Schwab veterans Neesha Hathi, Chief Digital Officer and Andrew Salesky, Digital Advisor Solutions weigh in on the rapidly evolving digital landscape and its impact on the way advisors serve their clients.
Salesky and Hathi have more than four decades of experience between them at Schwab. In that timeframe, digital has transformed from a forward-looking buzzword to a critical part of the way advisors run their businesses. Today, the Digital Services Group at Schwab is ultimately focused on finding ways to accelerate digital capabilities for all clients, big and small.
While the push for digital solutions is not a new trend, Hathi says the widespread effects of COVID-19 drove “a decade worth of acceleration around digital in just 10 months.”
Many advisors learned to run their businesses remotely and engage with clients virtually for the very first time, while also increasing their spend on technology to deliver a seamless digital experience. On the flip side, Hathi also notes that the way individual investors and clients interact with technology is evolving. Not only are more people adopting technology, but they are becoming increasingly savvy with how they are willing to use it. With levels of digital adoption way up, the power of human connection has never been more important.
Salesky emphasizes that technology is really designed to enable advisors to have more value added time doing what they do best. Looking ahead, Hathi highlights the changing demographics of wealth, increased expectations of personalization, and overall financial wellness as major growing trends in the wealth management industry.
In October 2020, Schwab doubled down on its commitment to the RIA community when the the long awaited Schwab-TD merger closed. Hathi and Salesky say the two firms aim to come together to deliver the “best of the best advisor platform.”
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