Advisers rate BT Panorama first for mobile functionality

BT’s flagship investment platform, BT Panorama is the highest rated platform among financial advisers for its mobile access and app, according to new research from Investment Trends¹ as the growth in digital demand
continues.

Separately, following adviser recognition of BT Panorama’s mobile and online functionality, and demand for increased practice efficiencies, BT Panorama has launched new ‘digital consent’ functionality to make it easier for advisers and clients to manage the transaction approval process.

The 2018 Investment Trends Planner Technology Report found BT Panorama rated by advisers ahead of the industry across the majority of service categories measured, including mobile access/app (20 per cent higher), online functionality (12 per cent higher), range of investments offered (5 per cent higher) and ease of
use (4 per cent higher)².

Anil Sagaram, Head of Platforms Product Development at BT Financial Group (BT) said we continue to collaborate with advisers to ensure a strong focus on the client experience. We are delighted to be recognised in this way.

BT Panorama mobile app usage grows
“We are seeing greater mobile use by advisers and investors with more than 19,000 downloads of the BT Panorama app since it launched in 2015,” said Mr Sagaram.

The move to digital continues to trend upwards with more than 1,000 unique users accessing the app each business day.

“Our aim with BT Panorama has been to really raise the bar in terms of the investment platform adviser and client experience. We remain focused on providing the best online experience to help advisers drive efficiencies in running their businesses and help them engage and interact with their clients the way they want to,” said Mr Sagaram.

More than one in five adviser logins to BT Panorama are via the mobile app3 with the business tracking feature currently the most popular, giving advisers a snapshot of key business metrics and their clients’ positions.

The app is also very popular with clients, with 80 per cent of all investor logins now via the app. The app gives clients an instant view of their holdings plus transactional ability and advisers’ flexibility to be able to respond to client queries and manage portfolios.

New digital functionality to assist the advice process

BT Panorama’s new ‘digital consent’ functionality allows advisers to request approval from clients via SMS or BT Panorama’s online message centre.

“Advisers are looking for platform providers to help make interacting with their clients and running their businesses more efficient. The ability to obtain consent real-time via the platform can save time, provides an electronic record of consent and assists advisers in providing timely advice to their clients, in a highly secure environment,” said Mr Sagaram.

This new functionality enables advisers to place investment orders with the option to include the accompanying advice documentation. This can reduce administration but it can also help advisers to more readily seize investment opportunities for clients through timeliness of consent and actioning investment decisions. It can also support compliance as the new digital consent capability has precise record keeping of when consent is sent and actioned by clients.

Future digital advice enhancements to be added to BT Panorama will include the ability to generate a record of advice (ROA) on the platform and for advisers to create bulk approval requests via the digital consent capability, intended to create further efficiencies in helping advisers deliver timely advice to their clients while supporting ongoing compliance needs.

1 Investment Trends, May 2018 Planner Technology Report – quantitative survey of more than 800 financial advisers. Satisfaction ratings were provided by primary users (financial advisers) of respective platforms with sample size of 30 and over. Page 28 – “BT Panorama is the highest rated platform from mobile access/app” advisers who use BT Panorama as their primary platform said the online capability and integration was either very good 45 per cent or good 36 per cent. This was ahead of all other platforms included in the survey.

2 Investment Trends, May 2018 Planner Technology Report, composite  satisfaction score for main platform. BT Panorama rated higher than the industry average in the majority of categories. Mobile access /app (20 per cent higher), online functionality (12 per cent higher), investments offered (5 per cent) and easy to use (4 per cent).

3 According to BT’s data as at May 2018 - 20.1 per cent of adviser logins to BT Panorama are via the BT Panorama and 79.9 per cent are via
the desktop version of BT Panorama.

4 Strategic Insights March 2018 – BT Panorama was the second fastest growing platform (Managed Accounts Holdings was the fastest growing)