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December 05, 2018 at 03:18 PM
There are a number of awards in the advisor industry that celebrate innovations and success in technology, but TD Ameritrade Institutional’s inaugural Innovation Quest (IQ) awards will not only recognize tech innovation but help fund that innovation, says Jim Dario, managing director of product management at TDAI.
While a panel of distinguished judges has chosen the finalists for the awards along with a $25,000 cash prize and a trip to TDAI’s LINC national conference in February, advisors themselves will have a say on which application wins the grand prize, which comes with a an additional $25,000 cash award to help make those tech innovations a reality. The three finalists’ advancements, chosen from 135 submissions, hold the promise of “transforming the practices” of RIA firms, Dario said in an interview.
Building on TD Ameritrade’s open-architecture technology platform approach for advisors, Dario said that “collectively, each finalist focuses directly or indirectly on the client experience.”
(Related: SmartAsset Uses AI to Extend Advisor-Prospect Matching Service)
The finalists are:
1) Emotomy. The Tiburon, a California-based firm, was nominated for its risk assessment tool, which uses advanced analytics providing advisors with an “early indicator” of specific clients who “may be at risk of leaving” an advisor’s firm. The tool gives advisors a chance to “enhance that relationship” to forestall losing the client.
2) iMar Learning Solutions. This Van Alstyne, Texas-based firm was nominated for Plan-It, a financial literacy application that links client accounts with financial literacy education based on their spending habits and patterns. The app can “create a new group of investors, who can relate to the significant benefits of advisors,” said Dario.
