Investments in Service, Expansions to Technology, and a Continued Focus on RIAs
1,097 days. That’s how long TradePMR had to wait between annual SYNERGY conferences as the world navigated a pandemic.
Waiting that long was tough – SYNERGY isn’t just for TradePMR to talk about; it’s a chance to learn and connect. To speak with advisors, RIA staff, and vendors from across the country to hear their concerns and better understand their opportunities.
One of the best parts of TradePMR’s signature SYNERGY conference is that it also forces the TradePMR team and the advisors in attendance to reflect. To look back on what has gone well, what could be improved, and the changes the firm can make to build a better future for advisors.
As a part of this reflection, TradePMR hosted a leadership roundtable with Robb Baldwin, CEO and Founder, Rob Dilbone, Managing Director, and Scott Victoria, COO. The trio dove into TradePMR’s service and technology and the firm's short- and long-term goals.
Here are three of the biggest takeaways from this conversation.
You Don’t Get Better if Everything Goes Right.
As with nearly every business, COVID-19 significantly impacted TradePMR – but not the way the firm anticipated.
The transition to remote work went pretty smoothly. For nearly two full years, the team carried on with normal operations. TradePMR’s operational teams worked hard to maintain high service levels, and the firm’s tech team continued to expand and refine the Fusion platform.
All in all, everything went pretty well… until it didn’t.
In December of 2021, TradePMR experienced spikes in service requests that typically occur at the end of the year. Service response time dipped with each request requiring the team's attention. This dip was unacceptable and caused the leadership team to take a step back and reevaluate TradePMR’s approach to service.
The ultimate outcome was significant investments into the TradePMR team and operational infrastructure. New and upcoming offerings are designed to streamline communications between TradePMR’s team and advisors. The firm has also made significate internal investments to ensure all team members receive extensive training to try and ensure each RIA gets the high level of service they expect and deserve.
One of these investments has been a new phone system. Within two weeks of the firm adopting a new phone system, the average wait time for callers dropped to 20 seconds.
As Scott put it, “Over 80% of the time, we pick up the phone within 20 seconds. That is the gold standard of any customer experience.”
While these short-term results are exciting, they are just the beginning. The firm has a lot of plans for how it will continue to up its service game in the coming months and years.
Build vs. Integrate – Focusing on What We Do Best
The name of the game for TradePMR’s technology? Evolution.
TradePMR has made some major updates to its offering in recent years. For example, advisors working with the firm now have access to new advanced trading capabilities, like model sleeve trading, at no additional cost.
Some advisors voiced to the TradePMR team that model sleeve trading was an offering they would like to use for their client portfolios. At the time, advisors needed to establish an integration with a third-party provider to leverage those capabilities. The TradePMR team got to work and built out the offering quickly, delivering it to advisors in a matter of months.
While there are a number of features like model sleeve trading that TradePMR can build, there are some features that simply don’t fit into TradePMR’s core offering.
This brought the panel to discuss how TradePMR approaches integrations and data. TradePMR’s goal is to provide RIAs with everything their firms need to succeed – if that is an offering from TradePMR, that’s great. If that is an offering from a third-party provider, that’s great too – the TradePMR team will work to make sure the RIA can access those capabilities through an integration.
While the firm maintains deep integrations with some industry-leading providers, it also has an open approach to integrations as a whole.
For nearly any providers with whom TradePMR doesn’t already have an integration, the firm can establish a data feed integration. TradePMR believes advisor data is just that – the advisor’s data.
During the conversation, Robb Baldwin noted, “Five years from now, as you grow and you need to apply AI to something, you need to have your clients’ data, right? You need to have that data in-house and ready to go, so you can communicate with your clients and better understand what's going on.”
TradePMR works to ensure advisors have the data they need, in a format that makes sense, so they can leverage the platforms and analytics that will most benefit their unique RIA. The firm knows that it can’t do everything – its primary goal as an RIA custodian platform provider is and always has been supporting RIAs, in whatever way they choose to run their business.
Advanced Tech Attracts a More Advanced Team
The TradePMR team has been fortunate to hire some truly fantastic technology minds. These seasoned and ambitious team members have been the driving force behind the Fusion platform and TradePMR’s aggressive technology development.
But, as the firm looks to further expand the Fusion technology, it must concurrently expand its team. The great news is that as the firm has made significant investments in its technology, the labor market appears to have noticed.
TradePMR has connected with, what it believes, are some of the most talented folks in the fintech universe, and is consistently adding new, experienced employees to join the team. As Rob Dilbone put it, “Developers want to work on the latest and greatest stuff. You’ve got to be cutting edge to attract that kind of talent.”
Top-Rated Tech Backed by a Long-Term Vision1
RIAs looking for high-touch service and advanced technology should take a step back and evaluate what they really need from their RIA custodial services provider. If these advisors are looking for a true partner that is willing to invest and grow to meet their evolving needs, TradePMR could be the right fit.
Take a tour of the Fusion platform, the top-rated Custodial Platform by advisor satisfaction three out of the past four years in the T3/Inside Information Software Survey.1 See what your peers are experiencing with TradePMR, and how the firm’s innovative leadership team is driving the future of RIA technology.
1 T3/Inside Information Survey, Joel Bruckenstein and Bob Veres, May 2022, sponsored by AssetBook, Holistiplan, Advyzon, Addepar, and Fidelity Investments, T3/Inside Information Advisor Software Survey, Joel Bruckenstein and Bob Veres, March 2021, sponsored by Salesforce, and 2019 Software Survey, Joel Bruckenstein and Bob Veres, January 2019, sponsored by Orion Advisor Services and Morningstar, Inc.
