Back in the summer of 2019, the lang cat published a paper called A Disconnected World. This examined integration –or the lack of it – in the world of advisers and financial planners, and its impact.
Since then, we have all had to get used to new ways of working, and the industry as a whole has seen a huge amount of change. The question we explore in this report, then, is whether we have got anywhere in terms of the fragmentation and disconnected nature of the technological landscape adviser firms are meant to navigate during all this frenzied activity.
Along the way the lang cat team interviewed nearly 40 financial planning firms in depth and surveyed many more. We also pulled in integration data from over 30 providers and spoke in depth to a dozen or so.
What you’ll read in A Fragmented World is a story of a battle between fragmenting and integrating forces. We’ll see how fragmenting forces exist well beyond the confines of the industry and how everything from commercialism to consolidation impacts those who are trying to create a more cohesive, seamless landscape. We’ll examine how firms are reacting to an environment which requires them to be technologists as well as planners, and look at the big themes helping and hindering the forces of integration.
A Fragmented World is free to download thanks to the support of Benchmark Capital, GBST and Wealth Wizards. We hope you enjoy it – and let us know what you think.