2006 has certainly been the "year of consolidation" in the adviser software market, with many of the best known software providers changing ownership.  If you take into account the deals that took place at the end of last year, we have seen two of the best known client ... more

The increasing range of protection products brings significant benefits to advisers and consumers in terms of choice but it can mean advisers need reams of illustrations to take into account all the options.  Various technology suppliers and portals are deploying a range... more

Standard Bearer - 23^rd November 2006

Earlier in the year, Standard Life attracted criticism in some quarters over the transparency of its charging model. Having spent some time looking at this recently, I find its charging model simple to understand and am impressed by the tools it is deploying to document this in... more

Choices for Clients - 9^th November 2006

One of the most frequent calls that I get from IFAs is to ask for guidance on choosing the right client management system.  It is one of the most important decisions any adviser firm will ever take. Get it right and you can dramatically improve your efficiency and free up... more

When it comes to delivering new and smarter ways to do business, protection has long been the product type that has seen the greatest innovation from providers. In November, the FTRC research team will begin the workshops in preparation for delivery of the 2007 Protection e-Excellence ratings.  While the ratings... more

The recent news that Mortgage Trading Exchange has opened the standard interfaces it has developed with lenders so they can be adopted by other users paves the way for some welcome pragmatism to break out in the mortgage industry.  It has never been helpful from the adviser perspective that there have effectively... more

If moving home is one of the most stressful things that most people do in their lives, there can be little doubt that applying for the mortgage is one of the most stressful parts of that process.  Recent research carried out by You Gov for GMAC-RFC revealed that 72 per cent... more

Time is probably the most precious commodity in people's lives today. Who would not like a few more hours to themselves each week? Most advisers, as well as their clients, are cash-rich but time-poor, so technology that enables the adviser to release a few extra hours... more

There has been a vigorous debate over the past few weeks on the FinServ forum on the future role of wrap accounts in our industry.  As I usually find the list an interesting sample of adviser views, this leads me to believe that some of these points are worth... more

One of the golden rules of e-commerce is that you have to make it easy to use for the customer. Businesses such as Amazon have thrived because they are so easy to use.  Making services easy is especially true when you are trying to persuade users who are less than... more

There can be little doubt that collating the necessary documentation to comply with anti-money-laundering obligations has in the past been a labour intensive and time-consuming process. Anything that can be done to streamline these processes must be entirely... more

In recent years, few subjects have attracted more attention than how to reconstruct the advice process to reduce advisers' reliance on high levels of front-end-loaded commission.  Increasing numbers of advisers are investigating how they can restructure... more

I was bemused to read that AssureWeb and Intelliflo have united to form a "third option for the industry".  Let us look at one statement that AssureWeb made as part of its announcement. It claims to have 24,000 registered users but a far more valid measure of the use of a portal is the number of regular users, that is, the number of ... more

Intelligent Thinking - 25^th May 2006

In the past 18 months, Intelliflo has become one of the fastest-growing client management software providers in the adviser market.  Its range of customers is significant, including Merrill Lynch Financial Planning; National Australia Bank, a bancassurer multi-tie; Principality... more

This week, I want to look at one of the most hotly debated topics in our industry today. How can adviser firms move from the old sales-led, front-end commission model to a services-oriented model?  I particularly want to address the role of technology in building long- term value... more

This week's Money Marketing includes the latest e-Excellence supplement which focuses on the major achievements of many life companies in the delivery of services for life, critical illness and income protection.  The greatest e-commerce success achieved by life... more

Imagine being able to use a computer without having to use a keyboard.  For around three months, I have experimented to see if it was viable to work and travel with a tablet computer that recorded my handwriting and transcribed it to text.  I have used several tablet... more

Delivering and maintaining scaleable e-commerce to a large number of advisers has been a major challenge that many organisations have tried to address in recent years.  Delivery of a far larger level of electronic new business has been widely heralded as one of the principal... more

One thing which the life and pension and e-commerce industries have in common is a massive amount of jargon and acronyms to confuse customers, sometimes to hilarious effect.   I remember some years ago being in a group of people at the bar at City IT,... more

For as long as I have been writing about technology in this industry, it has been apparent that consolidation among software suppliers would be a major benefit for advisers.   There can be no doubt that the sheer number of adviser system providers has diluted the quality being... more

One of the key industry issues is consumers getting advice when arranging protection. Money Marketing's No Advice No Protection campaign has made it clear that advice is an essential part of the process.   The scandal over the amounts charged by banks for payment protection... more

Last year, this column looked at the lead that the majority of life and pension providers have achieved in e-commerce services compared with most of their peers in the fund management industry.   This will be brought into sharp focus in next week's MM when the e-Excellence... more

Heading for a Fall - 5^th January 2006

As the mortgage industry moves into 2006, more than a few people will be relieved that M-Day did not bring the end of the the world, mortgage business is still being transacted and FSA regulation has probably not been as unpleasant as many imagined.   In light of ... more