Taking over as Schwab’s newest head of third-party integrations and trading infrastructure teams, Jill Brousseau has a clear set of goals shaped by three decades working inside the industry’s largest custodian.
Helping advisortech providers and advisory firms connect on their needs is one of her main focuses, she tells Action! magazine, as she finds the pairing of the right tools with practice is essential to helping any RIA achieve the best use of technology.
Brousseau shared her insights on how firms can strengthen partnerships with their tech providers and custodians, as well as how young professionals in wealth management can grow and find their space in the field.
The following Q&A has been edited for clarity.
Action! magazine: What’s a practice management tip you’ve found most helpful in your career?
Jill Brousseau: To be honest, the most valuable thing I've learned how to do is to be a good partner. To think not only about what my goals are and what the objectives are for my organization and my team in the role that I have, but also to be thinking about my partners and what their objectives are, and what their goals are. That’s third-party partners, partners within Schwab, and our advisors. What are their goals? What are they trying to achieve? And, to make sure I find some common ground so we can have the same goal and work towards that together. I’ve found that that helps us get things done better, quicker and easier.
Action! magazine: What elements have you discovered to be essential for being a good partner? Is it communication? Is it a compromise?
Brousseau: Communication, making sure I'm explaining what the impact is, if we have a problem that we're trying to work through, why I'm working to get this done, but then also listening and understanding where they are coming from, what their priorities are. And to your point, compromising as well, in terms of where I feel what I need to get out of this situation, what they need to get out of this situation, and figuring out a common ground.
Action! magazine: Coming into your latest role at Schwab, where you are now the director of our third-party integration and trading infrastructure teams, you’re focused on helping firms adopt more technology and make use of it. What are some of the perspectives that you have on how the industry has used technology tools? What are the areas of focus for yourself and your group?
Brousseau: I would say that integration is huge. Our integration solutions with third parties enable advisors to be fully integrated into the platform of their choice and then optimize that platform. I think the fintech industry has exploded in the past five or six years, and making sure that we are where they can be. And, ensuring that we're promoting the idea of efficiency and scale for them, so that they can optimize their business. Also, we ensure that we're hearing what they need and reaching out to those third parties to optimize and integrate with them, so that ultimately, advisors have what they need.
There are many forces at play. Obviously, you can't get into all of them, but firms certainly feel the pressure to use technology. However, at times, they may not know how to implement or utilize those strategies correctly. Schwab, as custodial partner, can play a larger role. We have our provider listings, a public website that allows people to evaluate the available providers. We have an integration matrix that shows the integration points with third-party providers that we have. So, we’re helping advisors understand what efficiencies are available to them, as they may not be aware of them. That has helped drive adoption and help them see where they can utilize those solutions.
Action! magazine: From a technology perspective, where are the areas of improvement for advisory firms?
Brousseau: Operational tasks – they can reduce swivel chair and reentry, as well as the time spent keying in account numbers or information. Utilizing some of our single sign-on solutions for digital account opening as well as moving money, you can get away from having to rekey into your custodial platform; you can do it within the integrations that we have. I think that will save advisors time and allow for the efficiency that they're looking for.
Action! magazine: Can you talk about the integrations between AdvisorEngine and Schwab?
Brousseau: There have been several integrations that we've continued to build. [AdvisorEngine] has been receiving our data files for quite some time, which I know helps advisors get started in the morning using your platform. It just integrated with our digital account open SSO API, as well as MoveMoney, and I know you guys are working on getting access to our standing authorization. So, the integration continues to build and deepen, which is great for advisors using your platform who are also Schwab advisors. It's a great opportunity for us to continue working together and building that integration, which will ultimately lead to increased efficiency for your users.
Action! magazine: Okay, I have to ask you. You’ve been with Schwab for 30 years, starting as an admin assistant. How did you do it?
Brousseau: I started as a trading assistant. I was a contractor. I was a political science major. This was not supposed to be my life. It's been really great for me to learn about the financial industry and grow, realizing, ‘Wow, I'm interested in technology!’ I took a computer science class in high school, but it was not supposed to be my job. It's been really kind of exciting.
So, be curious and evolve, don't put yourself in a box. Learn what's going on around you. Talk to people. I love talking to young people, actually. It's really cool. It reminds you of [what it’s like] being young and where you started. Get to know what's happening and then stretch yourself a little. Be okay with being uncomfortable and not knowing. Ask all the questions that you have, because the more curious you are, the more you're going to learn. And you're going to have better questions that people are going to want to respond to.