Since the emergence of “Modern Portfolio Theory” and the “Capital Asset Pricing Model” in the late 1960s, institutional investors have taken a quantitatively driven approach to portfolio construction, looking to create portfolio diversification and obtain better risk-adjusted returns by balancing their asset-class exposures. This journey has seen several important advancements in thinking about how to optimally achieve desired results.
Funds that want to take the total portfolio approach first need to get the total portfolio view. To do that they not only need data – and lots of it – but a rock-solid understanding of exactly how they’re going to use it.
Advisors get tech savvy with Moneysoft ‘fact find’
Fortnum Private Wealth, Count Financial and Link Advice – licensees in the wholesale financial advice space – will roll out Moneysoft’s digital ‘fact find’ service over coming months, as they move to automate the advice process. It’s all about improving efficiency in data management in the wholesale financial planner world. Advisors, at last, are getting tech savvy.
Moneysoft, a personal cash flow management software supplier, developed the digital ‘fact find’ solution to enable financial advisors to automate the collection of client data and deliver a better client experience. The solution shaves hours off the initial advice process through data synchronisation and convenient client self-service, drastically reducing the time spent by advisers chasing information and keying data into financial planning systems, the company said in a prepared statement.
Moneysoft’s integration with Xplan, the popular planner administration system, means client information, including their fact find, can be automatically transferred, giving advisers the ability to store and access data from one central place. Dealer groups, funds and practices can customise and white-label Moneysoft’s out-of-the-box fact find, which features 15 traditional modules. Alternatively, they can digitise a proprietary fact find that has been developed and approved by their own compliance team.
According to Jon Shaw, Moneysoft chief executive, the flexible and dynamic approach seeks to enhance the user experience and improve the speed and quality of client responses.
“Users can work through the modules in sequential order or enter information in stages, making and saving changes, then conveniently e-sign and complete their fact find, all online,” Shaw said. “Clients and their advisers have visibility of their progress so they can tell if their fact find is 90% complete or if they still have some way to go. At any time, clients can log on, retrieve and review their fact find. They can come back year after year to see if their responses are still accurate, which increases trust and transparency.”
Cassandra Mackay, head of technology at Fortnum Private Wealth, said: “Fortnum is working closely with the Moneysoft team to bring digital fact find integration to our broader advice framework, which incorporates XPLAN’s two-way data integration. As operational efficiency is a critical component of Fortnum’s advice delivery, the ability to link important elements such as cashflow management and data collection tools to the broader process is extremely valuable.” Based on strong adviser demand, Moneysoft originally set out to digitise the fact find process in 2019 but accelerated development early this year, coinciding with the onset of the COVID pandemic and movement towards online advice delivery.
“The social and economic impact of COVID-19 has increased the need and urgency for simple, intuitive digital solutions that enable the advice process, keep clients engaged and highlight the value of professional advice,” Shaw said. “Advisors are being forced to embrace technology and find innovative ways to interact remotely with clients. This is an ideal tool for this time,” she said.
– G.B.
