Financial technology has revolutionized money management and the investor experience.
Investors are more tech-savvy and, therefore, more critical about digital capabilities in an application or service provider than ever before, placing substantial pressure on wealth management firms and advisors. Those who incorporate frictionless UX and robust features into their platforms will likely be competitive — those who don’t may lag behind indefinitely.

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Gen I: Self-Directed and Self-Motivated Investors 

It is now more important than ever to integrate meaningful experiences into consumer journeys, especially within the retail and digital banking industry. Here’s 6 ways that retail banks can be more design-minded in delivering innovative user-centered experiences.

6 Principles of Design Thinking for Retail Banking

Third-party digital tools fill a crucial financial investor needs gap- user experience  and functionality on their investor portal applications. 

Financial technology has revolutionized money management and the investor experience. Investors are more tech-savvy and, therefore, fastidious about digital capabilities than ever before, which places substantial pressure on brokerage providers and advisors. Those who incorporate frictionless UX and robust features into their platforms will stay competitive — those who don’t will lag behind indefinitely.\
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**Key Takeaways**

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**\-** The line between advised and self-directed investors has blurred, but technology remains the key to securing and retaining additional clients.

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**\-** More capital flowed into fintechs in 2021 than all of 2017, 2019, and 2020 combined — raising the industry’s growth trajectory and presenting a major opportunity for advisors that stay ahead of the curve by augmenting their platforms. \
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**\-** Technology has transformed investing, giving rise to a new generation of tech-savvy investors who are finicky about digital platforms but deeply desire financial guidance.\
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**\-** Many advisors have already lost business due to inadequate technology. Acceptance and adoption of third-party digital tools will separate the winners from the losers in the advisory spac*e.*

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The Evolution of Fintech, the Modern Investor, and Tomorrow’s Advisors

Even as we continue to find our way back to some standard of post-pandemic normalcy, one thing that we strongly believe is remote collaboration will continue to be increasingly important in the financial advice space. 

Top 3 Takeaways: SigFig’s ‘Transforming The Future of Remote Collaboration for Financial Advice’ Webinar

In this webinar, you’ll learn how financial institutions are able to empower their financial professionals on the frontline to curate personalized, efficient and comprehensive remote consumer experiences.

A financial institution’s ultimate focus is to ensure consumers are meeting their financial goals (and their financial professionals are delivering next-gen experiences).\
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We were delighted to host a virtual webinar event featuring Mike Sha, CEO and Co-Founder at SigFig, Jeff Weiner, CEO and Head of Investments at Santander Securities, and Will Trout, Director of Wealth Management at Javelin Strategy & Research where they discussed how financial institutions must keep customer centricity at the forefront of their digital transformations.

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**In this webinar, you’ll learn:** \
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• How interactive and immersive screen-centric experiences contribute to better needs discovery and advice for the consumer\
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• Industry trends that are influencing the power of integrated workflows for more streamlined and scalable client/advisor collaboration\
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• How Santander is thinking about the future of remote advice delivery

Transforming The Future of Remote Collaboration for Financial Advice

SigFig Engage is the only remote engagement platform built specifically for financial services.

Be Brilliant Remotely

In this webinar, you’ll learn how community financial institutions are using digital technology to uncover customers’ needs beyond the branch to enrich data and source leads.


It is now more important than ever to integrate meaningful experiences into customer journeys, especially within the retail and digital banking industry. Building trust and a culture of financial wellness is at the foundation of Paducah Bank’s mission, which is why they’ve adopted SigFig Discover, a technology platform to uncover customers’ financial needs, priorities, and concerns at-scale. In this webinar, Craig Felker (Paducah Bank) and Wes Cobb (SigFig) discuss how Paducah is re-imagining customer conversations by putting their needs at the center by using technology to augment the in-branch experience. 

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**In this webinar, you’ll learn:** 

\-How community financial institutions are using digital technology to uncover customers’ needs beyond the branch to enrich data and source leads

\-Why branch, experience, and service leaders are using financial health as a way to build more customer-centric sales & service cultures

\-The most common financial needs shared by customers and how needs discovery technology helps them to take action

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Building a Financial Health Culture at Paducah Bank with Needs Discovery Technology

Volatile markets can frighten even the most seasoned investors. There are some actions you can take now, as well as actions to avoid, to help reduce your risk and position yourself to invest confidently.

In a Market Downturn, Think & Act for the Long-Term

Most investment discussions typically focus on asset classes, like stocks, bonds, or real estate. When the debate heats up around what’s the better mix or methodology, we often forget to cover the most important asset of all: your human capital.

So, what is human capital? Simply put, human capital is the set of skills and abilities that you can use to earn income or generate wealth over your lifetime. It is an asset that you can optimize to generate additional funds for future investment—more human capital, more potential wealth, more investment possibilities.

Gated Content Example

In stark contrast to the second quarter of 2020, the economic and market story of Q2 2021 was one of recovery and momentum. As COVID-19 vaccines rolled out in the West and cases fell in many countries including the U.S., equities around the world posted gains, consumer spending boomed, and corporate profits remained strong. Although the surge of reopening demand for goods and services has put pressure on global supply chains and labor markets, fueling an uptick in inflation, and the slow and uneven distribution of vaccines around the world have precluded the true end of the pandemic, the global economy appears to be on the mend.

Quarterly Market Review: The Recovery Gains Steam

The frenzied behavior of financial markets that characterized 2020 showed no signs of letting up in the first quarter of 2021. In addition to the strong gains posted by many U.S. stocks (and more muted gains by technology stocks), headlines were dominated by dramatic price swings in “meme stocks” such as GameStop and spectacular losses by high-profile investment firms such as Melvin Capital. Over the course of the quarter, markets digested a trove of events and signals, from the shifting political landscape in the U.S. marked by a swap in control of the U.S. Senate to the current state of the ongoing pandemic and expectations about the future success of vaccination campaigns around the world.  



Quarterly Market Review: Investor Optimism Abounds 

2020 was a year fraught with challenges virtually unmatched in living memory, including a global pandemic, a chaotic U.S. presidential election, and the increasingly devastating effects of a changing climate. Although some of these challenges persist and many of us still have valid worries, it is crucial that investors keep tabs on their portfolios and financial plan to ensure that current and future challenges are not made even worse by personal financial instability. On the bright side, 2020 ended up being a year of spectacular returns for investors who held firm during an enormous Q1 selloff in the early stages of the pandemic in the U.S.

SigFig 2020 Market Year-in-Review: Investing During Unprecedented Times

In the first two installments of our three-part series on Optimizing Your Human Capital, we defined human capital and how to optimize it. We then discussed some of the human capital assets that define you, as well as assets that you can control, and the important role they play in optimizing your own human capital. In the third article in the series, we will discuss some of the assets that matter on your journey to optimizing your human capital. Those are:

Optimizing Your Human Capital, Part 3: Assets That Matter

In the first installment of our “Optimizing your human capital” series, we defined human capital and discussed what it means to “optimize” it in the context of things that define you. While those assets can perhaps be improved upon, they are often intrinsic traits. We then gave a few examples of how to optimize your human capital around some critical defining characteristics that have incredible value in the workplace. 

Optimizing Your Human Capital, Part 2: Assets That You Can Control

With over 139.2 million people, Millennials (1980-2000) and Generation Z(1995-2015) increasingly dominate the US population. They will soon become theprominent consumers and highest income earners that support financialinstitutions. These generations already hold a spending power of $3 trillion.By 2030, total consumption growth is projected to average 2.5%, up from 1.7%in 2018. The exponential growth of inherited and earned wealth within thesetwo upcoming generations will create a demand for accessible and personalizedfinancial guidance.


Reinventing Relationship Banking for Millennials and Generation Z

SigFig Names Claire Huang to Its Board of Directors

In stark contrast to the second quarter of 2020, the economic and market story of Q2 2021 was one of recovery and momentum. As COVID-19 vaccines rolled out in the West and cases fell in many countries including the U.S., equities around the world posted gains, consumer spending boomed, and corporate profits remained strong. Although the surge of reopening demand for goods and services has put pressure on global supply chains and labor markets, fueling an uptick in inflation, and the slow and uneven distribution of vaccines around the world have precluded the true end of the pandemic, the global economy appears to be on the mend.



Ask someone in the financial services industry to define financial advice andmost will point to wealth management and advisor-led financial planning forhigh net worth clients. But ask a customer, and they’ll give a more holisticdefinition that doesn’t set thresholds based on wealth, nor restrict adviceonly for long-term needs. This dichotomy presents an opportunity fortransformative realignment.


The digital revolution in human-centered advice

The frenzied behavior of financial markets that characterized 2020 showed no signs of letting up in the first quarter of 2021. In addition to the strong gains posted by many U.S. stocks (and more muted gains by technology stocks), headlines were dominated by dramatic price swings in “meme stocks” such as GameStop and spectacular losses by high-profile investment firms such as Melvin Capital. Over the course of the quarter, markets digested a trove of events and signals, from the shifting political landscape in the U.S. marked by a swap in control of the U.S. Senate to the current state of the ongoing pandemic and expectations about the future success of vaccination campaigns around the world.



Quarterly Market Review: Investor Optimism Abounds

Bank branches aren’t Blockbuster, but they’re moving in that direction. Thetrend solidified following the Great Recession; over 5,000 branches were lostin the last decade. In Spring City, Pennsylvania, someone has even transformedan old bank branch into a private residence, complete with two vaults thatserve as a bar and a sauna. (Admittedly, we have some concerns about putting asauna behind an armored safe door, but to each their own!)


Readying for Return: How Banks & Credit Unions Can Delight Customers as Branches Re-Open

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we relate to one another. It has forced us to go online in unprecedented and often challenging ways. But it is now — when so much is uncertain — that we crave the comfort and advice of other humans. Face-to-face meetings may be scarce, but it is important to keep connecting. Your clients want to know you are looking out for them in a turbulent time.



Together, Apart: How to Forge Client Relationships in the Zoom-Era

Reflecting on 2020’s myriad changes in the retail and branch banking spaces, CEO Mike Sha spoke on the virtual stage at Future Branches Virtual Summit on December 11th, giving a talk titled, “Why 2020’s Disruptive Detour is an Exciting New Road for Retail Banking.” With the new year in full swing, it is urgent for banks and credit unions to begin (if they haven’t already) to treat the digital detours of the past year as enduring opportunities for transformation and take specific actions to meet the moment.



Top 5 Takeaways: SigFig’s ‘Digital Detours’ Session at Future Branches Virtual Summit

2020 was a year fraught with challenges virtually unmatched in living memory, including a global pandemic, a chaotic U.S. presidential election, and the increasingly devastating effects of a changing climate. Although some of these challenges persist and many of us still have valid worries, it is crucial that investors keep tabs on their portfolios and financial plan to ensure that current and future challenges are not made even worse by personal financial instability. On the bright side, 2020 ended up being a year of spectacular returns for investors who held firm during an enormous Q1 selloff in the early stages of the pandemic in the U.S.



After Jack Bogle passed away on January 16, 2019, Mike sent the following note to the SigFig team. We share it below, lightly edited for length and clarity.

Hi Team,

Jack Bogle, founder of Vanguard, passed away today. Some of us may not have even heard of him. But Jack Bogle essentially invented the index fund. In doing so he democratized investing, brought low cost diversification to everyone, and helped millions of people in America and across the world.

Some Thoughts on Jack Bogle

During this 45-minute webinar, Dan Mercurio, Head of Strategic Partnerships at SigFig, and Philipp, Head of Emerging Products at SigFig, will talk about how to leverage remote engagement to your strategic advantage.

During this 45-minute webinar, Dan Mercurio, Head of Strategic Partnerships at SigFig, and Philipp, Head of Emerging Products at SigFig, will talk about how to leverage remote engagement to your strategic advantage... how the screen can actually up-level your client experience. With Dan’s 25+ years of financial industry experience and Philipp’s 10+ years of experience in building products, attendees can look forward to dynamic discussion between two passionate financial technology professionals. They’ll then close the event with audience Q&A.

### **In this webinar, you’ll learn:**

* How the pandemic-forced shift to remote engagement actually creates a lasting opportunity to re-think the quality of advice delivery.
* Why embracing a screen between a client and service provider actually creates a more collaborative conversation and advice experience.
* How SigFig is pointing its research and development efforts towards enabling financial institutions to capture this opportunity with SigFig Engage.

How financial institutions can utilize the screen to create a more collaborative conversation and advice experience.

Harnessing the Screen for Next-Generation Wealth Interactions

Test Event.

### **Join us for this webinar on connecting with customers.**



In this webinar, you’ll learn how financial institutions are able to empower their financial professionals on the frontline to curate personalized, efficient and comprehensive remote consumer experiences.

## What You'll Learn

You can learn about how to better engage your customers in their financial planning.

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