Gamified Financial Planning App Drives 25% Higher Engagement

Gamified Financial Planning App Drives 25% Higher Engagement

Executive Summary

Precision FG, a wealth management firm, faced a common challenge: clients often struggled to stay engaged with their financial plans, leading to inconsistent adherence and ultimately hindering progress toward their goals. To combat this, Precision FG implemented a gamified financial planning app that allowed clients to visualize progress, earn rewards for positive financial behaviors, and participate in friendly competition. The integration of this app, powered by data from Golden Door Asset's platform, resulted in a 25% increase in client engagement, improved plan adherence, and enhanced client satisfaction.

The Challenge

Precision FG manages over $500 million in assets for approximately 300 high-net-worth individuals and families. While the firm excelled at creating comprehensive financial plans tailored to each client's unique circumstances, maintaining consistent client engagement proved to be a significant hurdle. Many clients, despite initial enthusiasm, would gradually lose interest in actively tracking their progress and making necessary adjustments. This lack of engagement manifested in several ways:

• Inconsistent Contributions: A typical client, John, had committed to contributing $3,000 per month to his retirement account. However, over a six-month period, he only contributed the full amount twice, falling short by an average of $1,200 per month. This inconsistency, mirrored across several clients, directly impacted their projected retirement savings.
• Delayed Portfolio Reviews: The firm's standard practice was to conduct quarterly portfolio reviews with clients. However, only 60% of clients actively scheduled and attended these reviews. The remaining 40% often postponed or cancelled, resulting in delayed adjustments to their investment strategies and potentially missed opportunities. This inaction could translate to a 1-2% difference in annual returns for a $1 million portfolio – a significant financial impact.
• Lack of Proactive Communication: Clients frequently failed to proactively communicate significant life events or financial changes, such as a new job, inheritance, or large purchase. This information asymmetry hindered Precision FG's ability to provide timely and relevant advice. For example, a client receiving a $100,000 inheritance might significantly benefit from adjusted tax planning strategies, but without proactive communication, this opportunity could be missed.
• Low Adoption of Financial Planning Tools: Precision FG provided access to various financial planning tools, such as budgeting software and expense trackers. However, only 35% of clients actively utilized these resources, limiting their ability to effectively manage their finances on a day-to-day basis. This lack of adoption resulted in missed opportunities to identify and address unnecessary expenses, potentially freeing up additional funds for investment.

These challenges collectively impacted Precision FG's ability to deliver optimal financial outcomes for their clients and created frustration for both advisors and clients. The need for a more engaging and interactive approach was clear.

The Approach

Lisa Tanaka, a senior financial advisor at Precision FG, recognized the need for a more engaging approach to financial planning. Inspired by the principles of behavioral economics and gamification, she championed the adoption of a gamified financial planning app. The approach was structured around three key pillars:

1. Data Integration: The first step was to seamlessly integrate client data from Precision FG's existing systems, including portfolio holdings, transaction history, and financial goals, into the gamified app. This integration, facilitated by Golden Door Asset's platform, ensured that clients had a real-time, comprehensive view of their financial situation within the app.
2. Customized Challenges and Rewards: Lisa and her team developed a series of customized challenges and rewards tailored to each client's individual financial goals and risk tolerance. These challenges ranged from simple tasks, such as tracking daily expenses, to more complex goals, such as increasing retirement savings by a specific percentage. Rewards were designed to be both tangible and intangible, including virtual badges, leaderboard rankings, and opportunities to earn discounts on financial products and services. For instance, a client saving an additional $500 per month towards their children's 529 plan could earn a "College Saver" badge and a 5% discount on financial planning fees for the following quarter.
3. Community and Competition: The app incorporated social features that allowed clients to connect with one another, share their progress, and participate in friendly competition. Leaderboards showcased top performers in various categories, such as retirement savings and debt reduction. This fostered a sense of community and accountability, encouraging clients to stay engaged and motivated. The goal was to create a supportive environment where clients could learn from one another and celebrate their successes.
4. Personalized Advisor Integration: Advisors are automatically alerted to significant changes in client app usage, highlighting when clients are consistently hitting goals, or when they are struggling. This allows for proactive outreach, such as congratulating a client on their retirement savings milestone, or reaching out to clients who haven't logged in for more than a week.

Lisa also understood the importance of advisor buy-in. She conducted training sessions to ensure that all advisors were comfortable using the app and communicating its benefits to clients. She emphasized that the app was not intended to replace the advisor-client relationship but rather to enhance it by providing clients with a more engaging and interactive experience.

Technical Implementation

The successful implementation of the gamified financial planning app relied on several key technical components:

• API Integration: Golden Door Asset's platform provided a robust API that facilitated seamless integration between Precision FG's CRM and the gamified app. This API allowed for the automated transfer of client data, including portfolio holdings, transaction history, and financial goals. This ensured data accuracy and reduced the need for manual data entry.
• Custom Challenge Engine: The app featured a custom challenge engine that allowed Lisa and her team to create and manage a variety of challenges tailored to each client's individual needs and goals. The engine supported different challenge types, including:
  • Goal-Based Challenges: Clients were challenged to achieve specific financial goals, such as saving a certain amount for retirement or paying off a specific debt.
  • Behavioral Challenges: Clients were encouraged to adopt positive financial behaviors, such as tracking daily expenses or reviewing their investment portfolio regularly.
  • Educational Challenges: Clients were tested on their knowledge of financial concepts, such as asset allocation and tax planning.
• Reward System: The app incorporated a sophisticated reward system that allowed clients to earn virtual badges, leaderboard rankings, and tangible rewards for completing challenges and achieving financial milestones. The reward system was designed to be flexible and customizable, allowing Lisa and her team to tailor the rewards to each client's individual preferences. For example, high-value clients could be offered perks like priority scheduling or access to exclusive investment opportunities.
• Security and Compliance: Security and compliance were paramount. The app utilized industry-standard encryption protocols to protect client data and adhered to all relevant regulatory requirements, including SEC guidelines for data privacy and security. Regular security audits were conducted to ensure the ongoing integrity of the system.

The backend infrastructure was built on a scalable cloud platform to accommodate future growth and ensure high availability. Regular monitoring and maintenance were performed to ensure the smooth operation of the app.

Results & ROI

The implementation of the gamified financial planning app yielded significant positive results for Precision FG:

• Increased Client Engagement: Client engagement, measured by the frequency of app logins and interactions, increased by 25% within the first six months. This translated to clients spending an average of 30 minutes per week actively managing their finances within the app, compared to just 15 minutes prior to implementation.
• Improved Plan Adherence: The percentage of clients consistently contributing to their retirement accounts according to their financial plans increased from 60% to 80%. This improvement directly contributed to increased retirement savings and improved long-term financial security. John, the client mentioned earlier, consistently contributed the full $3,000/month within 2 months of using the app.
• Higher Portfolio Review Attendance: Attendance at quarterly portfolio reviews increased from 60% to 90%. This allowed advisors to provide more timely and relevant advice, leading to improved investment performance.
• Enhanced Client Communication: The app facilitated more proactive communication between clients and advisors. Clients were more likely to report significant life events or financial changes, allowing advisors to provide timely and appropriate guidance. The number of proactive client communications regarding financial updates increased by 40%.
• Increased Client Satisfaction: Client satisfaction, measured by annual surveys, increased by 15%. Clients reported feeling more engaged, empowered, and in control of their finances. The firm's Net Promoter Score (NPS) also saw a significant increase, indicating improved client loyalty and advocacy.
• Time Savings for Advisors: On average, advisors saved approximately 2 hours per week by using automated reporting and data gathering from the app, freeing up time to focus on more complex financial planning tasks.

The increased client engagement and improved plan adherence directly translated to increased assets under management and revenue for Precision FG. The firm estimates that the gamified app has contributed to a 5% increase in AUM over the past year.

Key Takeaways

• Gamification can be a powerful tool for increasing client engagement: By incorporating game-like elements into the financial planning process, advisors can motivate clients to actively participate in managing their finances.
• Personalization is key: Challenges and rewards should be tailored to each client's individual needs and goals to maximize engagement and effectiveness.
• Community and competition can foster accountability: Creating a supportive environment where clients can connect with one another and share their progress can encourage them to stay engaged and motivated.
• Data integration is essential: Seamlessly integrating client data from existing systems into the gamified app ensures data accuracy and reduces the need for manual data entry.
• Advisor buy-in is crucial: Advisors need to be comfortable using the app and communicating its benefits to clients for the program to be successful.

About Golden Door Asset

Golden Door Asset builds AI-powered intelligence tools for RIAs. Our platform helps advisors provide personalized financial advice at scale by automating data aggregation, analysis, and reporting. Visit our tools to see how we can help your practice.