Exploring Fintech Adoption in Asset Management Firms

A prominent US-based asset management platform provider with annual revenues of over 600 million USD wanted to refine its product strategy to enhance its offering and attract potential customers, so that it could drive significant market share growth. But without access to expert networks, the company struggled to source enough suitable participants for the study to be able to generate the essential insights needed within a tight 4-week timeframe.

By leveraging our expertise in accessing and engaging hard-to-reach financial technology users and decision-makers, we delivered key insights into financial advisors’ challenges and requirements when selecting investment platforms. Our comprehensive approach yielded invaluable data, enabling the platform provider to integrate key features and achieve double-digit market share growth.

Objective

To inform its growth strategy, the asset manager wanted to understand the usage trends and unmet needs of asset management platform users, explore its competitors‘ implementation strategies, and identify the key factors influencing provider selection. The best way to do this was to access hard-to-reach technology decision-makers in investment advisory and wealth management firms.

Solution

With extensive experience in engaging with large investment management firms and financial advisors, Phronesis targeted independent broker-dealers and registered investment advisors (RIAs) in the US. We then created ideal target profiles to identify individuals with expertise in asset management platforms and responsibility for, or involvement in, making portfolio investment decisions.

Leveraging research tools along with referrals from past financial management research participants, we conducted primary research to identify and recruit respondents and schedule interviews for the client. This ensured insightful data collection and enabled us to complete in-depth qualitative research within a short timeline.

Results

Our research uncovered:

• Comprehensive insights into competitors’ products and target audiences

• Implementation strategies tailored to different asset classes

• Identification of the essential features and challenges faced by financial advisors

Our insights guided the company in re-evaluating its product strategy, resulting in the integration of the most desirable features as well as enhanced user experience. This strategic move propelled it towards double-digit market share growth. By prioritizing the key functionalities that resonated with potential customers, including asset tracking and security features, the company not only achieved double-digit market share growth but also celebrated a transformative impact on the product development process.