RECAP: 2019 FOX Family Office Forum

Increasing Efficiency: Automation, Bots, and the Family Office

Presenter:
Danielle Valkner, CPA
US Family Office Leader, PwC

Session Description: 

Every family office has a long list of labor-intensive, repetitive activities that require data processing across multiple applications and currently consume precious staff hours. What if there were another way? This session provided an overview of new developments in Robotics Process Automation (RPA) and Intelligent Process Automation (IPA) and the possibilities they offer for family offices.
 

“The digital revolution is not just about technology, but rather finding new ways to solve problems, create unique experiences and accelerate business performance.”
- Danielle Valkner
Key Takeaways: 
  • Digital is adopting new technology innovation, being data-driven in every decision, designing experiences to achieve 100% adoption, and moving with start-up speed and behavior to drive productivity and new or accelerated growth models.
  • The need for greater operation and financial efficiencies has driven the demand for automation in the middle and back offices – desire to achieve cost savings and grow revenue as well as deliver on a better customer experience. Automation provides tools and technologies such as macros/scripts, workflows, software robots, and artificial intelligence to perform a set of activities.
  • Robotic Process Automation (RPA) can provide real and measurable benefits if implemented effectively. The move to “digital labor” creates hard benefits like reduced costs over time, increase efficiency, agility and quality. Additionally, RPA can provide a 24/7 workforce, increased service quality (reduced errors and improved experience), compliance and control improvements through audit, risk and fraud reduction.
  • RPA is best applied to processes that are high volume/low complexity, delivered by large teams (more opportunity to scale efficiencies across large teams performing the same tasks), have high levels of standardization, and operate in a stable environment. • Intelligent process automation (IPA) can fill in some gaps where RPA is limited including: low volume/high complexity processes and those with ambiguous rules.
  • The goal is to balance efficiency and effectiveness in order to reduce time dedicated to manual/non value-added activities and to maximize the time available for business insight.
  • It is important for advisors to connect the dots to build the advisory firm of the future, investing in enabling technologies to support client experience, responding to new client demands and transitioning roles in response, as well as recruiting, developing, and retaining the right talent to support the new client.

VIEW THE SLIDES >
(FOX Members only)