This week, Jack Sharry talks with Colleen Bell, President of Innovation and Experience at Cambridge Investment Research. Colleen is also a member of the Office of the CEO, the Board of Directors, and the Executive Council, and a part of Cambridge's Executive Administration team. She focuses on driving associate engagement and financial professional satisfaction while advancing and discovering new ways to meet ongoing client needs. 

Colleen shares how she transforms client and advisor experiences by eliminating friction, digitizing legacy processes, and designing products that meet the increasingly complex needs of today's investors. From AI-powered solutions to driving paperless processes, Colleen walks us through the behind-the-scenes work that powers innovation at scale and how Cambridge is rethinking service models, collaborating across custodians, and pulling together fragmented account data.

In this episode:

(00:00) - Intro

(01:52) - Colleen's role at Cambridge Investment Research

(03:36) - Pain points advisors face around customer experience

(06:08) - Cambridge's technology solutions for advisors

(07:22) - Cambridge's "Paper Not Alive in '25"

(11:17) - The role of financial planning in providing comprehensive advice

(13:01) - The integration of non-traditional assets

(14:57) - Colleen's thoughts about the future of the industry

(17:01) - The current and future of AI in wealth management

(19:11) - AI adoption among advisors

(21:28) - The importance of human interaction and building relationships

(23:28) - Colleen's key takeaways

(24:14) - Colleen's interests outside of work

Quotes

"Anything that we can do to automate that experience, remove the need to provide information, or remove all paperwork from the industry is my goal, and that's what we're looking for." ~ Colleen Bell

"Artificial intelligence will completely transform the way that our advisors interact with the home office and how they interact with the clients." ~ Colleen Bell

"AI is never going to replace what we, as humans, and our advisors do. It's those advisors who don't adopt it who will be left behind because they're not taking the next step to become efficient and effective." ~ Colleen Bell

Links 

Colleen Bell on LinkedIn

Cambridge Investment Research

Unreasonable Hospitality

Will Guidara

The Coming Wave

How to Know a Person

Frances Frei

Connect with our hosts

LifeYield

Jack Sharry on LinkedIn

Jack Sharry on Twitter

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