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New Tiburon Research Report - Online Tools & Advice: The Intersection of Technology & Self-Service
Tiburon Strategic Advisors, a market research & strategy consulting firm serving a wide variety of financial institutions and investment managers, is pleased to announce the release of its newly released research report on Online Tools & Advice. This research release summarizes some of the report's key findings.
Please click the image above to view the table of contents for Tiburon's Online Tools & Advice Research Report |
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This is Tiburon's first draft of this report; it was unbundled from Tiburon's equally thorough online brokerage research report.
Key Findings
This report has a long list of interesting facts to share:
Evolution of the Tools & Advice Industry
This section outlines the market history, market definition, market growth, & market segmentation of the online tools & advice industry.
Market History
- The first development in the financial services technology market came with the explosion in the use of personal computers & the proliferation of desktop software use by consumers, which occurred between the years 1977 and 1995
- Desktop trading software was introduced in 1985 when Charles Schwab & Company launched its Equalizer product, which was followed by street smart in the early 1990s
- In the late 1990s, consumers continued to flock to the internet, which drove financial services technology for about five years
- The proliferation of news web sites empowered consumers with on demand information on companies and markets
- Full-service brokerage firms gradually upped the ante when it came to online services provided their clients, ending with full-blown online trading platforms
Market Definition
- The online tools & advice industry can be defined to include firms specializing in ten different markets, including sales enabling technology and financial planning software
Market Growth
- Market growth in the online tools & advice industry can be measured by number of firms, offices, clients, & accounts
Market Segmentation
- There are ten types of financial advisor technology, including advisor workstations which consolidate the other nine tools into one package
- Financial planning software grew out of the proliferation of financial planning workbooks, and evolved through a focus on comprehensive programs to modular solutions
- Data & research services have evolved from days of desktop predominance to a proliferation of web research
- Financial planning & education web sites can be divided into six categories, including personal finance, retirement planning, estate planning, tax information, portfolio tracking, and insurance research
- F
ee-based financial advisors are willing to pay an average of over $110,000 per year for a superior ASP model, with a median of $100,000
Leading Online Tools & Advice Companies
- The leading online tools & advice companies can be measured by number of offices, clients, accounts, assets under administration, revenues, and profits
- NaviPlan lead the leaders of financial planning software in terms of users, likely because of its early launch and international target market
Future Predictions for Financial Services Industry Technology
This chapter outlines the future predictions for the online tools & advice industry.
Growing Personal Computer & Internet Usage
- The US personal computer population can be expected to increase, although slower than in recent years
- Internationally, the number of personal computers will explode
- Growth in personal computer sales in the future will likely be driven by more access for less affluent and foreign markets
- Two particular regions that stand to take advantage of such technology advances and consequently drive worldwide personal computer growth are China & India, both with developing ties to the United States
Rising Online Financial Services Activity & Parallel Need for in Person Advice
- Despite the rising of online financial services activity, investors will still demand in person advice which will lead to a swelling population of validators
- Discount brokerage & online financial services firms are beginning to look like their traditional competitors due to the swelling ranks of validators, and the need to match their needs with branch
es
Blurring of Line Between Advisor & Consumer Technology Solutions
- The line between advisor & consumer technologies will blur as advisor technology gains more client interface options
Continued Streamlining of Financial Services Front Offices Through Outsourcing, ASP Models, and Document Management Systems
- Outsourcing will likely grow across the industry because of new entrants, the increasing sophistication of investment products, superior outsourcing models, & the ability to reallocate time to better uses
- The core advantage of outsourcing, and why it will drive large advisor practices to streamline their businesses in the future, is that it allows them to focus on core strengths of prospecting, client service, and asset management
Improved Integration of Various Technology Components
- In the future, technology components will be integrated to share data like never before, breaking down lines that prevent efficiency
- Broadly, the proliferation of integrated tools will largely come in the form of web based models, and replace the fragmented nonintegrated software suites used today
To better understand the developments in Online Tools & Advice, executives can purchase Tiburon's Online Tools & Advice: The Intersection of Technology & Self-Service research report where the key findings highlighted above are covered in greater detail. Please contact Sarah Sage at SSage@TiburonAdvisors.Com or 415-789-2540.
More Information
The following links will open specific pages on Tiburon's web site:
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Tiburon Strategic Advisors
Tiburon Strategic Advisors, based in Tiburon, CA, was formed in 1998 to offer market research & strategy consulting services to all types of financial institutions and investment managers:
- The firm has served over 300 corporate clients and completed over 1,100 projects since its founding, and today, its knowledge base includes mutual fund distribution, separately managed account programs, alternative investments, wealth management, insurance products, banking services, the fee-only financial advisor market, the CPA firm market, the family office market, and various international markets.
- Tiburon holds a series of CEO Summits semi-annually for its executive-level clients. The next CEO Summit is scheduled for October 14-15, 2008 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in San Francisco, CA. 2009 dates are April 9-10, 2009 (New York, NY), and October 7-8, 2009 (San Francisco, CA). Attendance is by invitation only and attendance at each Summit is managed to between 100 and 125 senior industry executives. Visit the CEO Summits section of Tiburon's web site for details on current and past CEO Summits, including attendee lists, meeting agendas, and highlights. Please contact Tiburon's Managing Principal Chip Roame at CRoame@TiburonAdvisors.Com or (415) 789-2541 if you are a Tiburon client and have an interest in attending a future Tiburon CEO Summit.
- Tiburon has published forty-seven ~300-400+ page research reports, which offer detailed analyses of growing business segments; each is available for $5,000; these reports can be ordered by contacting Sarah Sage at SSage@TiburonAdvisors.Com or (415) 789-2540.
- Tiburon offers an annual research report retainer service, whereby dozens of clients receive all Tiburon reports published within a year for $25,000; clients can subscribe to Tiburon's 2009 Research Report Retainer by contacting Sarah Sage at SSage@TiburonAdvisors.Com or (415) 789-2540.
- Tiburon also offers a database access program, whereby it shares its 300,000+ person industry executives contacts database with dozens of clients for $25,000 per year (distributed quarterly); clients can subscribe to Tiburon's Database Access Program by contacting Sarah Sage at SSage@TiburonAdvisors.Com or (415) 789-2540.
- Tiburon offers thirteen online business benchmarking tools that are available to all types of financial advisors in an effort to help them benchmark their business practices and build more successful businesses. The sites include www.BrokerBestPractice.Com for wirehouse & regional brokers, www.FABestPractices.Com for fee-based financial advisors, www.IndependentRepBestPractices.Com for independent reps, and www.PrivateBankerBestPractices.Com for private bankers. Almost 5,000 advisors have used these tools. By completing one of the online surveys, financial advisors can access a FREE copy of the relevant comprehensive Tiburon research report, which summarizes and analyzes the collective results.
- Tiburon's weekly research releases, like this one, are emailed for free to interested industry executives, media representatives, conference planners, and individual financial advisors. Over 55,000 industry executives now receive these releases. Feel free to sign up to receive future research releases at Tiburon's web site (www.TiburonAdvisors.Com) if this release was passed to you by a colleague and you would like to receive them directly in the future.
- Tiburon plans to expand its workforce in 2008-2009. Specifically, the firm plans to add two-to-three incremental principals (the most senior role at the firm) and several more research managers in 2008-2009.
- Tiburon has built three executive programs (CEOs-in-Residence, Financial Advisor Roundtable, and Consulting Fellows) in an effort to bring the experiences of additional senior level industry executives to Tiburon clients. Feel free to contact any of the members of Tiburon’s executive programs directly or ask that they be included in any ongoing Tiburon project.
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