of Personal Finance for Confused.com she brings a deep understanding of customers and their micro and macro approach to personal finances. Having led Confused.com cultural initiatives to win FinTech Company of the Year 2023, she considers Growth in people alongside profit and product and takes a holistic view to her role.
Rowan is an inspirational leader, listed on Innovate Women in FinTech Powerlist two years running, experienced in curating friendly yet professional company cultures through empowered teams and stakeholder buy-in. She has an active personal commitment to the charity and arts sectors as a Board member and Business coach. She graduated in English Language and Communication from Cardiff University.
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