Most advice firms have added these smart and powerful tools to their tech stack to drive better insights and engagement. Are they in your line up?

Key takeaways:

• Four key technologies reached mass adoption in 2025, becoming foundational for advice firms.
• Their uptake is driven by the need for faster research, stronger personalisation, and better client communication.
• Two more tools - email marketing platforms and secure document sharing - are on track to hit mass adoption next.

Technology is underpinning the ability for advice firms to deliver the deep personalisation that matters to clients today. In our 2025 AdviceTech Buyer’s Guide research, we discovered that four new tools leapt into ‘mass adoption’ compared to 2024 – tools that enable streamlined research, more strategic planning, and better communication.

When tools hit mass adoption, they’re used by more than 75% of both AdviceTech Stars (leaders in tech adoption) and advice firms in general, indicating that they’re now foundational for the industry.

The four tools that made the move either stepped up from ‘approaching mass adoption’, where tools are used by over 80% of AdviceTech Stars and over 60% of firms in general, or from ‘mature, but not mass adoption’, where the tools are used by 30-80% of either AdviceTech Stars or advice firms in general.

If your advice firm isn’t using these four tools, it could be time to reassess your tech stack. What advantages could they bring to your daily processes and your client experience?

Moving into the mass

Joining the ranks of mass adoption, which includes other tools such as CRM platforms, super and investment platforms, and digital signature tools, the four tools that leapt up in 2025 are:

• Investment research tools and technologies: This suite of tools moved up from approaching mass adoption and are now used by 87% of AdviceTech Stars and 79% of advice firms in general. They help advice firms analyse, compare, and select investments for their clients using real-time data and insights.
• Online meeting tools: These tools made a surprise leap up by two categories, from mature but not mass adoption in 2024, to mass adoption in 2025. Among AdviceTech Stars, adoption has risen to 90%, and they’re used by 80% of firms in general. Online meeting tools streamline client liaison, enabling virtual interactions through video, audio, and chat. With Artificial Intelligence (AI) built in, they can create immediate meeting summaries and action points.
• Technology to research potential platforms or insurance products: Also making a bigger move from mature but not mass adoption in 2024 to mass adoption in 2025, these tools are now used by 80% of AdviceTech Stars and 78% of advice firms in general. These research assistants help advisers compare, evaluate, and select suitable insurance products and super/investment platforms for clients.
• Strategy demonstration tools and calculators: Yet another suite of tools that moved from mature but not mass adoption in 2024 to mass adoption in 2025, these are now used by 82% of AdviceTech Stars and 76% of advice firms in general. Strategy demonstration tools and calculators help advisers explain complex financial concepts to clients through interactive modelling and visual aids.

Could you benefit from the ability to streamline investment research, or to jump online to chat to your clients and have the meeting notes automatically filed? Would you find it helpful to quickly compare insurance products for specific client needs, or to model competing scenarios to help with decision making? If so, it might be time to take a closer look at these tools.