How broker-dealers can lead the next evolution in financial advice

With today's wealth management space becoming increasingly commoditized, broker-dealers need smart ways to grow and protect their business. One of the biggest growth challenges? Empowering advisors to meet clients' broader financial needs.

A great way to support advisors in offering more than just traditional investments is to empower them to include key protection like life insurance and annuities. This move helps to differentiate and increase value to the consumer. So what stops advisors from taking this step?

The obstacle: What gets in advisors' way and how client needs are shifting

Clients are looking for holistic financial advice. They expect advice on retirement income, wealth transfer, legacy planning and protecting against life's unexpected turns. This means advisors can't just stick to wealth management. They need to bring in protection strategies to meet clients' most important needs.

By focusing solely on traditional investment vehicles, advisors are missing an opportunity to add significant value to their client relationships and increase revenue from their current book. Research from the Insured Retirement Institute (IRI) consistently highlights that consumers prioritize securing guaranteed income and protecting assets, often above maximizing growth, which underscores the advisor's role in addressing these core concerns.

Advisors might hold back from offering new products because they don't fully understand the products or the process.

Introducing different products can feel complicated

Selling insurance solutions involves complex products and strategies. This complexity can prevent advisors from exploring new products.

Advisors also wrestle with clunky ways of working. Often, they need to jump between different systems for quotes, applications and compliance checks, and key in the same client information multiple times.

This friction in their day makes it hard to add protection products to client conversations and recommendations efficiently. Clearing these barriers means finding better ways to work.

Making the sales process easier

To clear these hurdles, broker-dealers must offer advisors tools that simplify selling different products. This support is vital, as clients want advisors managing their complete financial picture, including insurance.

That's why leading broker-dealers are bringing in end-to-end solutions. When the process is easier to navigate, advisors feel more comfortable selling products that weren’t previously core to their business.

Technology helps growth happen

Putting digital tools to work makes advisors more effective and clients happier. It lets advisors spend more time building relationships with clients and less time on paperwork. IRI research indicates that financial professionals are more likely to use annuities if the process includes modern digital capabilities like e-signatures and e-delivery. This technology isn't just for today — it helps prepare for what's next.

Bringing in the right technology for today and tomorrow

Successfully adopting new technology depends on how well it fits with what you already do. The change should improve how things work, not mess them up.

Here's how connected technology directly supports key compliance and operational tasks:

• Create dependable records. Technology automatically notes who did what and when, building a clear history that's key for compliance reviews and sorting out disagreements.
• Make compliance forms accurate. Digital forms guide advisors, lowering the chance of making mistakes and documenting that they followed the rules, showing clearly that requirements were met.
• Build consistent workflows. Technology standardizes the process for all advisors to follow, improving service quality and reducing risk. It keeps forms and processes current. Updates happen in one place, making sure advisors use only approved materials. This helps avoid costly compliance errors from using old documents and different processes.
• Put the required information where it's needed. Systems automatically show necessary documents at the right times, proving they were delivered.

 

By building these features into their technology, firms make adhering to business rules a more automatic, natural and reliable part of the daily routine. This significantly cuts down on risk and improves operations.

The financial industry constantly sees new products, updated rules, and changing client demands. When you bring in technology, take into consideration whether it would be able to scale with you. Choosing flexible technology that adapts as things change means your investment will pay off for longer. But what do you gain from working smart?

Taking a smart approach to operations brings real benefits

The benefits of this complete approach are big. By offering protection products, advisors build stronger relationships with clients and earn their loyalty. Meeting a variety of client needs makes it less likely clients will take their business elsewhere, which helps advisors keep their clients and expand revenue.

Using one comprehensive platform means the business submitted is in good order. This ensures transactions are complete, correct, protecting both clients and the broker-dealer's reputation.

These approaches are clearly important for growing the business steadily over the long term. Empowering advisors to meet a wide range of clients' needs helps broker-dealers become leaders in the industry.

Embracing change to grow for the long term

Want to grow your business? Start with your advisors. Help them deliver the comprehensive advice clients need today — advice that blends essential protection with investment strategies. Yes, operational friction and product complexity often get in their way. But integrated technology is the key to unlocking their potential — and your growth.

Think of this not just as an IT project, but as your strategic move to empower advisors. Free them from clunky processes, simplify compliance and help them build unshakable client loyalty through holistic service. Investing in the right connected platform is fundamental to your future success.

© Entire contents copyright 2025 by InsuranceNewsNet.com Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reprinted without the expressed written consent from InsuranceNewsNet.com.