Trends with Benefits #15: The Involuntary Technology Revolution with Dani Fava

The COVID-19 pandemic and shelter-in-place orders ushered in a wave of technology adoption at an accelerated pace. Our ways of working, exercising and communicating have had to adapt and perhaps have been changed for the long-term.

My guest in this episode of Trends with Benefits refers to this phenomenon as the "involuntary technology revolution". She is Dani Fava, Director of Innovation at TD Ameritrade Institutional and her job is to be on the hunt for new ideas and emerging technologies to help advisors and investors.

The Tipping Point

Forced to adapt, we all are fortunate to live in a time where technology proved robust enough to facilitate ongoing commerce (for some businesses), entertainment, exercise and connection with loved ones, even at a distance. What's interesting now is to ponder how our lives may change.

Now that it's been proven people in many businesses can operate remotely, would you go back to the office if you weren't forced to? Would you move to a low tax state? It was interesting to hear from Dani about a survey of Registered Investment Advisors on the possibility of giving up their office entirely.

One area of investing that was thrust into the spotlight given the market swoon in March is investor risk tolerance and behavior. This has always been something hard to pin down in order to make sure an investor's portfolio is adequately suited to their ability to withstand market volatility, but artificial intelligence (AI) may offer a solution. We also spoke of the increasing trend in AI for business and investing and how to evaluate different models.

Trend or Fad

Listen for Dani’s take on esports, bitcoin, work from home long-term, deglobalization and podcasts.

Follow Ed Lopez @ThatEdLopez and Dani Fava @DaniFava_TDA on Twitter.

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