In wealth management, where client expectations are becoming more demanding and market volatility is the norm, saving time has understandably become a priority.
Financial firms, particularly in regions like EMEA, are under pressure to deliver personalized, real-time insights while navigating complex portfolios that span liquid assets, private funds, and alternative investments.
Wealthtech Addepar makes a case: ditching outdated legacy technology isn’t just a technical upgrade—it’s a move that can potentially help transform operational drag into a competitive advantage.
Legacy systems, often relics from decades past, are the silent saboteurs of modern financial firms.
According to the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), 92% of financial services companies still rely on legacy technology, with 78% storing data on-premise.
These systems are notoriously difficult to maintain, integrate, or scale, resulting in what Addepar describes as “Frankenstein” setups—piecemeal workflows cobbled together from incompatible tools.
A Broadridge study underscores the risks: 46% of executives believe legacy tech undermines firm resilience, especially amid economic turbulence.
The hidden costs are seemingly significant.
Data fragmentation across multiple custodians leads to hours of manual reconciliation, error-prone processes, and delayed reporting.
In an era where clients demand on-demand access to their portfolio performance, these delays erode trust and satisfaction.
As Addepar points out, what starts as a technical inefficiency cascades into lost opportunities: advisors bogged down by back-office drudgery can’t focus on high-value tasks like crafting tailored investment strategies or spotting market opportunities.
Upgrading to modern platforms like Addepar’s cloud-based solution reclaims that precious time, enabling firms to pivot from reactive firefighting to proactive growth.
The Charles Schwab RIA Benchmarking Study provides evidence: top-performing firms using advanced technology spend 25% less time on operational work per client and allocate 10% more to client-facing activities.
Advisors gain the bandwidth to deepen relationships, respond to client queries, and deliver personalized advice that builds loyalty and attracts new business.
Addepar illustrates this with real-world success stories.
Take Bird&Bee, a Belgian wealth management firm.
After migrating to Addepar, they slashed manual analysis by 97%, freeing up capacity equivalent to a full-time employee. Founder Tanja Michiels highlights the impact:
“Entering a private fund transaction now takes less than a minute,” allowing the team to double their client base without proportional headcount growth.
Similarly, Saranac Partners transformed client interactions by consolidating data from up to nine custodians.
Investment Advisor Benjamin Akesson recalls:
“A client could ask about exposure to a specific country or concentration risk. Before, we’d pull data from multiple sources and piece it together. Now, we do that within Addepar….”
This speed enhances self-service portals, boosting client satisfaction and reducing advisor workload.
London & Capital echoes these gains. COO Marc Graveney notes that Addepar delivers “efficient, flexible, and comprehensive client investment views” while keeping operations lean.
For firms handling complex portfolios, including illiquid assets, Head of Technology at Saranac Partners, Rick Bains, points out the platform’s customizable reporting: it aggregates data, providing advanced analytics and dashboards for decisive action in dynamic markets.
The broader implications appear to be clear.
In wealth management, where differentiation hinges on insight velocity, modern tech turns time into a moat.
Firms that upgrade mitigate risks like data silos and compliance headaches, while unlocking scalability.
As Addepar acknowledges, the transition—though initially challenging—pays dividends in resilience and revenue.
For advisors eyeing growth amid 2025’s uncertainties, the message is seemingly clear: legacy systems are yesterday’s burden; tomorrow’s planners will be those who reclaim their time now.