RFG Advisory is an award-winning Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) platform that empowers independent financial advisors by providing the technology, compliance, investment management, and operational support necessary to build their businesses. Pulse 2.0 interviewed RFG Advisory’s VP of Technology and Operations, Dr. Jordan Hutchison, to learn more.
Dr. Jordan Hutchison’s Background
Could you tell me more about your background and how you got into the financial services industry? Dr. Hutchison said:
“During my senior year of college, I went home for the holidays, and my dad asked what I planned to do after graduation. I had no idea—my focus had always been basketball, not career planning. I began researching graduate programs and discovered the financial planning program at the University of Alabama. The professors’ passion for the profession was contagious, and I left our first meeting completely sold on both the program and the industry.”
“After graduating, I spent seven years as a financial advisor, working alongside phenomenal colleagues and building my own book of business. Eventually, I met Daniel Crosby, who became a close friend. That relationship inspired me to shift toward coaching and training advisors at JOYN and SignatureFD.”
“Those experiences sparked my interest in financial technology, revealing the power of technology in the advisor-client experience. This led me to work with startups and lead various data and fintech product development strategies and teams before joining Shannon Spotswood at RFG Advisory. What began as a sales meeting turned into a career-defining conversation about innovation and growth. Today, I lead our operations and technology teams, driving RFG’s corporate and advisor technology strategy.”
Approach To Technology
What is your firm’s approach to technology, and has that changed since you joined? Dr. Hutchison shared:
“RFG Advisory views growth in phases. Before I joined, Shannon had already transformed the firm into a dynamic platform for independent advisors. She brought me in to help lead the next phase—one focused on building strategic technology partnerships that strengthen our platform and building out RFG’s custom advisor experience. I approach technology through a behavioral lens, always prioritizing the experiences of advisors and clients. Design and centralized vision are extremely important to me. When evaluating new tools or deciding to build new technologies, I focus on the real value they deliver to an advisor’s workflow and client relationships.
For example, we just launched ClickONE Command Center, a centralized operating system that connects planning, CRM, marketing and operations into a single interface. Bringing our entire tech ecosystem into one unified platform was a natural evolution in our approach to technology, reducing swivel chair effect and driving increased scale and efficiency so our advisors have more time to spend with their clients.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for your firm so far? Dr. Hutchison reflected:
“What stands out most at RFG is our culture of collaboration and radical candor. Everyone has an entrepreneurial mindset and understands that mistakes are part of innovation. Early in my role, I faced a roadblock while implementing a major tech change. Instead of hesitation, Shannon and the team immediately engaged, and together we solved the issue quickly. That experience cemented my trust in RFG’s culture—one where everyone is accountable, open and united by a shared goal.”
Partnerships Forged
What are some of the tech partnerships you’ve been able to forge since joining RFG Advisory? Dr. Hutchison pointed out:
“We’ve built several strong technology partnerships and unified our data architecture that delivers tangible value to our advisors. Zocks, for example, automates meeting notes, drafts follow-up emails, extracts document data and integrates next steps into CRMs. We leverage Snowflake to handle our data framework and centralization. We also added Wealth.com to streamline estate planning, Income Lab to enhance retirement planning, and platforms such as YCharts, Measured, and AdvicePay to strengthen analytics, performance and billing capabilities.”
Integrating New Tech Partners
When deciding to integrate a new tech partner into your resources, what do you look for and how do you evaluate if it’s the best tool for your advisors? Dr. Hutchison described:
“The client experience and the product teams’ vision are top priorities for me when evaluating new technologies as I look to build an advisor-centric technology stack. When evaluating a new technology or tool, I start by examining how a technology will enhance the client experience and simplify an advisor’s workflow. I personally test and explore each tool to determine its practical value before integration. You will find me giving demos and conducting training with my team because I love technology and our advisors. Advisors appreciate this hands-on approach. Too often, firms adopt tools that add complexity instead of value. By diving deep into each platform, I aim to provide our advisors with the technology that genuinely moves the needle for their business and clients.”
Technologies Most Important For Advisors
What technologies are most important for advisors right now and how are they driving growth or boosting operation efficiency? Dr. Hutchison highlighted:
“Everyone talks about the tools that give advisors back time, and those are really important and useful. But equally important are the tools that give advisors the ability to provide powerful moments and experiences to their clients. When implementing technology, it’s easy to get focused on creating efficiencies and reducing administrative tasks, but sometimes technology is better used when it’s able to slow things down and give advisors genuine moments of connection with their clients. Also, technology should be used to handle the tasks that don’t match an advisor’s passion. And what that looks like will vary from advisor to advisor. AI has provided this dynamic personalization for advisors just like clients. Some advisors might really enjoy financial planning, and in that case, I’m not going to give them a system that automates that for them. Some advisors may prefer to streamline all back-office tasks to focus on time with their clients. It’s really about finding the technology that allows you to focus on the parts of your job that bring you joy and deepen your client relationships.”
Overlap Between Technology And Behavioral Finance
What is the overlap between technology and behavioral finance? And, why is it important? Dr. Hutchison noted:
“Technology and behavioral finance intersect in helping advisors build deeper relationships. The future is about connected data, context and humanity. As I have said before, we are drowning in data but starved for wisdom. AI is powerful with human insights and narrative. When technology automates the administrative work, advisors can focus on meaningful conversations with clients. One of our advisors holds three-hour client meetings. That level of engagement is possible because his tech stack—powered by Zocks—handles the follow-up and plan updates in minutes. Pairing behavioral insights with smart technology helps advisors do more of what they love while driving measurable growth so they can build the business they want and dream of without compromise.”
Success Stories
Do any advisor success stories come to mind for those who have adopted your full technology stack? Dr. Hutchison outlined:
“One standout example is a two-woman advisory team that serves veterinarians. They recently won the retirement plan business for their state’s association of more than 2,000 veterinarians—an incredible achievement for a small firm. RFG Advisory supported them through several rounds of in-depth vetting and interviews, and they ultimately won the business. They were ecstatic. And how does a two-woman shop win that big of business? In addition to RFG’s support, their success was powered by a new technology-driven retirement plan offering. It’s a clear example of how technology can help advisors scale, win big mandates, and stay true to their niche.”
Differentiation
What differentiates your firm’s approach to technology from other firms? Dr. Hutchison affirmed:
“At RFG Advisory, we’re a client experience company first. That philosophy drives every technology decision we make. My team rigorously evaluates each partner to identify how it enhances the advisor and client experience. We don’t implement or build technology for its own sake—we deploy tools that empower advisors to build their businesses without compromise.”
“This mindset leads us to design every tool to provide real value in all facets of the advisor’s day. We intimately learn the process of an advisor’s business and their daily operations to empower them to leverage technology to its fullest extent. The future of advice is emotional intelligence paired with technological fluency. Many may see this, but we live this throughout RFG.”
Challenges Faced
What are some of the challenges you’ve faced so far in your career? Dr. Hutchison acknowledged:
“My biggest challenge was finding my niche within financial services. I’ve always been passionate about the intersection of behavioral finance and technology, but it took time to discover how to blend those interests. Networking with innovative peers helped me realize that others shared my perspective. Those connections guided me toward roles where I could merge human psychology with technology to improve advisor and client outcomes.”
Future Goals
What are some of your firm’s future goals in regards to technology? Dr. Hutchison specified:
“Our goal is to continue building a fully advisor-centric technology ecosystem—one that streamlines operations, centralizes data, builds community and supports advisors in focusing on what fulfills them. Ultimately, we want to help advisors build the practice and lifestyle they envision, whether that means working four days a week or scaling to a billion-dollar firm. Every conversation I have with an advisor informs how we evolve our platform. As we continue to build, we are focusing on the tools to offer hyper-personalized client service at scale for our advisor’s businesses, so they can provide more value with the individuals and families they work with.”
Future Of Technology In The Industry
Where do you see the future of technology in the industry? Any particularly important trends you are currently seeing? Dr. Hutchison concluded:
“We’re in an unprecedented innovation wave. To stay competitive, firms must balance what they build internally with what they partner externally. Relying too heavily on one or the other limits differentiation. Clients increasingly expect a holistic offering for their financial lives—taxes, mortgages, estate planning and more. The future will be defined by powerful technology infrastructures that support advisors, allowing them to deliver integrated solutions while deepening personal relationships.”
