10 Factors to Consider When Implementing a Document Management Solution

In the world of wealth management, handling documents — and the processes that revolve around them — is a necessary evil.

And when you’re constantly dealing with confidential documents that need to be kept secure, accessed quickly, and made readily available for multiple stakeholders including advisors, clients, auditors, and third parties, having an efficient way to manage your document workflow is critical.

Security, structure, and reliability with respect to the platform you select to manage your firm’s documents become table stakes.

There’s no disputing the need for or even the significance of a document management solution or digital vault.

However, there is something that should be addressed. And that’s this; firms and their advisors are leaving tremendous opportunity behind on the table with respect to operational and compliance efficiencies, along with providing an enriched investor/client experience.

Opportunity that a well-structured and implemented platform can provide.

So, what exactly should your firms be looking for when assessing your document handling requirements and implementing a platform?

Well, it depends. And on several factors. Below are 10 important considerations to help you get started and better understand how to approach looking at—and implementing—a document management and digital vault platform.

Choosing the Right Document Management Technology

The key to selecting the right document handling technology for your organization is to review and assess specific business needs and your daily use cases for managing documents. 

This exercise is a proven way to help your firm better scope out the exact requirements you have, along with capabilities and value that any given platform can bring to the table.

Here are ten factors that every firm must consider:

1. The scale of your operations (how much documentation will be stored, the number of advisors, divisions, and end-clients that may need access)
2. The different types of documents, data, and information you need to store, manage, distribute, and access (advisor commission statements, onboarding documents, quarterly statements, monthly commentaries, tax slips and statements, financial and estate plans, etc.)
3. The workflow, processes, and internal resources that are associated with your documents (including how and where your documents are used, and how frequently they need to be accessed)
4. The current systems/software you are using (such as CRMs, Financial Planning Software, Portfolio Management Software, Onboarding Tools, eSignature Platforms) and the possible integration capabilities
5. Automation capabilities you need or that would streamline workflow (think about tasks and workflow that are currently being handled manually where automation could free up valuable time for clients)
6. Your firm’s information security policies and requirements (do you require infosec certifications such as PCI DSS and SOC 2 Type II?)
7. Regulatory compliance requirements and obligations that (such as data residency and document retention)
8. The stakeholders involved across your organization and the different levels of permissions and access they will need (back office, front office, advisors, etc.)
9. Client facing vs an internal-only platform (in other words, will your clients require access to their documents, and would a client-facing platform provide them with value?)
10. Your technology budget (is this a fixed line item or is there flexibility depending on value, capabilities, integration, etc?)

In addition to the considerations listed above, the platform your organization moves forward with should provide you with the benefits mentioned in the below section to allow your organization to run your business more efficiently and make your life easier.

The Benefits of a Document Management Solution for Wealth Management Firms

Your Document Management System should save your back and front office team(s) hours of tedious tasks and the exasperation of not finding the documents they need quickly, ultimately improving overall efficiency and driving productivity. Let’s dive into some of the main benefits below.

1. Intelligent workflow

The platform your firm decides to move forward with should provide you with the capability to find important data and documents—exactly when you need them. Structuring an efficient workflow to support advisor, client, and third-party collaboration is one of the primary benefits.

2. Security & protection

A Document Management Platform will help your organization keep corporate and client documents safe with world-class security standards, including the latest encryption standards, multi-factor authentication, access controls, and secure around-the-clock monitoring among many other security features that provide you with the assurance you deserve.

3. Structure & organization

With the right system in place, you’ll have the capability to create the structure and organization that mirrors your business use cases to effectively manage important corporate and client documents across multiple levels of your organization, and with third parties such as auditors.

4. Compliance

In addition to cybersecurity, a Document Management Solution will improve compliance management across the organization by improving corporate governance standards, minimizing data breach risks, and enabling your firm to easily meet data and document retention policies.

5. Internal & external collaboration

The right system in place should provide you with the capability to deliver, securely store, and manage both important corporate and client documents within one centralized platform.

6. Enhance the advisor-client relationship

A client-facing document management solution, such as a multi-tiered digital vault platform, can be used as a way to materially improve how you and your clients collaborate, and manage information and necessary documents, together.

7. Save time, money & resources

Last but not least, with the right Document Management System your firm will easily reduce printing, mailing, and storage costs while lowering your non-revenue generating client requests and tasks. This is a fundamental step in digitizing business processes and making the transition to a paperless office, eliminating the unnecessary burden of physical paper and the inefficient systems that depend on it.

Providing Value Across Three Core Pillars of Your Business

To sum it up, if the document management or vault software your firm is currently using isn’t providing you with benefits or value beyond simple document storage, then you should re-evaluate your options and how it’s being implemented across your organization.

A well-implemented and robust document management and digital vault platform should be providing your firm with value across three core pillars.

The first is significantly improving operational efficiencies and driving productivity. Your platform should save your back and front office team(s) hours of tedious tasks by automating them along with the exasperation of not finding the documents they need quickly, ultimately improving overall efficiency and driving productivity.

The second is improving information security and compliance across the organization. The platform you select should equip your organization with best-in-class features to satisfy regulatory compliance requirements such as disaster recovery, data residency, and document retention (Rule 4511 and 17-a4 as an example).

The third pillar of value is centered around enabling an enhanced advisor-client experience by providing clients with an easy, secure, and efficient way to access important information and documents.

While document handling tends to be an overlooked area within wealth management – firms and advisors that focus on and invest in a well-rounded solution will be poised to gain, maintain, and retain a competitive advantage compared to those that simply chose to ignore the significance of this area.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.