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Do you feel connected to your clients? Or, maybe a better question is, do your clients feel connected to you? If you don’t have a systematic way of connecting with them, the answer is probably “no”. And if that's the case, know that you are not alone.

Are you feeling burned out in your business? Does it seem like the more you do, the more needs to be done and it feels like you can never catch up? You may be already burned out and have no idea how to bounce back. Does this sound like you?

[Digital Vaults continue to rapidly evolve from a “nice-to-have” virtual equivalent of a safety deposit box for critical advisor and client-facing documents into a “must-have” technology to power a more engaging and competitive advisor and enterprise-wide service model. Such is the nature of technology that requires the ongoing development of robust applications which are driving advisor and wealth management tools and capabilities, ultimately changing the face of the industry for the better.

Digital Vaults are a good example to explore as to how they have developed from simple storage and basic functionality to enterprise solutions built for compliance and operations efficiency, and now, with the advancements of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Large Language Model (LLM) technology, to quickly summarize documents, extract critical information, provide contextualized action items, offer actionable insights and analytics, and much more. This evolution is materializing into a more comprehensive servicing and enterprise engagement strategy that can transform financial institutions and wealth management firms into delivering modern, high-touch wealth and advisory relationships by providing better insights, deeper engagement, and more value across all stakeholders and family members in the client relationship.

To better explore this advisor technology evolution and AI-powered Digital Vaults, we reached out to Institute members Daniel Kenny, Chief Executive Officer, and Kristian Borghesan, Chief Marketing Officer, of FutureVault – a category and industry leader of Digital Vaults and pioneer of the Client Life Management Vault™. Having developed their Digital Vault technology platform into a best-of-breed solution for the wealth management industry, we asked questions to better understand how they developed their Digital Vault technology and where they see this technology going to power deeper advisor–client relationships and enable better holistic family financial outcomes.]

Hortz: Can you share with us your experiences in how Digital Vaults have been evolving in their development and benefits for the financial services industry? How did they go from a “nice-to-have” to a “must-have” in the industry?

Borghesan: There are quite a number of factors and reasons that have contributed to the evolution of Digital Vaults, namely Digital Vaults-as-a-Service like FutureVault, moving from a “nice-to-have” into an absolute must-have component and critical piece of the everyday technology stack.

“ You only have two choices when it comes to caregiving: plan or panic…The lack of a plan can tear a caregiver’s life apart…This book will help families overcome objections that relegate extended care planning to stressful crisis planning.”– p.3

As a leading expert and evangelist on the topic of Caregiving in the U.S. and the potentially devastating ramifications on a family’s finances and emotional cohesiveness, Carroll Golden’s latest book,How Not To Pull Your Life Apart Caregiving: Overcome Challenges and Objections to Planning Conversationsis an essential resource for every family to plan for an inevitable part of life.

Carroll Goldenspeaker,best-selling author,and Executive Director, NAIFA Centers of Excellence, including theLimited & Extended Care Planning Center, reveals in her book how it is painfully clear that many families and their financial advisors are unfamiliar with the evolving needs or personal dynamics involved in extended or long-term care until it is too late. Few participants involved in this highly charged process have the knowledge or experience to create an organized approach.

Have you ever heard the saying, “If you want something done right, do it yourself?”  Well, that might be true for some things when it comes to your business but if you find yourself stressed out all the time, it’s most likely because you are doing too many things yourself. And, that’s a recipe for burnout.

Challenging an entrenched industry business model, like the employer group health insurance market, is a massive but doable endeavor that is being driven by smaller but dynamic industry players. As large incumbent healthcare firms have little motivation to change when profits are at an all-time highs and business owners do not know of any other options, why break the mold? However entrepreneurial industry players have been emerging knowing there is a better way to create needed change. These innovators realize that business models and product innovation require the clarity of open-aperture vision, deep meaningful conversations with customers, a willingness to thoroughly rethink everything about the product and the marketplace, and, most importantly, a decisive and purposeful mindset to become a catalyst of change.

^{Do you want to take your business to the next level but are unsure how? The answer might lie in identifying its red flags. Here is what I mean.}

^{It’s probably no surprise that a “red flag” symbolizes danger. As you know, red means “stop” when you look at a stoplight. But you might not know that your business could be telling you to stop doing certain activities. You might need to start doing other activities but don’t see the signs.}

Do you ever feel like you have too much to do? You know that you want to grow your business, but you don’t know how to scale it as it grows. This is a common challenge and most advisors and agents don’t have a method for scaling their businesses.

Are you on a production plateau? Most people are or will be at some point in their careers. In fact, your business can go only three ways: up, down, or settle on a production plateau. The big question is, do you know how to get beyond a production plateau?  

Getting to the next level rarely happens by accident. Sure, there is the occasional advisor or agent who stumbles across a big prospect or has clients who come into money. But, rarely do advisors and agents get to the next level without a well thought out system. The solution begins by understanding that success is a process.

Let’s examine each step:

I’m sure you’ve heard the old saying, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” However, have you considered when that first impression is? Maybe it’s before you ever meet that person. And, if that’s the case, do you know if you have a good reputation or brand?