Where technology is revolutionising industries at an unprecedented pace, the financial services sector is no exception. Jenny Hunter, Senior Financial Journalist at IFA Magazine, recently had the pleasure of interviewing Arran Kingston from 4admin, a practical tool that’s increasing efficiency in financial adviser firms. Arran shared his journey into the fintech world, the evolution of 4admin, and his insights on the future of AI in financial services.
From aspiring advisor to fintech innovator
Arran Kingston’s foray into the financial services industry was influenced heavily by his mother, who runs an outsourced admin and paraplanning firm. Initially aiming to become an advisor, Arran’s career path took a turn towards fintech after spending some time offshore and realising his knack for the technology side of things.
“I finished university wanting to be an advisor. My mother is in the industry, so I’ve always had a foot in it,” Arran recalled. “I wanted to be an advisor but also wanted to travel a bit, so I went offshore. While I really enjoyed it, I just found that I was more suited to the fintech side of things.”
Upon returning to the UK, Arran immersed himself in various fintech roles, gaining valuable experience that would later prove instrumental in the development of 4admin. What started as a side project within his mother’s business soon blossomed into a standalone solution, aimed at helping advice firms service more clients through technological innovation.
What is 4admin and what does it do?
At its core, 4admin is a tool designed to streamline the administrative tasks of financial advisors, paraplanners, and back-office administrators. Instead of manually sifting through documents, relying on Copy & Paste and ‘Ctrl + F’ to extract key information, 4admin leverages AI to do the heavy lifting.
“We took a piece of work that a back-office administrator, a paraplanner, or even an advisor would do, which is scheme analysis,” Arran noted. “With 4admin, AI reads through those documents for you and automatically extracts the information you’re looking for.”
By automating the tedious process of scheme analysis, 4admin significantly reduces the time required from 20-30 minutes per plan, to just 1-3 minutes. The tool maintains a ‘human-in-the-loop’ approach to ensure accuracy, allowing users to review and amend the AI’s work as necessary.
The birth and growth of 4admin
4admin officially soft-launched in July, following a beta phase where early users provided invaluable feedback. The journey wasn’t without its challenges, but today, after only a couple of months, 4admin already has 40+ clients.
“We originally wanted to launch with a few more tools,” Arran explained. “But we decided to whittle it down and just focus on solving one problem first. Now, it’s fully live and going really well.”
Ensuring accuracy and reliability
Accuracy is paramount in financial services, and 4admin achieves a 95% accuracy rate through advanced technology built on Microsoft Azure. Arran detailed the measures taken to minimise AI errors, such as limiting the AI’s use of public knowledge access to avoid “hallucinations” and setting a low “temperature” to ensure factual responses.
“We limit its use of public knowledge to avoid hallucinating and extrapolating, and just get it to focus on the document we’ve given it,” Arran said. “We also use a really low temperature setting, to avoid the AI getting creative with its answers.”
Integration and accessibility
4admin’s software integrates seamlessly into existing templates, allowing users to retain their familiar formats built within their firms. The tool operates as a web app with a flexible pricing model based on consumption, making it accessible and scalable for various types of financial firms.
“We price on a consumption basis in terms of schemes analysed so that it can flow with the seasons of your business,” Arran explained. “There’s a small platform fee which covers unlimited users and then a consumption charge.”
Data security and privacy
A standout feature of 4admin is its zero data retention policy. Once the analysis is complete and the output is downloaded, all data is deleted, ensuring client information remains secure and private.
“We operate a zero data retention policy, meaning we only store the data for as long as it takes to do that one-off analysis,” Arran affirmed. “As soon as that process is done everything is deleted, we don’t store data beyond the moment you download your output, and we never train our AI using client data.”
Future developments and strategic partnerships
Looking ahead, 4admin plans to remain a specialised solution within the Letter of Authority (LOA) process, focusing on perfecting its niche. However, strategic partnerships are on the horizon to integrate complementary tools like fact-finding and meeting notes, enhancing the overall user experience.
“We’re speaking with people in Australia and the UK who are building other parts of the puzzle,” Arran shared. “All the people we’re speaking with have a similar vision, which is why we’re laser focussed on our tool and then plan to tie them together at a later date.”
The role of AI in financial services
Arran envisions a future where AI supports every role within an advice firm. While AI won’t replace human advisors, those utilising AI will outperform those who don’t, leading to leaner teams and higher margins.
“AI won’t replace people, but people using AI will be able to do a lot more than those who don’t use AI,” Arran emphasised. “Teams will naturally get leaner, and margins will rise because the truth is that AI is cheaper than people.”
The adoption of AI will depend on a firm’s values—whether they prefer a human-first approach or end-to-end automation. 4admin remains committed to the human-in-the-loop process, believing it yields better results and client outcomes.
Conclusion
Arran Kingston’s journey from aspiring financial advisor to fintech innovator highlights the transformative power of technology in financial services. With 4admin, he is providing a tool that enhances efficiency, accuracy, and client outcomes. As AI continues to evolve, tools like 4admin will play an increasingly vital role in shaping the future of financial advisory firms, ensuring they can meet the growing demand for financial advice with precision and confidence.
To access a 7-day free trial of 4admin, or book a free-of-charge demo, you can visit their website: https://4admin.co.uk.
