Practice Management February 5, 2025

Advisers Planning to Increase Technology, AI Usage and Spend

According to advisers surveyed by Orion, disconnected technology is their primary technology-related pain point—for the second year in a row.

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In 2025, advisers will continue to use and implement artificial intelligence-powered tools and invest in technology, according to Orion’s annual Advisor Wealthtech Survey.

Two-thirds (68%) of advisers currently use AI-powered tools, and nearly half (43%) of those plan to increase their AI investments in 2025, according to the survey of 585 advisers.

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Besides AI, advisers are making moves to improve their technology solutions—and usage. More than half (54%) of advisers plan to increase their investment in technology in 2025—by an average of 19%.

On average, advisers are utilizing 60% of their tech stack, and 38% are focused on improving tech stack utilization this year.

Firms are likely investing more in integrated technology workflows to address disconnected solutions, which advisers identified as their primary technology-related pain point for the second year in a row. On average, advisers say 55% of their technology is integrated. More than four in 10 (42%) expect to invest more in integrated technology workflows in 2025.

Half of advisers reported expecting their organic growth rate to increase in 2025 from 2024, with half of advisers (51%) saying time constraints are the largest barriers to their firm’s growth. This group split on what was the biggest time constraint: 19% of advisers said they are challenged to free up time to spend on business development, 18% noted they spend too much time on internal tasks and 14% said they spend too much time on smaller accounts.

In order to continue to build strong growth, more than four in five advisers (84%) plan to focus on providing personalized financial advice tailored to clients’ unique needs and goals.

“As the industry faces economic policy and market uncertainties in 2025, advisers are fully committed to their clients’ success,” said Natalie Wolfsen, Orion’s CEO, in a statement. “Advisers are not just meeting the demands of their clients; they are going ‘all in’ by focusing on highly personalized service and solutions, investing in integrated technology, and optimizing their back office to free up time.”
Products February 5, 2025

Empower Expands Benefits Services With Consumer Directed Health Care Offering

The CDH product suite is being offered through a partnership with Alegeus Technologies LLC.

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Empower introduced a consumer-directed health care product suite to “help individuals manage their healthcare finances in conjunction with their full financial picture.”

The offering, Consumer-Directed Health, will provide employers and individuals an array of products and services that allow for optimization and integration of health and wealth benefits. The integrated set of CDH benefits under the Empower brand will be incorporated into Empower’s digital platform.

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Empower will offer health savings accounts, flexible spending accounts, health reimbursement arrangements, voluntary employees’ beneficiary association plans, wellness incentives, lifestyle benefits and more. The product set is being offered through a partnership with Alegeus Technologies LLC, a health care technology solutions provider.

The CDH offering is designed to support employers of all sizes and types, from those with fewer than 50 employees to those with more than 500,000 employees across the corporate, government, not-for-profit and labor markets. 

According to Empower, features of its CDH offering include:

  • Integrated workplace benefits experience for participants;
  • Unified card authorization and single card for all CDH accounts;
  • Integrated investment experience for members, including curated fund lineups and a brokerage experience;
  • Cohesive “Save, Invest, and Spend” experience;
  • Empower stable value; and
  • Custom investment lineup options.

“As healthcare costs increasingly shift to consumers, employers recognize the connection between health-related benefits accounts and retirement savings solutions and are looking to work with a single provider to deliver this benefit experience to their employees,” said Dave Gray, Empower’s executive vice president for enterprise solutions. “Alegeus brings state-of-the-art technology, advanced thinking, and insights that will help Empower customers develop a more robust understanding of their holistic financial and benefits picture.”

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