PreciseFP is an automated data-gathering solution that helps financial advisers engage clients and gather data critical to the quality of their financial plan.
I invited Don Whalen, co-founder of PreciseFP to stop by FPPad HQ to talk about how advisers can be more efficient with data gathering and client correspondence.
Watch this discussion above or on YouTube, which includes a demo of the desktop solution as well as the mobile app that helps streamline client follow up.
If you’re interested in trying the solution, sign up for a 30-day free trial (the standard trial period is seven days) by visiting http://fppad.com/precisefp (not an affiliate link, I receive no compensation if you choose to sign up)
Chapter markers
0:36 What is the PreciseFP solution?
1:26 How is PreciseFP different than SurveyMonkey and Typeform?
3:35 How do the PreciseFP integrations save time?
5:14 What kind of analytics does PreciseFP provide regarding form completion?
7:52 How has recent DOL legislation impacted PreciseFP customers?
12:20 See the demo of PreciseFP
18:12 See the company templates preloaded into PreciseFP
19:31 Can PreciseFP be used for prospecting and capturing leads?
23:53 What kind of client segmenting can PreciseFP support?
25:44 See a demo of the PreciseFP mobile app
29:20 How does PreciseFP facilitate entry-level automation for client correspondence?
32:30 What is like the “undergarments” of the financial planning industry?
35:22 One important takeaway regarding off-the-shelf survey tools and client Personally Identifiable Information (PII)
38:07 Where to sign up for an extended free trial of PreciseFP
Here is your FPPad Bits and Bytes update for August 8, 2017.
FinaMetrica merges with PlanPlus
FinaMetrica announced its merger with PlanPlus, a Toronto-based financial planning software provider. Founded in 1998, FinaMetrica is one of the first companies to gain significant traction for its risk tolerance assessment software, though the company has seen its market share decline over the last few years due to increased competition from Riskalyze, Pocket Risk, RiXtrema, and others.
The combined company will be called PlanPlus Global, and will offer solutions for comprehensive financial planning, goals-based automated investing, and psychometric risk profiling to its 12,000 current users in over 30 countries worldwide. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Advicent adds integration with Envestnet
Advicent announced a new integration this week with Envestnet, which allows advisors to extract client demographic, investment account, and investment portfolio data from Envestnet and populate the data into the company’s NaviPlan financial planning software.
Advicent is a leading provider of financial planning software in the enterprise space, with over 100,000 financial professionals across 4,000 clients worldwide using at least one of the company’s solutions. The integration also demonstrates Envestnet’s continued expansion of its Open ENV initiative announced last year.
Here’s Envestnet President Bill Crager with more information:
So as the platform began to take on a bit of a one-size-fits-all, we realized we had to open that up. So the core engine will fire into these user interfaces that will really speak to the adviser, will speak to the home office. And not only that, we’re building APIs to integrate with the full ecosystem of an adviser’s practice, whether that’s CRM or other applications that they’re using. How do you get information into the system to, again, provide really profound and comprehensive advice for that client that is not a moment in time, but is ongoing. And that’s really our goal, and Open ENV, I think, is a strategic breakthrough and I’m very excited about it.
PreciseFP adds iOS and Android Mobile Apps
For your client data gathering needs, PreciseFP announced new mobile apps for iOS and Android, giving advisors more convenient access to client information. The new app lets advisors add new information about prospect to their PreciseFP database, send data gathering forms to clients and prospects on the spot, and review any existing client data or forms right from their phone.
And finally, if you’re looking for ways you can leverage technology to enhance your client engagement, save the date for Wednesday, August 16 at 4pm Eastern, 1pm Pacific, as I’m hosting a webinar with two advisors who’ve doubled down on technology and seen a huge increase in their client satisfaction. Head over to fppad.com/webinar to register today, that’s FPPad.com/webinar to secure your spot
Those are the headlines for today, I’m Bill Winterberg, be sure check back in for more FPPad Bits and Bytes Updates.
On today’s broadcast, learn about the technology one planner selected to launch his new RIA, SigFig launches a free portfolio guidance algorithm for investors, and find out what happens when Tony Robbins mentions your firm in his best-selling book.
Today’s episode is brought to you by ITEGRIA, providers of complete outsourced technology support, security, infrastructure and IT solutions exclusively for RIAs.
In their new book titled Red Flags, you’ll learn how to protect your firm from cyber-attacks, disasters, and IT compliance risks. Learn more about the Red Flags book by visiting fppad.com/itegria.
[This weeks top story comes from Michael Kitces’ Nerd’s Eye View, as this week Kitces featured a guest post from financial planner Andrew McFadden. McFadden tells how he was inspired to launch his own RIA after reading a post by Gen Y planner Sophia Bera about her own experience. He recently launched Panoramic Financial Advice for roughly $7,000 and provided a helpful overview of the technology he selected to get his business up and running.
First, McFadden chose Less Annoying CRM after evaluating Redtail and Wealthbox, because of the CRM’s customization options and low price of just $10 a month. Less Annoying CRM does integrate with Google Apps and Mailchimp, but it doesn’t offer integrations to industry programs like financial planning or portfolio management software. But that’s ok, because McFadden didn’t need to buy portfolio management software, as he opted to leverage the services of third-party money manager Frontier Asset Management which uses Fidelity as its custodian.
For planning engagements, McFadden gathers client data using PreciseFP, builds financial plans using MoneyGuidePro, communicates with remote clients via Skype, and gathers electronic signatures using Adobe EchoSign.
So think about the advisors in your business: For $7,000 and a lot of hustling, practically anyone can start new RIA from scratch. So if you’re not investing in your people, your technology, and your compensation plan so that there’s upside potential in your business, don’t be surprised if you witness breakaways from your firm as advisors decide to go out on their own.] Launching a business is hard enough in any industry, but getting through the requirements for setting up an RIA and figuring out the necessary technology vendors and software to have in place when starting a firm can be especially daunting.
[Next up is news from SigFig, another player in the online automated investment service arena, that launched a new feature this week called SigFig Guidance. SigFig Guidance uses an online questionnaire and account aggregation to identify an investor’s current portfolio and risk tolerance, and then proceeds to diagnose common problems in the portfolio. SigFig Guidance looks for things like high fees, uninvested cash, excessive risk, and poor diversification, and then offers portfolio recommendations generated by SigFig’s algorithms, all for free.
So does this sound like a second opinion service or a portfolio checkup? That’s because it is. So if you’ve been using a second opinion incentive to attract prospects to your business, you might need to modify your process in light of this new competition.] SigFig, the fastest and most convenient automated investment service, today launched ‘SigFig Guidance’, a free investment tool specifically designed to analyze any portfolio in less than five minutes, offering unbiased, actionable suggestions to optimize returns and reduce fees.
[And speaking of portfolio checkups, this week’s broadcast ends with another new portfolio checkup service, only this one is offered by Stronghold Financial out of San Diego. Now where have I heard that name before? Oh, yes, Stronghold Financial is the business that motivational speaker Tony Robbins promoted in his book, “Money: Master the Game” published back in November, and the firm is led by Robbins’ own advisor Ajay Gupta, which created a bit of controversy on its own.
That aside, what happens when your firm gets mentioned in a New York Times best selling book? You get flooded with leads. In response, Stronghold now offers a free Portfolio Checkup service on its website that uses account aggregation powered by Jemstep in the back end, but instead of taking on thousands of new clients itself, Stronghold is referring those clients out to roughly 100 financial advisors who are part of the Stronghold network, and in return, those advisors pay 25% of the fees generated by each referral back to Stronghold.
So if you feel like your lead generation could use a boost from riding the coattails of Tony Robbins, this is an interesting option to consider at the least, or you could implement Jemstep on your own for a lower fee, but be totally responsible for your own lead generation campaign.] Stronghold Financial, the advisory firm that found itself at the center of controversy last fall because of its ties to self-help guru Tony Robbins, believes its robo-matchmaking service is ready for prime time.
There were no other of stories of interest this week, so enjoy an early start to your weekend!
Client data gathering and form filling are the least glamorous tasks that make up your workday, but the activities are essential to create financial plans with correct information.
Fortunately, there are a few solutions that can significantly streamline the arduous data-gathering process.
One product is PreciseFP, co-founded by Don Whalen and Sebastian Skwarek in 2008.
In what probably sets the record as the longest time between my initial discovery (see: Has Laborious Client Data Entry Met Its Match? from September 2008) and follow up, I connected with Don Whalen to learn about PreciseFP’s growth over the last four years and how PreciseFP has matured to be a reliable, cost-effective tool advisers can use to facilitate the data gathering.
Listen to the podcast below, and note that Whalen provides a discount code all listeners can use to receive 15% off their subscription to PreciseFP (not an affiliate code, I receive no referral fees if you sign up).
Despite this setback, we’re still here to provide a high-value Bits and Bytes offering the best in this week’s stories on financial planning technology. Here they are, in no particular order:
(Bill’s note: Junxure in the cloud has been a long time coming, but a 2012 release? We were hoping for something this year…) Junxure announced today its strategy for delivering a Web-based CRM product to meet the needs of financial advisors. Junxure will release its cloud product, which has been several years in development, in 2012.
(Bill’s note: While Bruckenstein highlights technology challenges advisors face today [lack of integration, embracing mobile devices, and committing money to technology purchases], I wish FP’s editors had allowed room in this article for some tangible solutions.) What are some of the major technology challenges advisors are facing today? To upgrade their technology, they need to create a budget for that purpose, figure out how to integrate the software they choose and sign on to the power of the mobile revolution to transform their practice.
These days, in addition to the service that reps come to expect, custodians also offer multi-layered technology platforms that can make the difference between a well-honed office and one that is constantly trying to pick up the pieces. But independents are a fiercely self-sufficient crew, and they often like to cherry-pick their own technology applications. So it’s crucial that all these technology tools talk to each other.
Next-generation wealth-management clients are miles ahead of the investment industry in their adoption of smart technologies. Wealth firms will have to catch up, fast, or lose ground to nimbler and savvier rivals.
I recently ran across a new practice management tool on PRWeb of all places. The tool is called PreciseFP and is available through Spectrum Input, LLC, a software service company based in Alpharetta, Georgia. Spectrum Input, LLC was founded by Don Whalen, CFP® and Sebastian Skwarek, a specialist in Adobe technology solutions.
What PreciseFP aims to do is simplify the data gathering and entry process advisers face when bringing a new client into the firm. I don’t quite make the connection with the phrase “precise financial planning (FP)” to data gathering, but still, the application has promise in streamlining the potential volumes of data gathered by advisers and their staff. PreciseID is a cooler name, but it’s already taken by Experian.
I recently ran across a new practice management tool on PRWeb of all places. The tool is called PreciseFP and is available through 
