Today’s wealth management firms are being asked to deliver a client experience that feels both highly personalized and easy to navigate digitally. That means leaning on technology alone is not enough; firms also need to strengthen the human guidance that helps clients make complex financial decisions.
The challenge is identifying investments that improve the client experience while supporting efficient, scalable operations. Below, Forbes Finance Council members share areas where wealth management firms can invest to strengthen relationships today while supporting long-term profitability.
1. Personalize Digital Planning Tools
Firms should invest first in personalized, verticalized software that keeps clients continuously engaged. This extends beyond aggregating outside accounts into one platform. Clients should be able to seamlessly run what-if scenarios to see how major purchases or investment decisions shape their plans, with an AI avatar providing quick answers along the way. – Zach Brody, Lumiere Financial
2. Develop Advisors’ Relationship-Building Skills
Firms should invest in talent, particularly in developing the people-facing skills of younger advisors. Raw data is increasingly accessible, causing the ability to connect face-to-face to become more valuable, not less. Advisors need to know how to authentically connect with clients and teammates, which will strengthen the business and build better leaders. – Neil Kawashima, McDermott Will & Schulte
3. Scale Advisors’ Intelligence
Firms should invest in intelligence that scales what makes a great advisor great. Our competitive advantage is how well we know our clients, how much they value our judgment and how much we anticipate their needs. We’re building our AI platform to allow our advisors to spend less time gathering information and handling routine tasks, and more time anticipating what’s next, acting on it and deepening their relationships. – Thomas H. Ruggie, ChFC, CFP, Destiny Family Office
4. Strengthen People And Processes
People and processes have always paid dividends for me. Establishing and creating systems for your target market are foundational. However, investing in people (training and communication skills) separates many firms. Being able to make a connection can never be overstated. – Mike McGlothlin, Ash Brokerage
5. Improve Response TimesMost firms shop for software first. I would start with response time. Clients do not want more technology; they want to feel known. Connect your website to your CRM to a human who calls back the same day. Then, build a repeatable planning process so personalization scales. Tech should buy your team more time in front of clients. If it does not, it is overhead. – Nico Pesci, Momentum Wealth
6. Modernize The Operating Infrastructure
Start with the infrastructure. You can’t deliver personalized, real-time advice on top of end-of-day batch files and manual workflows. Modernizing the operating foundation changes the economics of wealth management by helping firms onboard faster, automate at scale and free advisors to focus on relationships. That’s how you make personalized advice both more human and more profitable. – Bill Capuzzi, Apex Fintech Solutions
7. Address Behavioral Investing Risks
Much of the industry is obsessed with out-calculating the market while overlooking the biggest threat to long-term wealth: human behavior. Algorithms can optimize portfolios, but they can’t stop panic-selling or FOMO. I’d invest first in helping advisors recognize those moments and intervene before a temporary emotion becomes a permanent financial decision. Superior performance attracts clients. Helping clients avoid costly mistakes earns loyalty. – Alia Noor, Ahmad Alagbari Chartered Accountant
8. Expand Educational Video Content
Invest in educational video content first. Most advisors aren’t focused here yet, which means the opportunity is wide open. Clients and prospects are already online looking for guidance, and firms that show up with clear, authentic thinking build trust and deepen existing relationships at the same time. Compliance considerations are real, but there’s more room to work within them than most firms realize. – Leo Anzoleaga, Leo Anzoleaga Group at Luminate Bank
9. Integrate Holistic Financial Services
Invest first in integration, not technology alone. Clients want one coordinated strategy across legal, tax, investments, insurance and estate planning. Use technology to eliminate friction, not replace advice. Firms that become a client’s strategic advisor—not just an asset manager—build deeper trust, higher retention and stronger long-term profitability. – Andre Pennington, Pennington Law
10. Unify Client Information
Invest first in unified information management. Client data sits across CRM, custodial platforms, emails and documents, limiting personalization. A trusted client view equips advisors to deliver timely, tailored guidance while reducing compliance risk and operating costs, strengthening loyalty and long-term profitability. – Monica Hovsepian, OpenText
11. Enable Advisor-Centered AI
Wealth management firms should prioritize building an AI-enabled, advisor-centric client experience rather than pursuing digital tools alone. Investments in personalized financial planning, predictive analytics and secure omnichannel platforms allow advisors to deliver tailored advice. Automating routine administrative tasks reduces costs and frees advisors to focus on relationship building. – Sumeet Grover, UFCU
12. Connect Client Data
I’d start with data. Personalization is hard when advisors don’t have a complete picture of the client. Invest in systems that connect the data, eliminate manual work and give advisors better insights. Technology can make the experience easier, but trust and human judgment are still the differentiators. – Megan Weis, Personiv
13. Systematize Personalized Planning
Everyone’s debating tech versus advisors, but the first investment is neither. It’s a defined planning process and a clear picture of who you serve best. Personalization isn’t something you buy; it’s something you systematize. Nail the process and technology scales it while advisors deepen it. Skip it, and you’re just automating vagueness behind a nicer interface. Depth beats reach. – Dana Dunkelberger, Reliance Financial Partners
14. Automate Back-Office Work
Start with the back office, not the front end. Many firms buy client-facing tech before fixing the data and workflow underneath it, and the advisor still loses the week to admin. Automate the routine work first. That buys back hours for real conversations, which is what clients actually pay for and what keeps them. – Jared Weitz, United Capital Source Inc.
15. Unify CRM And Client Data
Prioritize unified CRM and client data infrastructure powering hybrid advice: AI-driven personalization, seamless portals and automated workflows that cut cost-to-serve while deepening relationships and referrals. – Anatoly Iofe, IceBridge Financial Group, LLC
16. Differentiate Through Specialization
The beautiful thing about capitalism is that consumers like options. Some will prefer a stronger automation and technology package. Others will prefer relationship-driven services and a person to talk to. Firms don’t need to be all things to all people because there’s opportunity in specialization. In business, be the best at what you do. The same can be said of differentiation strategy. – Erik Clarke, Trans Lease, Inc.
17. Separate Advice From Asset Fees
Stop investing in personalization tech first—invest in unbundling fees from AUM. Digital tools have made pure execution nearly free, so firms that still price advice as a percentage of assets are subsidizing convenience with margin. Charge separately for judgment, and personalization becomes a profit center, not a cost. – Ali Nanji, BPC Banking Technologies
Investment advisory services offered through Destiny Family Office, LLC, an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. Rankings and/or recognition by unaffiliated rating services and/or publications should not be construed by a client or prospective client as a guarantee that he/she will experience a certain level of results if Destiny Family Office or its firms are engaged, nor should it be construed as a current or past endorsement of Destiny Family Office.
