Three Digital Best Practices for Financial Services
We’ve been watching and implementing digital transformation efforts across asset management for years, and we are starting to see clear patterns emerge between the firms that succeed and those that struggle.
The difference isn’t budget size or technical sophistication and approach.
The firms getting digital right are doing three things differently:
First, they’re starting with user experience, not technology and infrastructure. One global asset manager we work with spent months shadowing their advisors, watching how they interact with data during client meetings. The insights completely changed their platform strategy. What was revealed is that advisors did not need more analytics; they needed the right analytics—what the prospects want to see—presented in a way that strengthened client conversations rather than overwhelming them.
Second, firms that are succeeding are embracing modular architecture instead of trying to build everything from scratch. A major US-based firm recently told us they had spent three years building a comprehensive advisor platform internally, only to realize they had created something technically impressive but practically unused. When they switched to a modular approach—APIs for custom experiences, plug-and-play components for standard functionality—adoption rates tripled within six months.
Third, and not surprisingly considering our experience in the field, the most successful digital transformations are happening through API-first strategies, not legacy system patches. We’re seeing firms discover that their existing infrastructure simply can’t deliver the real-time, seamless experiences their users expect. The organizations winning this transition are those willing to acknowledge that their current systems—despite the amount invested in them—may not be the foundation for their digital future. They start by integrating sophisticated APIs that deliver immediate value, then gradually replace outdated components with modern, flexible architecture that can actually scale with their ambitions.
What’s particularly encouraging is watching how this modular approach democratizes innovation. Smaller teams can now build sophisticated digital experiences without massive development budgets, while larger organizations can move faster by focusing their internal resources on what truly differentiates them.
This modular thinking is exactly why we built FinRiver the way we did. Our API delivers over 1,400 analytics across nine million securities, but what makes it powerful is flexibility. Teams can consume the data points they need, integrate them as needed for their platform, and scale up or down as requirements change. Whether you’re building a custom advisor dashboard or dropping white-labelled analytics into an existing portal, the architecture adapts to your needs rather than forcing you to adapt to ours.
The financial services industry has always been brilliant at managing risk and generating returns. Now we’re finally getting equally good at delivering those capabilities through digital experiences that people want to use.
What patterns are you seeing in successful digital transformation projects? I’m curious whether these align with your experience.
Paul Louden leads the sales team at FinMason, a financial technology firm that provides one of the world’s largest independent investment analytics engines for financial services platforms and investors. To learn more about how APIS can transform your investment analytics capabilities, set up a call.
