Best CRM for investment advisors: Top Tools Compared!

As an investment advisor, managing client relationships, tracking portfolio updates, and ensuring timely communication is key to building trust and growing your business. A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system tailored for investment advisors can help you stay organized by tracking client interactions, automating follow-ups, and managing client data—all from one platform. With the right CRM, you can enhance your client communication, streamline workflows, and provide more personalized service.
In this blog post, we’ll explore the best CRM options for investment advisors like you, focusing on tools that help you manage relationships effectively and grow your advisory practice.

Why you need a CRM

A CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system is essential for investment advisory firms to streamline their operations, enhance client relationships, and drive business growth.

Challenges without a CRM

Investment advisory firms typically face several challenges when managing investment advisors without the right CRM in their tech stack.

• Disorganization: Managing client information and advisor activities manually can lead to chaotic and inefficient processes.
• Missed opportunities: Without a centralized system, potential leads and follow-ups can easily slip through the cracks.
• Inefficient Processes: Manual tracking and communication can slow down operations and reduce productivity.
• Lack of insight: Difficulty in tracking performance metrics and client interactions hinders data-driven decision-making.
• Inconsistent communication: Without a unified platform, maintaining consistent and timely communication with clients and advisors becomes challenging.

Benefits of a CRM

Fortunately, a good CRM can address these challenges and provides specific advantages that significantly improve business performance.

• Centralized information: All client and advisor data is stored in one place, making it easily accessible and manageable.
• Enhanced efficiency: Automated processes streamline tasks, saving time and reducing errors.
• Improved customer relationships: Detailed client profiles help advisors personalize interactions and build stronger relationships.
• Better decision-making: Comprehensive analytics provide valuable insights into performance and client needs.
• Increased sales: Efficient lead management and follow-up processes can boost conversion rates and revenue.
• Consistent communication: Integrated communication tools ensure timely and consistent engagement with clients and advisors.

How to evaluate and choose a CRM

With a lot of CRMs out there, it can be hard to distinguish which one fits your exact requirements. To help you with your decision-making process, we've put together these tips that you can adapt to your own internal process.

1. Define your requirements

When evaluating CRM options, investment advisors must first define their specific requirements. Key features to consider include client management capabilities, portfolio tracking, integration with financial planning tools, and robust reporting functionalities. Additionally, ensure the CRM supports secure communication and data protection to comply with regulatory standards.

Key features of a CRM for investment advisors

• Automated processes: Streamlines tasks by automating repetitive workflows.
• Contact enrichment: Automatically finds email addresses and contact information, enhancing efficiency.
• Structured pipeline: Tracks contacts through defined stages, ensuring process clarity and effectiveness.
• Email sequences: Increases communication efficiency with follow-up templates and automated sequences.
• LinkedIn connection: Seamlessly imports your network from LinkedIn and tracks conversations within the CRM.
• Analytics: Provides essential data analysis and predictive insights for better planning.

2. Budget considerations

Balance cost with the potential return on investment. While some CRMs may come with a higher price tag, they often offer advanced features that can save time and enhance client relationships, ultimately boosting your firm's profitability. Consider both upfront costs and ongoing subscription fees, and weigh these against the anticipated benefits and efficiency gains.

3. Selection process

Research potential CRM vendors by reading reviews on G2, seeking recommendations from industry peers, and evaluating vendor websites. Look for CRMs with experience in the financial services sector and a strong track record of customer support. Request demos and ask for case studies to understand how the CRM has benefited firms similar to yours.

4. Get a demo

Choosing the best CRM for investment advisors can be a game-changer for your firm. To ensure you make the right decision, it's crucial to get a demo of the CRM software you're considering. Pay attention to how intuitive the interface is and how easily your team can adapt to using it. Get started with a demo of folk, to see how it can help your investment firm grow.

3 tips for implementing a CRM

At this stage, it's time to ensure that you introduce your new CRM to the team effectively. To help you make the most of your first few weeks with it, we suggest making sure you tick these three things off as soon as possible.

1. Import your data into your new CRM

Transitioning to a new CRM can be seamless if you start by importing your existing data. Most CRMs allow you to export your data as a CSV file. This ensures that no valuable client information is lost during the migration.

2. Create your first pipeline

Once your data is imported, the next step is to create your first pipeline. For investment advisors, this could include stages such as 'Lead Generation,' 'Initial Consultation,' 'Investment Proposal,' 'Client Onboarding,' and 'Portfolio Management.' Tailoring these stages to your specific processes will help streamline your workflow and improve client management.

3. Onboard your team

After setting up your CRM, it's essential to onboard your team effectively. Provide comprehensive training sessions to ensure everyone is comfortable using the new system. This will maximize the CRM's potential and ensure that your investment advisory firm operates smoothly and efficiently.

The 5 best CRMs for investment advisors

1. folk

folk is a modern CRM platform for managing contacts, workflows, and relationships, offering customizable pipelines, AI-driven tools, and integrations to enhance deal management and prospecting.

Key features

• Contact enrichment: Automatically enriches contact details by finding emails and LinkedIn URLs, enabling efficient outreach without manual data entry or additional costs for email services.
• LinkedIn integration: Seamlessly import contacts from LinkedIn and Sales Navigator, to track contacts and leverage your network within folk, and use templates for quicker, streamlined communication.
• Mail merge and email sequences: Full email sync compatible with Gmail and Outlook with access to templates, and tracking features, enabling users to manage all communications directly from the CRM.
• AI-powered features: AI tools assist in managing contacts and relationships, automating routine tasks, and suggesting actions to improve productivity.
• Integrations: folk integrates seamlessly with over 6,000 apps, including Gmail, Zapier, and Make, allowing users to centralize their workflow and reduce manual data entry.

Pros

• Ease of use: folk is praised for its intuitive interface, making it accessible even to non-technical users with quick onboarding and a minimal learning curve.
• All-in-one: folk streamlines your workflow by allowing you to import contacts from LinkedIn, automatically find their emails, reach out through customizable email sequences, and track interactions in a pipeline, eliminating the need for multiple tools and saving time and money.
• LinkedIn integration: Seamlessly import contacts from LinkedIn, track conversations within folk, and use templates for quicker, streamlined communication.
• Customizability: Custom fields, pipelines, and workflows.
• Integrations: folk integrates seamlessly with over 6,000 apps, including Gmail, Zapier, and Make, allowing users to centralize their workflow and reduce manual data entry.

Cons

• Reporting: Currently lacks reporting features, but there are plans for future implementation.
  

Price and plans

You can try folk for free with a 14-day free trial. After that, a monthly or annual subscription plan is as follows.

• Standard: $20 per user, per month.
• Premium: $40 per user, per month.
• Custom: Starts from $60 per user, per month.

2. HubSpot

HubSpot CRM is a user-friendly, scalable platform offering integrated tools for managing sales, marketing, customer service, and operations efficiently.

Key features

• Marketing Hub: Includes tools for email marketing, ad tracking, landing pages, and lead generation, crucial for attracting and nurturing potential investors.
• Sales Hub: Provides deal tracking, pipeline management, sales automation, and reporting, helping investment advisors manage investment opportunities efficiently.
• Service Hub: Offers customer service tools like ticketing, live chat, and knowledge bases, ensuring high-quality service for existing investors and clients.
• Operations Hub: Syncs and automates business processes across different systems, streamlining operations and improving efficiency.
• Lead scoring: Prioritize leads with predictive scoring to focus on high-potential investors and opportunities, enhancing sales efficiency.

Pros

• User-friendly interface: The intuitive and easy-to-use interface makes it accessible for users of all skill levels, including investment advisors.
• Comprehensive free plan: Offers essential CRM features in a robust free version, ideal for small investment advisory firms.
• Seamless integration with marketing tools: Integrates smoothly with marketing, sales, and service hubs, creating a unified platform for managing investor relations and investment opportunities.
• Automation capabilities: Powerful automation tools for email marketing, lead nurturing, and sales workflows save time and improve efficiency for investment advisors.
• Customizable dashboard and reports: Allows users to create customized dashboards and reports to track metrics and gain insights into business performance, crucial for investment management.

Cons

• High cost at higher tiers: Pricing can become expensive at higher tiers, which may be prohibitive for small investment advisory firms as they scale.
• Limited customization in free plan: The free plan and lower tiers have limited customization options, restricting flexibility for growing firms.
• Complexity in advanced features: Some advanced features, such as custom reporting and workflows, have a steep learning curve and may require additional training.
• Email marketing limits: Email marketing functionality in the free plan is restricted by limits on the number of emails you can send, a drawback for firms with larger client lists.
• Additional costs for add-ons: Many useful features, like advanced CRM capabilities and integrations, come as paid add-ons, increasing the overall cost.

Price and plans

Prices and plans on the CRM suite for an annual subscription are as follows.

• Starter: $15 per user, per month.
• Professional: $450 per user, per month.
• Enterprise: $1,500 per user, per month.

3. Capsule CRM

Capsule CRM is a user-friendly customer relationship management platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. It offers a clean, intuitive interface that helps users manage customer relationships, track sales pipelines, and organize tasks and communications efficiently.

Key features

• 1 sales pipeline,
• 50 custom fields,
• 30,000 contacts,
• Activity reporting,
• Key integrations.

Pros

• User-friendly interface: Capsule CRM offers a clean and intuitive design, making it easy for investment advisors to navigate and quickly access important features. This simplicity reduces the learning curve, making it an excellent choice for firms without extensive CRM experience.
• Contact and sales management: The platform provides robust tools for managing leads, investors, customers, and investment opportunities. This helps advisors maintain a clear view of their relationships and sales pipeline.
• Customization options: Capsule CRM allows users to customize fields, tags, and pipelines to fit their specific needs, offering flexibility in how they manage data and processes.
• Integration capabilities: Capsule integrates with various popular third-party applications, including G Suite, Microsoft 365, Mailchimp, and QuickBooks, allowing advisors to create a seamless workflow across their business tools.
• Affordability: Capsule CRM offers competitive pricing with a free plan for basic needs and affordable premium options, making it accessible for small investment advisory firms.

Cons

• Limited advanced features: Compared to some of its competitors, Capsule CRM lacks more advanced features such as in-depth analytics and comprehensive automation. This can be a limitation for larger firms or those with more complex CRM needs.
• Basic email marketing capabilities: While Capsule integrates with email marketing tools like Mailchimp, its built-in email marketing capabilities are relatively basic. Users seeking more advanced email marketing features may need to rely on third-party integrations.
• Limited customer support: Capsule CRM primarily offers support through email and an online help center. The lack of live chat or phone support might be a downside for users who prefer immediate assistance or more direct support options.
• Scalability concerns: While Capsule CRM is great for small to medium-sized firms, companies that are rapidly growing or have more complex CRM requirements might find the platform less scalable as they expand.

Price and plans

Capsule's annual subscription plan is as follows.

• Starter plan: Starts from $21 per user, per month.
• Growth plan: Starts from $38 per user, per month.
• Advanced plan: Starts from $60 per user, per month.
• Ultimate plan: Starts from $75 per user, per month.

4. Salesforce

Salesforce is a robust CRM platform for large enterprises, offering tools for sales, marketing, service, and analytics, with extensive scalability.

Key features

• Comprehensive ecosystem: Salesforce provides a unified platform offering CRM, marketing automation, customer service, and custom app development, essential for investment advisors managing diverse client needs.
• Customization and scalability: Salesforce is highly customizable and scalable, allowing investment firms to tailor the platform to their specific workflows and manage growth efficiently.
• Artificial intelligence (AI) integration: Salesforce Einstein offers AI-driven analytics and automation, providing insights that help investment advisors optimize their strategies and client interactions.
• Extensive integration capabilities: With Salesforce's AppExchange, investment advisors can integrate the platform with various third-party applications, ensuring seamless operation across different business systems.
• Enterprise-grade security and compliance: Salesforce provides robust security measures and compliance features, critical for investment firms handling sensitive client data.

Pros

• Comprehensive feature set: Salesforce offers extensive features covering client management, investment tracking, and marketing, making it a powerful tool for managing all aspects of investment advisory services.
• Highly customizable: Salesforce allows investment advisors to tailor the platform with custom fields, objects, and workflows to meet their specific needs.
• Extensive integration capabilities: Salesforce integrates with a vast array of third-party applications, enabling seamless data flow and enhanced functionality.
• Scalability: Salesforce is highly scalable, making it suitable for investment firms of all sizes, with the ability to grow with the business.
• Advanced analytics and reporting: Salesforce provides powerful analytics and reporting tools, allowing investment advisors to gain deep insights into their data and make informed decisions.

Cons

• High cost: Salesforce can be expensive, especially for small to medium-sized investment firms, with high licensing fees and additional costs for add-ons and customization.
• Steep learning curve: Due to its extensive feature set and complexity, Salesforce often requires significant time and training for investment advisors to become proficient.
• Complex setup and customization: Initial setup and customization can be challenging and often require expert help or certified consultants, adding to the overall cost.
• User interface: Some users find the Salesforce interface to be outdated and not as intuitive as other modern CRM platforms, which can hinder usability.
• Overwhelming for small teams: Salesforce’s robust features may be overkill for smaller investment advisory teams, leading to underutilization of the platform’s capabilities.

Price and plans

On an annual subscription plan, Salesforce's Service Cloud plan is as follows.

• Starter suite: Starts from $25 per user, per month.
• Pro suite: Starts from $100 per user, per month.
• Enterprise: Starts from $165 per user, per month.

5. Zoho

Zoho is a CRM system with a strong sales focus. It has journey orchestration, sales process management, and workflow automation features. There's also something for marketing teams, including event management and customer segmentation.

Key features

• Lead and contact management: Efficiently manage leads, investors, customers, and investment opportunities by tracking interactions and segmenting contacts for targeted engagement.
• Sales pipeline management: Visualize and manage investment opportunities through a customizable sales pipeline with drag-and-drop functionality, ensuring no deal is overlooked.
• Customizable dashboards and reports: Create tailored dashboards and reports to gain in-depth analytics on investment performance and client interactions.
• Multi-channel communication: Integrate with email, phone, social media, and live chat to streamline communication with clients and investors.
• Workflow automation: Automate routine tasks and processes, such as follow-ups and data entry, to improve efficiency and focus more on client relationships.

Pros

• Customization: Tailor the CRM to fit the specific needs of investment advisors, including custom fields, modules, and workflows for managing clients and investment opportunities.
• Integration with Zoho suite: Seamlessly integrate with other Zoho products like Zoho Books and Zoho Campaigns, creating a comprehensive ecosystem for managing financial services.
• Multi-channel communication: Manage all client interactions from a single platform, whether through email, phone, social media, or live chat.
• AI-powered features: Utilize Zia, the AI assistant, for intelligent insights, predictive analytics, and task automation, enhancing client management and investment tracking.
• Mobile accessibility: Access client and investment data on the go with the robust mobile app, featuring offline capabilities for uninterrupted service.

Cons

• Steep learning curve: Extensive customization options can be overwhelming for new users, requiring time to master the platform.
• Complex setup: Initial setup and configuration can be complex, particularly for firms without dedicated IT resources.
• Performance issues: Occasional reports of slow performance, especially with large datasets, can hinder productivity.
• Limited third-party integrations: While integration with Zoho products is seamless, connecting with third-party applications can require additional effort.
• Customization requires technical knowledge: Advanced customizations often require technical expertise, which can be a barrier for non-technical users.

Price and plans

Zoho’s free plan is limited to three users. After that, for more features and seats, an annual subscription plan is as follows:

• Standard: $14 per user, per month.
• Professional: $23 per user, per month.
• Enterprise: $40 per user, per month.

Conclusion

Choosing the best CRM for investment advisors is a crucial step in optimizing client management, streamlining operations, and driving business growth. Each of the CRMs we've discussed—folk, HubSpot, Capsule CRM, Salesforce, and Zoho—offers unique features and benefits tailored to different needs and budgets. Whether you're a small firm looking for user-friendly and cost-effective solutions, or a larger enterprise needing advanced customization and scalability, there's a CRM that can meet your requirements. By carefully evaluating your firm's specific needs, budget, and the features offered by each CRM, you can make an informed decision that will enhance your investment advisory services. For a hands-on experience, consider starting with a free trial of folk to see how it can transform your client management processes.

Need a helping hand? Use our free tool to find your perfect CRM match.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does an investment advisory firm use as a CRM?

Investment advisory firms often use CRMs like folk, Hubspot, Capsule CRM, Salesforce, and Zoho to manage client relationships, streamline operations, and enhance productivity. These platforms offer various features tailored to the needs of investment advisors, such as contact management, pipeline tracking, and automated communication tools.

Do I need a CRM?

Yes, depending on the complexity of your process, a CRM can significantly enhance your firm's efficiency and client management. It helps in organizing client data, automating workflows, and providing valuable insights, making it easier to manage relationships and drive business growth.

How much does a CRM cost?

The cost of a CRM varies widely depending on the features and plans offered. Prices typically range from $15 to $1,500 per user per month. For example, folk offers plans starting at $20 per user per month, while Hubspot's plans can go up to $1,500 per user per month for enterprise features.

Does folk’s CRM respond to investment advisors needs?

Yes, folk’s CRM is well-suited for investment advisors. It offers ease of use, seamless LinkedIn integration, customizable pipelines, and AI-powered features, making it an all-in-one solution that streamlines workflows and enhances productivity. Additionally, it integrates with over 6,000 apps, reducing the need for multiple tools.