Representatives from Docupace attended two major financial industry conferences in May 2022: T3 and FINRA. Here are some of their key takeaways.
T3 Highlights Platform Growth
The Technology Tools for Today Conference, or T3, gathered in Texas in early May 2022. It was the first in-person iteration of the conference since 2019 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Nothing replaces face-to-face discussions,” says Docupace Director of Strategic Alliances Diane Buckley.
T3 primarily connects financial advisors to service providers, as well as presents an opportunity for vendors to meet each other. “It is not only an opportunity to connect with front-line financial professionals but also an excellent opportunity to connect with most tech vendors in our space,” says Richard Thoeny, Vice President of Product Management at Docupace. “I find it to be the most valuable product conference of the year.”
Platform growth dominated several conversations. “There was definitely a lot of acquisition interest,” says Buckley, “including Docupace’s acquisitions of PreciseFP and Jaccomo, as well as Orion’s acquisition of Retail.” She notes that platforms can provide flexibility and cost-effectiveness to RIAs targeting unique investor segments. Acquisitions are key to pulling together diverse functionality into one platform, something the RIA market doesn’t have the funds to accomplish individually.
While some platforms are expanding, others are consolidating operations. “I attended the Schwann session for vendors on their conversion of TD,” says Thoeny. “They are sunsetting all the TD tech stack and moving it all to Schwab — which is unfortunate since TD has some really nice features. That said, Schwab did a nice job presenting the roadmap and timing for the vendor conversions.”
With more data-gathering prowess than ever before, vendors are looking for ways to eliminate cumbersome processes for advisors. “Trending is how we help eliminate/reduce all the duplicate data entry out there,” Buckley says. “That’s probably the biggest pain point we have been hearing.”
Thoeny agrees: “Lots of conversation around using tech for not only efficiency and solving operational challenges but also to better serve the end investor.”
Overall, the team found it a productive conference. “Very good event for us as there were four types of firms that are of interest for Docupace: clients, prospects, partners, and products,” says Michael Drumm, Vice President of Enterprise Solutions.
FINRA Discusses Reg BI Implementation
The Mid-May 2022 gathering of the Financial Industry Regulating Authority (FINRA) Conference in Washington, D.C., featured a hybrid virtual/in-person format, after 2021’s conference was entirely online due to COVID-19.
The scope of the conference, as introduced by FINRA leadership, was broad. “I attended the opening session with Robert Cook, FINRA President, and Eileen Murray, Chair of the Board,” says Mike Smigie, Vice President of Enterprise Business Solutions. “They talked about the state of FINRA, dealing with the challenges of AI, and issues of diversity both at FINRA and within the industry.”
And, given that 2021 was the first full year of total Reg BI implementation, it was a hot topic. The session was “packed with attendees,” says Tim O’Rourke, Vice President of Enterprise Business Solutions. “The panel included members from FINRA and the SEC who reported their findings from visiting wealth management firms. They said that most firms are not where they need to be with regards to Form CRS. Most firms are very vague in the language they use and do not effectively capture why specific products are in their clients’ best interests — these firms are also failing at disclosing potential alternative products for the clients that are also suitable. They are looking to ensure each firm has a repeatable process in place for their advisors to deliver form CRS that is specific to the products/alternatives their firm provides.”
Smigie also attended a presentation on developments in communications compliance. “They spent time discussing cryptocurrency and the challenges of communicating to their clients that they need to capture KYC information,” he says.
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