The Personal Finance Society and the Financial Technology Research Centre are to jointly hold a new workshop for Financial Planners to highlight how the latest technology can help transform their businesses and boost service to clients.

The organisations say that while there are more than 27,000 regulated advisers in the UK the increasing demand for advice is already starting to cause a “capacity crunch.”

They believe advances in technology can help save time, reduce costs and enhance the customer proposition in the Financial Planning sector. Utilising technology is not just for robo-advice firms, they say.

The workshop will be held in the Museum of London in London on 16 May and will outline the key factors an adviser should consider when selecting a range of different types of systems. Included will be a series of ‘disturbance demos’ to showcase the latest technology and how it can help to transform adviser businesses.

There will be an “explicit focus” on enhancing customer propositions, and advisers will vote for ‘Best in Show’ awards to be presented to the initiatives they believe can help firms the most.

Sponsors of the event include Intelliflo, Nuance, Practifi, Unipass Mailock, IRESS, Seven Investment Management and Focus Solutions.

Keith Richards, chief executive of the Personal Finance Society, said: “Our partnership with the FTRC to create this bespoke workshop is rooted in a belief that advances in technology is a win-win for financial advisers and the client.”

“Embracing the latest technologies available can produce real benefits to how advisers operate on a day-to-day basis and deal with the present and future challenges.”

Ian McKenna, founder of the Financial Technology Research Centre, said: “The Personal Finance Society is widely recognised as the pre-eminent professional body for personal finance professionals and it is a privilege to be working with them on this forthcoming workshop. It is also great to see so many leading industry technology suppliers engaging with this initiative.

“This is a practical day for those who want to drive real change in their business. It is a day to prepare for taking action and it is not simply a talking shop. Attendees will receive post-event material to assist them in an ongoing process of technology selection and implementation.”

Participants will qualify for one day’s structured CPD and further events are planned across the UK later in the year.

More information about the event can be found here: https://www.eventsforce.net/ciievents/frontend/reg/thome.csp?pageID=14629&eventID=52