Clients Need Technology AND a Personal Touch: Citi's Annuity Distribution Chief

Our financial advisors are now able to provide a broad array of insurance products to their clients directly through the easy-to-use digital platform.

What are you focusing on the most right now?

With the newly expanded team, I’m focused on driving collaboration and encouraging idea exchange among colleagues. By leveraging fresh perspectives and diverse mindsets, we’re able to improve our processes to enhance the client experience.

I’m also working with the team to ensure we have clear expectations and goals in place. This helps improve team engagement, and, when the team is fulfilled, we can build stronger, more positive relationships with our advisors and their clients.

What forces out there are helping, and what forces are hurting financial planning?

The volatile stock market, rising interest rates and worldwide political uncertainty are causing some investors to feel nervous about making decisions until the instability settles.

Financial planning is something that’s helpful in this situation and doing so with a trusted financial advisor is even better as they can take the client’s unique goals and situation into account.

According to the 2022 Insurance Barometer Study, 106 million adults in America lack life insurance or adequate coverage. Creating solid financial plans which consider the unexpected, like life insurance, can help clients achieve their financial goals and better prepare for major life events.

What do you think your market (or your specialty, or the world) will look like five years from now?

While financial planning has remained relatively consistent in recent years, we are starting to see a shift in how it’s managed. Digitization and technology will help the industry better serve clients and optimize processes to enhance our existing ways of working, but we must find the right balance between technology and personal touch.

By harnessing cutting-edge technology advisors will be equipped with a deeper level of knowledge on specific topics to further personalize plans to address clients’ unique goals. The ability to access this information quickly and efficiently will bring client service to the next level.

What, if anything, should readers or other players, such as industry groups, be doing to bring about positive change?

It’s important to create balanced teams with colleagues from diverse backgrounds to drive innovation and optimization.

Everyone brings a unique perspective to the table, opening the door for new ways of working and interpretation that can improve our overall performance. This is important to keep in mind when working with our clients as well — financial planning is not one size fits all.

Chuck Cavanaugh. (Photo: Citi)