In some ways, advice professionals have never had it so good when it comes to the technology they use in their business.

If you don’t like the ‘on the shelf’ versions of your back-office, platforms or systems, it’s in your power to change things up.

For example, you might choose to partner with another firm to build tech that’s more suited to what you need it to do. You might push your platform for extra functionality or a more customised client experience. You might look outside of financial services altogether for a different kind of system from which to run your business.

The place where all these competing demands meet is often the platform.

Following our HomeGame 4 event in Edinburgh last month, we held a roundtable debate looking at the issue of bespoke tech.

We were joined by:

• Al Ward, head of adviser platform, Aviva
• Ben Lester, head of distribution, Morningstar Wealth Platform
• John Blackman, group chief product officer, FNZ
• Laurie Jaques, chief distribution officer, Fundment
• Roland Whyte, chief executive, Nokkel

They discussed how they as platforms manage competing priorities, the balance to be struck on which developments to take forward, and what planners are asking them for.

To bespoke or not to bespoke

Ben Lester from Morningstar Wealth Platform admits it can be a challenge responding to multiple requests of ‘can you do this?’ from firms that are all operating in a slightly different way to each other.

For Morningstar Wealth, feedback is taken through discovery sessions and then passed to the product and tech teams. But he admits as platforms you can’t do everything for everybody.

“In the past we have looked to do things specifically for an entity. You have to be really careful with that because it can take your focus away from the day-to-day and the core activity. So it’s about how can we make, build or release something that has the biggest impact across the most users.

“If you do something here, something has to give over there. Sometimes when we’re asked for something it’s a case of going back to the problem advisers are actually looking to solve. Then we can provide solutions that may not be exactly what they are asking for, but still get them to where they need to be.”

FNZ’s John Blackman agreed.

“That joining up of what people are asking for, what we've got and how to achieve the same outcome – it can make a massive difference.

“We and others have got some really experienced people who are good at understanding what's needed, because they've done it a thousand times. Even if a particular adviser is asking for the first time.”

Al Ward from Aviva said the answer on what platforms should develop and when can be to look for general themes among the development requests.

He said: “When you’re speaking to firms, it might be that one firm wants something bespoke, but when you actually listen, they’ve got the same sort of challenges as someone else. There might be an individual challenge in one business that’s different from the firm down the road, but when you look at the macro level, there are similarities in the outcomes they’re trying to achieve.”

What advisers are asking for

Fundment’s Laurie Jaques said when it comes to what planners want from their platforms, “they just want it to work… unfortunately, the benchmark to be regarded as a good platform is pretty low.”

He added where they do get requests for bespoke requirements these are typically around greater control over the front end of the platform and the client experience.

“Advice firms have their own personality and they want to express that, not necessarily through the platform, but through their own onboarding process and the way the client engages. That’s where firms want bespoke from our point of view.”

Roland Whyte from property wealth firm Nokkel suggested there may be wider support platforms can offer in helping firms assess emerging tech, including around the use of AI and the concerns that come with that.

“Whose obligation is it to actually vet the tech? I think there is a role to play across all platforms to almost be selective around what's the right technology, as part of a broader process.”

Ben Lester argued there was also scope for platforms and providers to ‘play back’ the feedback they get from advice firms, and the best practice they see, so that businesses can use this as a kind of benchmark.

He said: “That’s where I think we could add real value. Because we’re talking to lots of advice firms. So when one firm is trying to achieve something, we can say: ‘We know a lot of firms that are doing it this way’ and help them on that journey.

"When we ask what we can do for firms, it’s ‘tell me what our peers are doing, what the rest of the industry is doing, and the people in my segment.’”

There are usually tensions with advice tech between what’s available and what people want. This is something we see in our research – a desire for best of breed systems at the same time as a desire for systems to be joined up.

Al Ward summed it up like this: “Fundamentally, the challenge is this: People want an out-of-the-box solution that works. But they want an out-of-the-box solution that works in the way they want it to work. So as an industry, we need to provide solutions that just work, end to end so that people can lift the tech, and essentially plug and play.

“There are lots of integrations which exist already which mean advisers can pick the best kit they want to use in their business and in a way that works for them, their proposition and their clients.”