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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.

[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.

Do you have a well-thought-out strategy to start your day off right? Like many people, you might not. Instead, you probably have morning routines on autopilot, like making your bed and brushing your teeth. But, if you want to get the most out of your day, it is not the morning routines that will change your life, it’s mastering morning rituals!

Do prospects view you as a product pusher or a problem solver? It’s a tough question you may not want to know the answer to.

Are you on a production plateau and you need a little nudge to get going? Most advisors are because they’ve never learned how to create the perfect campaign to grow their business; as a result, they leave their success up to chance.

Benjamin Franklin said it best when he said, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

I believe that is true. The best way to plan is to design a campaign, an organized course of action to achieve your goal, and take the right steps to do so.

The latest podcast from Advisor Solutions Founder and President Dan Finley explores ways financial advisors, insurance agents, wholesalers, branch managers, and agency manager can boost their performance to get to the next level of success. 

Do you ever feel like your pipeline is stuck? You know why prospects need to take the next step, but for some reason, they don’t seem to have any urgency to want to meet, send you their statements, or even make a decision on the recommendations that you’ve worked so hard on to help them reach their financial goals.

Kevin Brady, a former U.S. Representative said, “Urgency creates action.”
Therein lies the problem; most advisors/agents don’t have a well-thought-out process for creating urgency in their sales pipelines and for maintaining the momentum!

Let’s take a look at just a few examples of creating urgency, in each stage of the pipeline and how one advisor did just that.  

LinkedIn can be a powerful platform to help grow and establish your business, as well as get your foot in the door for booking meetings with prospects. However, coming up with an effective and efficient strategy can be hard to establish to make the jump from social media to booking a call.

Discover the secrets to LinkedIn prospecting success in the next Business Performance Center webinar on Wednesday, June 14 at 12 pm eastern. Join the Founder and CEO of NAIFA partner Hummingbird Growth & Automation, Bruno Nicoletti, as he helps you crack the code by unveiling his step-by-step process for booking 15 meetings a month on LinkedIn.

In today's fast-paced and competitive marketplace, life insurance agencies need to stay ahead of the game. Embracing technology, such as insurance CRM software, is a powerful way to achieve this. By adopting the right tools and platforms, agencies can streamline operations, increase productivity, and enhance customer satisfaction.

 This guide will explore how life insurance software can empower agencies to achieve their goals, whether they are startups or well-established.

Like most businesses, your workload will ebb and flow depending on the season. With summer approaching, many clients and prospects take a step back from their financial focus to take advantage of the warm weather. Between kids having the summer off and vacations to the beach being at the forefront, advisors tend to be a little slower between June and August. Here are a few suggestions to keep your business moving forward during this quieter season.