The HAL 9000...remember that?
Stanley Kubrick would be proud to see his couterpart present himself this past week via Schwab's "Blue":
For those of you proficient at European house music, my friends from Berlin challenge you to guess the voice-over voice in the Schwab ad...hint: Chemical Brothers.
Relative to our earlier post from October of 2014, this battle is, for the most part, over. With four settled incumbents (Schwab, TD, Fidelity, and Pershing) ready to jump in, it is now a function of who has the ad budget to grab mind share. Schwab, as the lead in this race, will no doubt market test to calibrate their ads to the consumer's tastes. The ads today are a bit cold, but were quite symbolic (anyone think "1984"?)
What does this mean for consumers? More choice and lower fees. All good.
What does this mean for advisors? I leave that to the prognosticators and pundits. But I do have a role model for all of them to consider: Derek Sivers. (click here to read more about Derek. His TED talk is exceptional)
He had built an online music web casting company for years. And then finally, on one company launch day at Apple, he heard that Apple was introducing PodCasting. Just like that his business was gone. In an instant.
How long before this technology sits on an Apple watch? With no fees? Just algorithms? That day is very very close indeed.
To my earlier Berlin reference...in Germany financial planning is considered a part time job like a notary. One could be a plumber while also conducting planning. That's how matter of fact it is. If it all comes down to a calculator that anyone can access...is there any premium left at all?