Providing “unique solutions with the speed, cost and efficiency of an off-the-shelf provider,” WealthObjects builds digital wealth solutions for financial institutions, from end-to-end proposition launches to resolving singular pain points. Their bespoke products and services are built by technical and financial experts, with the industry experience to provide first-class on-going support and consultation.
We sat down with their Sales & Partnerships Director, Jamie Keen, to discuss the opportunities for digitisation in the wealth sector, and how WealthObjects can assist firms on this journey.
Unique solutions with the speed, cost and resource requirements of an off the shelf’ provider.
Governed by a dedication to “fit into client workflows, rather than expecting them to fit into ours”, WealthObjects are proud to say that they are yet to encounter a client need that they couldn’t meet. Jamie explains that WealthObjects’ geography, product and back-end system, provider-agnostic solutions are ideal for wealth and asset managers, banks, insurance companies or platforms looking to expand existing revenue streams, or develop new ones.
Back-end, front-end, or both?
When undertaking digital transformation projects, Jamie says that traditionally, firms have viewed fixing back-end inefficiencies and improving the front end as two separate projects, either because they are allocated in separate budgets, or due to concerns about the in-house resources required to tackle both at the same time. However, WealthObjects’ efficiency and cost-effectiveness encourages clients to tackle both at the same time.
Integration & Automation
The starting point for many projects is a review of back-end dependencies. “In our initial workshops with financial firms, we frequently discover inefficient, manual processes that cost the firm both time and money”, Jamie says, “so we put together an action plan to fix these alongside any front-end work. Because of the size and skillset of our development team, this tends to add little to the project delivery timeline.”
Once the dependencies have been assessed, and where possible consolidated to remove unnecessary interactions, WealthObjects integrates them into the wider proposition.
Attention can then turn to automation. “It is critical we ensure that every process – whether for the customer, the adviser or the firm’s internal admin users or portfolio managers - is as efficient as it can possibly be”. WealthObjects’ solutions across client on-boarding, financial planning, and order & portfolio management have all been created with this in mind.
Innovation & Differentiation
Understandably, clients still tend to focus more on the front-end as it leads more directly to increased revenues. With solutions designed to meet needs across direct-to-consumer (D2C), robo & hybrid advice, retirement and many others, WealthObjects can work with firms with any use-case. By providing end-to-end capabilities, from a vast suite of financial tools and calculators to powerful automated investing and digital engagement modules, Jamie believes that WealthObjects are “the perfect long-term partner for firms looking to achieve digital differentiation”.
More than just a Fintech
With a CEO and team experienced in the investment and regulatory compliance fields, WealthObjects provides firms with more than technology. Existing clients have the comfort of knowing the team are “always assessing the regulatory landscape to ensure they are and will continue to be compliant as regulations evolve.”
They have also welcomed the open banking wave, as it provides more competition in data aggregation, resulting in an increase in the availability of financial data and a decrease in its cost. “Anything that allows for the provision of a more holistic view of a customer’s financial position is a good thing for consumers, advisers and institutions” Jamie believes.
In a marketplace bearing numerous competitors with bank or asset management backing, Jamie is quick to distinguish WealthObjects as uniquely independent. Aware of sector concerns, he states that “WealthObjects will never go D2C”, thus allaying any fears about conflicts of interest.
The Mission Moving Forward
Jamie is proud to say he believes that WealthObjects was “set-up the right way”, by building a diverse and competitive array of products and services first, and then taking them to market. Their approach and philosophy have been popular with both clients and the wider industry; having won numerous awards in recent years including a partner award for their project with one of South Africa’s largest banks, Nedbank, they now want to digitise your products and services to propel the financial industry into the fintech age.
