Even better: this process does not require artificial intelligence or other new technology – although the data does have the potential to become even more powerful in the future if firms use it to train AI.
You can do it today, with the technology you already have at your disposal, just by making sure your planning system speaks to the rest of your stack.
What about the firm I mentioned at the start? Where was the money going? It turned out grandparents were withdrawing it to help with their grandchildren’s school fees. With the right data, harnessed in the right way, firms will be able to see things like this coming and prepare for them.
What levers could the firm have pulled if they had the information? From a business perspective, the knowledge that a large cohort of clients in their 70s might all start withdrawing money at the same time could have prompted them to build their business in other client groups to avoid such a concentration of risk.
From a client perspective, they might have identified the opportunity to work with the next generation – the children of the grandparents – to help them build their own resilient financial plans, so they would become less reliant on dipping into their parents’ savings.
They might even have found that this group would benefit from advice about Isas and pensions for their school-age children.
Making full use of what their financial planning was telling them would not only help to future-proof their profits but strengthen their client relationships.
Knowing what is going to happen with your clients’ financial lives ahead of time is incredibly powerful, both for the value you provide to your clients and for the future of your business.
Ben Goss is chief executive of Dynamic Planner
