PIMFA WealthTech, a FinTech and digital market network renowned for bridging the gap between FinTechs and the Wealth Management sector, has partnered with Morningstar to disclose the outcomes of their pioneering joint venture.
Their inaugural tech sprint, christened ‘the Duty of Care Tech Challenge’, was tailored to encourage FinTechs to formulate solutions, facilitating Wealth Management Firms and Advisers in comprehending and integrating the new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Consumer Duty regulation.
The catalyst for this tech sprint was a PIMFA WealthTech-conducted survey. The survey divulged that 55% of Wealth Management Firms are in the process of or contemplating collaborating with external FinTechs. Moreover, 42% are hastening their tech integration, while a quarter are mulling over delegating a portion of their IT infrastructure to FinTechs.
Participating FinTechs in the sprint were tasked with devising tools to simplify the process for Wealth Management firms to gain a deeper understanding of their clientele. Leveraging Morningstar APIs and data, these FinTechs conceived tech solutions. These solutions aid Wealth Management firms and Advisors in abiding by the Consumer Duty regulations of transmitting information transparently, justly, and without deceit. The said APIs encompassed a range of facets from asset allocation to cost analyses.
A total of eight FinTechs engaged in this tech sprint. Their submissions were evaluated collaboratively by Morningstar and PIMFA. The UK Morningstar Investment Conference in London, earlier this summer, showcased the top four innovative solutions.
Figg and InvestSuite emerged as the celebrated joint victors, as voted by the attendees of the Morningstar Investment Conference. Figg’s commendable solution, utilising Morningstar data, was a “privacy-first reporting engine”. This engine relays a user’s portfolio to Morningstar X-Ray discreetly, subsequently generating an illuminating report on investment sectors, geo-diversification, and insights on their investment returns.
Similarly, InvestSuite chose to reimagine complex reporting structures. Their aim was to present financial reports in a manner not only readable but comprehensible to investors. To achieve this, a blend of storytelling, AI, and natural language processing was employed.
Moneyhub and 2RSquared, the commendable runners-up, also showcased their inventive solutions. Moneyhub’s innovation was a holistic dashboard offering insights on investments and facilitating course corrections, whereas 2RSquared’s solution augmented information distribution to refine front office operations.
PIMFA WealthTech Executive Director Keith Phillips stated, “The role technology can play in helping firms meet the new requirements of the Consumer Duty and serve their clients better has the potential to be enormous. We’re delighted to have worked with Morningstar on this important tech sprint along with those leading-edge FinTechs which participated and demonstrated the breadth and depth of innovation now available to support the sector.”
Anastasia Georgiou, Morningstar’s director of client solutions, advisor segment, EMEA, remarked, “We are thrilled to partner with PIMFA. This sprint series was designed to examine how customer-focused technology can be best deployed to support the needs of wealth managers within the requirements of Consumer Duty.
“These solutions could be pivotal to helping the industry find new, innovative ways of communicating with customers to help them understand financial products and services. The tech sprint series is a fantastic initiative bringing new thinking and innovation to current pain points, which will truly benefit the wealth management industry and ultimately the end investor.”
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