3 Ways Artificial Intelligence Can Be Used To Streamline Your Financial Advice Business Today

By automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks, AI has the potential to significantly enhance the efficiency and capacity of financial advisers. This transformation could free up valuable time for these professionals, enabling them to focus on more complex, value-added activities and personal interaction with clients.

In this article we will look at tools already available that can have a significant impact on productivity for financial advisers and their teams.

1. Documenting File Notes

Documenting client meetings and calls through file notes is essential for compliance, record-keeping, and ensuring a high standard of personalised service. Artificial Intelligence (AI) can significantly streamline and enhance this aspect of the financial advice process by automating and optimizing the creation of file notes.

Documenting client meetings and calls through file notes is essential for compliance, record-keeping, and ensuring a high standard of personalized service. Artificial Intelligence (AI) can significantly streamline and enhance this aspect of the financial advice process by automating and optimizing the creation of file notes.

AI-powered speech recognition software can transcribe audio recordings of client meetings or calls in real time. This technology is highly accurate and can handle different accents, speeds of speech, and technical jargon related to financial advice.

Once transcribed, AI algorithms can summarize the content, highlighting key points, decisions, and action items. This summary provides a concise overview of the discussion for both the adviser and the client, ensuring that important details are not overlooked.

AI can analyze the conversation to identify specific action items, deadlines, and follow-up tasks. By detecting phrases that indicate a task (e.g., "We need to review", "Let's schedule another meeting"), AI can automatically generate to-do lists or reminders, integrating them into the financial planner's workflow management tools.

Below are examples of two tools that employ AI to enhance the documentation process, each with unique features that cater to the varying needs of financial advisory practices:

Otter.ai

Otter.ai is a popular AI-powered tool designed to transcribe meetings and conversations in real-time. It offers high accuracy with the ability to recognize different accents and terminologies specific to the financial planning industry. Otter.ai's ability to integrate with video conferencing tools like Zoom makes it exceptionally useful for virtual client meetings. It provides searchable transcripts and allows for easy extraction of highlights, making it simpler to review and document key points discussed during meetings.

Fireflies.ai

Fireflies.ai is an AI-powered note-taking and meeting assistant designed to automate the process of capturing and organizing meeting notes. It integrates with most video conferencing platforms and offers functionalities such as automatic transcription, key points extraction, and action item detection. Fireflies.ai also facilitates the easy sharing of notes and summaries with clients or team members, ensuring everyone is aligned on the discussed points and actions.

2. Client Emails

Another innovative way AI can transform the financial advice process is by generating first drafts of client emails. This application of AI addresses a common challenge faced by financial advisers: the time-consuming task of responding to client queries, concerns about their accounts, market movements, and other financial planning topics. By leveraging AI, advisers can significantly reduce the time spent drafting these communications, allowing them to respond more quickly and efficiently to client needs.

Let’s say a client emails you the following:

Dear [Financial Adviser],

I hope this email finds you well. I've been following the news lately, and I'm increasingly concerned about the recent market volatility. It's unsettling to see the fluctuations and how they might be affecting my investment portfolio. Given these conditions, I'm worried about the security of my investments and whether any adjustments need to be made to mitigate potential losses.

Could you review my portfolio and advise on any steps we might need to take? I trust your judgment but would appreciate understanding the rationale behind any recommendations you might have.

Thank you for your guidance and support during these uncertain times.

Best regards,
[Client Name]

Using a tool like Chat GPT you can write a prompt such as:

"Generate a professional and empathetic email response to a client who is concerned about recent market volatility affecting their investment portfolio. The response should acknowledge the client's anxieties, offer a general reassurance about market fluctuations, highlight how their portfolio is designed to withstand volatility, and propose a follow-up conversation for a more detailed review. Include a reminder about the importance of focusing on long-term investment goals and how the current market conditions are being monitored closely.”

Chat GPT within a few seconds would generate as follows:

Subject:

Concerns About Market Volatility and Your Portfolio

Email:

Dear [Client Name],

Thank you for reaching out with your concerns about the current market volatility. I understand how unsettling the fluctuations can be, and I want to assure you that your financial well-being is our top priority.

I have reviewed your portfolio in light of the recent market activities, and I'd like to discuss some strategies that can help us navigate this period effectively. While your portfolio is diversified and designed to withstand market ups and downs, there are a few adjustments we could consider to further protect your investments.

Rebalancing: We could look into rebalancing your portfolio to ensure it aligns with your risk tolerance and investment goals. This might involve shifting some investments from more volatile sectors to those that are traditionally more stable.

Quality Investments: Focusing on high-quality investments with a strong track record of resilience in various market conditions can be a prudent approach during times of volatility.

Cash Reserves: Ensuring you have sufficient cash reserves can provide peace of mind and reduce the need to sell investments at an inopportune time if you need liquidity.

I believe a discussion would be beneficial to go over these options in more detail and tailor our approach to your specific situation. Could we schedule a call or meeting at your convenience to discuss this further?

Your trust in us is greatly valued, and I am here to support you through these times with the best financial advice and reassurance. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any more questions or need further clarification on anything.

Looking forward to speaking with you soon.

Best regards,
[Your Name]

By using AI to generate first drafts of client emails, financial advisers can save significant amounts of time. For instance, drafting a complex email response might typically take 15-20 minutes, depending on the inquiry's complexity. With AI assistance, the initial draft can be produced in a matter of seconds, reducing the adviser's input to merely reviewing and personalizing the draft before sending. This time savings allows advisers to handle a larger volume of client communications more efficiently, improving client satisfaction and freeing up time for higher-value tasks.

3. Documenting Business Process

Efficient documentation ensures consistency, compliance, and scalability, enabling smoother operations and facilitating effective training and development for staff. Here, we explore two AI-powered tools—Scribe and Tango—that significantly contribute to streamlining the process of documenting business operations:

Scribe

Scribe is an innovative AI tool designed to simplify the creation of comprehensive business process documentation. By automatically recording user actions and generating detailed guides, Scribe streamlines the process of documenting workflows, procedures, and best practices. Here's how Scribe benefits financial advice businesses in documenting business processes:

Standardised Workflows: Generate standardized documentation for key business processes, ensuring consistency in operations across teams and reducing the risk of errors or discrepancies.
Compliance Documentation: Automatically document compliance procedures and regulatory requirements, helping the business meet industry standards and regulatory obligations.
Training Material Creation: Use Scribe-generated guides as training materials for new hires, accelerating the onboarding process and ensuring that employees are well-versed in the organization’s operational procedures.

Tango

Tango is another AI-driven tool that excels in documenting business processes, offering interactive and visually engaging workflow documentation. By capturing and presenting workflows in a structured format, Tango facilitates knowledge sharing and process optimization. Here's how Tango contributes to efficient business process documentation within financial advice enterprises:

Process Visualization: Create visually appealing process documentation that simplifies complex workflows, making it easier for employees to understand and follow operational procedures.
Knowledge Sharing: Share documented processes across teams, enabling knowledge transfer and ensuring that all staff members are aligned with the organization’s standard operating procedures.
Continuous Improvement: Use Tango’s documentation as a basis for identifying inefficiencies and areas for improvement within business processes, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and innovation.

By leveraging AI-powered tools like Scribe and Tango, financial advice enterprises can streamline the process of documenting business operations. This not only enhances operational efficiency and compliance but also contributes to effective training and development by providing clear and standardized documentation of the organization's operational procedures. As a result, team members can efficiently execute their tasks, leading to improved productivity and better service delivery to clients.

Embracing AI: The Path to Enhanced Efficiency

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in financial advisory services presents a significant opportunity to streamline operations, enhance productivity, and deliver superior client experiences. By leveraging AI-powered tools like Otter.ai and Fireflies.ai for documenting file notes, financial advisers can efficiently capture and analyze client interactions, ensuring compliance and facilitating personalized service delivery. Additionally, AI-driven email drafting solutions enable advisers to respond promptly to client inquiries, demonstrating responsiveness and expertise while saving valuable time.

AI-powered tools such as Scribe and Tango offer innovative solutions for documenting business processes, promoting consistency, compliance, and knowledge sharing within financial advisory practices. Standardized workflows, compliance documentation, and visually engaging process visualization empower teams to execute tasks efficiently, drive continuous improvement, and maintain high standards of service excellence.

As financial advisory firms embrace AI technologies, they stand to unlock new levels of efficiency, scalability, and client satisfaction. By integrating AI seamlessly into their operations, advisers can focus on value-added activities, deepen client relationships, and navigate market complexities with confidence. Ultimately, the strategic adoption of AI positions financial advisory businesses at the forefront of innovation, poised to thrive in an ever-evolving landscape of financial services.

David Deegan

David has over 20 years experience in the financial advice industry in Australia.

Starting as a financial adviser David spent 12 years assisting clients in navigating their financial options.

Identifying the need for more efficient back office support for advisers, David co-founded Vital Business Partners (VBP), an offshore solution that has reshaped the way financial advisers manage administrative and paraplanning work. With ten years at VBP David combined operations, business process management and technology to streamline and enhance the productivity of financial advice businesses.

David is now developing Planorate, an innovative platform aimed at further simplifying the advice delivery process.