Gary Shepherd, our business development director was asked to appear on the Advice Amplified podcast to talk about his experiences in financial services tech over the past 30 years. He’s lived through (and some say survived) the early years of financial DOS software, and now is primed for the evolution of AI. But what should be driving these software applications to make the wealth management industry better? In his view, it all comes down to data.
“The advent of that one Windows application that took the market by storm meant the industry could spin off that… it made a huge difference.“
Gary Shepherd, business development director, Sprint Enterprise Technology
Historical Shifts in Financial Tech: The Power of Data – Advice Amplified podcast, 14 May 2024
In his experience, a lot of the legacy back-office systems are still based on what happened in the industry 25 years ago. Still, with the advent of new systems and upgrades to legacy systems, the tech industry is getting better and more connected, but not without its problems.
The desire for valuation data and full transaction history
One of the key changes he witnessed recently is the desire for valuation data AND full transaction histories. But thinking about the logistics of this data, where investment platforms, software providers and advisory firms need to be integrated can be a real problem. If you consider 24 investment platforms with point-to-point connections, where 16 of these give Sprint Enterprise full transaction data, that equates to over 3,000 transaction codes alone!
Simplifying integrations
Now consider having to potentially build to 130 software solutions (i.e. CRM, cashflow, client portals, suitability/report writing tools, risk profiling software) API’s that are available in the UK. That’s an incredible number for firms to build to if they go down the point-to-point route. What can simplify this for the entire wealth management industry is a data hub (see ‘Simplifying the impossible – data integrations in financial services‘. A hub where you can access the data in one place, simply, in the same format and without worrying about the nuances of each investment platform. Why would anyone build to so many API’s when they can connect to one?
“In the last 2 or 3 years, a light switch has gone on where people have recognised the requirement for data AND the requirement for good data.“
Gary Shepherd, business development director, Sprint Enterprise Technology
How financial services companies can help each other
Gary then outlines how financial services can move forward, and from his perspective, that’s by helping each other. The industry needs the right data to make it work, from investment platforms, software providers and advisory firms, as you can’t power a system without data, but we all need to be able to share the data and remove the fear of doing so.
Further information on the FINIO data hub and Fastrak client reporting solution
If you’d like more information on the Sprint Enterprise solutions Gary mentioned in the podcast, click below:
Thanks to Advice Amplified (Ningi and Maskew)
We’d like to express our thanks to Pete Ridlington, CEO of Ningi, for inviting Gary to speak on this podcast and share his experiences, and to Arthur Jones, founder of Maskew, for organising and recording the session.
To watch the other episodes of Advice Amplified, click here.
