That said I do hear people I respect and know to be hard to please saying very positive things about the business. They also have a good community of consolidators working with them which I see as a key indicator of potential growth over the next few years, indeed software suppliers without such a constituency are likely to lose market share as more and more firms get bought out. Overall, it is probably hard to judge their full potential until such time as the full Power Platform migration has been completed.
Any system based around Microsoft Power Platform has the potential to easily integrate a wide range of generic third-party tools, and of course the prospect in the near future of the Microsoft CoPilot AI service which is due to roll out in the near future.
It is important to recognise that for the smallest firms in wealth advice, the number of options is quite limited as most advice tech suppliers are now seeking a minimum of five, if not 10, licenses. Of the firms listed above Intelliflo, Iress, 360DotNet, Twenty7Tec and Plannr are exceptions to this.
Other technology providers in this area who currently have a much smaller share of the UK market but who you might want to include in a comprehensive assessment include AdviserCloud, Adviser Objects, Aixigo, Assyst Software Avaloq, Centology, Durell, Elen, GBST Advice Intelligence & Wealth Connect, JCS, Hourglass, Prestwood, Plan Happy and Wealth Data Systems. Some of the above have limited elements of practice management or a broader range of other services which I will explore further in later articles in this series.
Ian McKenna is the founder of AdviserSoftware.com where further information can be found on the detailed functionality of these systems.
