The IFIC Leadership conference was held last week in Toronto and the first session of the day was the ever popular “Leaders Panel”. The panelists this year were Carol Lynde (President and COO of Bridgehouse Asset Management), Paul Lorentz (President of Manulife Investments) and David Scandiffio (President and CEO of CIBC Asset Management).

The discussion was quite interesting and thought provoking as all three executives discussed how technology is being embraced by advisor and investors, but still has a long way to go before we see any measurable change by the end investor. Carol Lynde was equipped with visual props that illustrated how investors are not satisfied with being provided access to their statements via an internet portal. Investors in this day and age have little time to read their statements or any other regulatory disclosure documents and the industry needs to move towards apps, text messages or other brief real time updates to not only show the client what their investments are worth, but also where they are with respect to their retirement goals. Carol showed the audience how the Fitbit app tracks all the key metrics that a person wants to know in a quick and easy to consume dashboard and the audience was certainly paying attention.

There were definitely thought provoking discussions and ideas put forward by each of the panelists. It will be quite interesting to see what types of apps and solutions will come to the Canadian investment marketplace in the next 2-5 years. Do you see yourself or your teenager using an app on their phone to track their investments “dashboard”?

Tags: Industry