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It’s time to transition to client portals – A case study
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Client portals have enabled Centrepoint Alliance’s adviser network to meet its mandated cyber standard and to facilitate client engagement and security.
“We have cyber listed as one of our major risks as a company, but in the end, a lot of cyber comes down to the human firewall,” said Tanya Seale, Group Executive for Technology Solutions.
“That’s where I think an adviser using a client portal helps clients out, because it’s a secure portal. It’s a lot less likely that something could get sent or an adviser could accidentally click a link and it also raises client’s awareness.”
To make the transition to its cyber standard, Centrepoint Alliance hosted several webinars to explain the standard and to provide advisers with some practical solutions on how they could meet the standard.
One of the requirements in the cyber standard was to eliminate the storage of sensitive information in inboxes by eliminating the emailing of sensitive data to clients. To support this, Centrepoint Alliance suggested the usage of Sharepoint, or a move to a client portal.
Seale said the no-email requirement caused the most noise across its adviser network because it changed the way they communicated with their clients.
Initially, some advisers chose to use password protect documents, but this proved cumbersome and did not solve the problem of when clients sent back documents over email that were not password protected.
Further, while the licensee did have an existing client portal available to advisers via another piece of software, advisers said it didn’t have sufficient functionality.
However, over the past year, more of Centrepoint Alliance’s advice network have begun using a client portal so they can communicate securely with clients, as well as get documents digitally signed and provide client updates.
“They see the portal representing their business and that this is how they communicate. It is a single point of contact for their clients and everything that they communicate is through the one point.”
Like any technology, practices are using the functionality of a client portal at a level that suits them. Some use it for client engagement, while others utilize it for open banking data feeds through to portfolio reports and digitally gathering data.
Tanya Seale
Group Executive for Technology Solutions
Centrepoint Alliance
Learn more about our all-in-one secure client portal
Cybercrime involves activities such as compromising emails and online banking fraud, which according to the Australian Government’s Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), currently make up the top three cybercrime types for business.
Although the Australian Investment and Securities Commission’s (ASICs) does not prescribe technical standards on cybersecurity, there is an expectation for licensees to address cyber risk as part of their AFS licence obligations, including risk management.
With cyber now listed as a major risk for the company, client portals have enabled Centrepoint Alliance’s adviser network to meet its mandated cyber standard and to facilitate client engagement and security.
Two decades ago, important documents were sent in the mail and stayed in our letter box until we collected it, but this has been replaced with email and cluttered inboxes, leaving it prone to cyber security threats.
Cyber threats – Current response from financial professionals
Despite financial professional’s concern over cyberthreats, most have not acted fast enough and taken advantage of the appetite for change and the tail winds provided by government websites, cyber campaigns and media coverage.
Over the past decade, Government and regulators have built a framework of governance for businesses to provide them with a structured approach to cyber-incidents and accountability.
Developing a cyber risk management plan takes some time, but there are some strategies that financial professionals can put in place while it does this, including multi-factor authentication and protecting domain names.
Trends from the US – What does this mean for your business?
Research in the US by Adviser 360 has found advice businesses that fail to invest in technology solutions to be more productive and better able to satisfy their clients, run the risk of being left behind.
Consolidated logins where customers use one login to access a range of services is now the norm and they have become a common way for people to engage with their service providers, setting the standard on client experience.
It’s time to transition to client portals – A case study
With cyber now listed as a major risk for the company, client portals have enabled Centrepoint Alliance’s adviser network to meet its mandated cyber standard and to facilitate client engagement and security.
Whole of wealth approach with client portals – A case study
An early adopter of client portals, Sherlock Wealth’s Owner and CEO, Andrew Sherlock, said it’s an integral piece of technology that his business uses with many of its clients.
Break the reliance on email – Together, we can make a difference
Financial professionals, as trusted advisers, can take a leadership position in ensuring data security with their clients, leveraging client engagement to provide them with a reason to do it.
