Regulators in the US have spent the past few years fining financial firms over messages sent on channels nobody was archiving. For the smaller independent advice firm, the same rules apply with far fewer people to run them.
XY Planning Network (XYPN) supports more than 2,300 independent, fee-only advisory firms and has just added the phone and messaging platform CurrentClient to its member benefits. Kori Lennon, vice president of Emerald at XYPN, spoke to The Fintech Times about what compliant communication actually requires, how firms should treat AI call summaries and why the adviser tech stack is so hard to join up.
A patchwork, not a gap
Lennon is clear that the problem members raised was not an inability to communicate safely. “Advisors could communicate safely with clients, but that communication relied on an unreliable and inefficient patchwork of tools and integrations, requiring manual oversight and maintenance,” she said.
“Our members are independent advisors wearing many hats, and they’re also deeply dedicated to serving their clients,” she added. “They shouldn’t have to track dozens of manual tasks that keep their phone system connected, their contacts up to date, or their communications properly archived.” XYPN worked with CurrentClient to build a direct integration with its own XYPN Archive product so that calls and messages connect to the archiving system.
What compliant texting requires
Drawing on guidance from CurrentClient founder Dustin Belliston, Lennon said the fundamentals are familiar even if the detail varies by jurisdiction. “Generally, firms need to demonstrate that they maintain a cohesive compliance program, with written policies and procedures that cover texting,” she said. “They need to retain communications for a certain number of years, typically 5 years at the SEC-level and in most states, produce them on demand to meet an examiner’s request, and have appropriate firm-level supervision in place.”
The channel matters as much as the policy. “Using a firm-approved platform, rather than personal messaging applications, is also important,” Lennon said. “The majority of SEC/FINRA fines in the last few years have been related to off-channel violations, and it’s easy for advisors to lose sight of communications that aren’t automatically captured by a firm’s archiving systems.”
AI call summaries
Putting client calls through an AI model raises questions of consent, retention and supervision. XYPN’s starting point, Lennon said, is the data itself. “Advisors should know what’s being captured, where it goes, how long it’s retained, and whether it’s being used to train AI models. Because they vary by state, firms also need to understand the consent and record-keeping requirements that apply in their jurisdictions.”
Her practical checklist for firms evaluating a tool: “configurable recording disclosures and retention controls, plus zero training agreements with underlying AI providers.”
Choosing partners
XYPN’s members test new tools constantly, and the network watches adoption and feedback before it pursues a partnership. Its annual AdviceTech Competition at the XYPN LIVE conference is another early signal; past winners include Holistiplan, IncomeLab and CurrentClient itself.
“When we see a clear signal from members, we get to know the company and its team deeply,” Lennon said. “We look for strong data security practices, exceptional customer support, and a culture committed to listening to advisors, solving their problems, and evolving with their firms. For earlier-stage partners, we also evaluate their ability to scale to meet the needs of the Network and maintain a great advisor experience as they grow.”
Fragmentation and the data problem
Independent advisers have historically resisted all-in-one platforms. “One of the benefits of independence is choice, and point solutions often offer more depth and customization for advisors,” Lennon said. Yet fragmentation remains one of the biggest pain points XYPN hears about, and she sees it starting to shift as AI speeds up product development and strong point solutions absorb related functions.
“AI is also changing the conversation, and we’re seeing efforts, among both independent advisors and enterprises, to use AI as a connective layer on top of the tools advisors already use,” she said. Some advisers in the network are building versions of that layer themselves, while the largest players are building proprietary overlays with the foundation model providers.
The need she sees going unmet sits underneath all of this. “The biggest unmet need we see with the advisors we serve is in data management and system integration,” Lennon said. “Their data is typically spread across a custodian, CRM, financial planning tool, communication tool, and other systems that don’t easily connect. Advisors are often surprised by how hard it is to claim their data or migrate to a new platform, and access to two-way integrations can be limited.”
Solutions exist, she said, but tend to be out of reach for smaller firms. “We’re seeing AI platforms and operating systems start to lean in to bridge the gap. If they can make that infrastructure accessible and affordable for smaller firms, it will make a big impact.”
XYPN says it adds more than 300 new RIAs to the industry each year. For the CurrentClient partnership, Lennon said the measure a year from now is simple: “we want to know that members are using the solution and that it’s made their businesses better.”
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