Mercantile Mutual has signed a deal with ProQuest to use ProQuest’s personal financial risk profiling system on the MercAdviser Web site.

Mercantile Mutual has signed a deal with ProQuest to use ProQuest’s personal financial risk profiling system on the MercAdviser Web site.

Under the terms of the deal, MercAdvisers 6000 registered users can obtain an unlimited-use, 30-day free trial of the risk profiling system and a discounted fees package. MercAdviser will also make the system available as a plug-in for its recently announced WebLauncher service which was developed by Telstra, Sausage Software, Mercantile Mutual and Method + Madness for advising firms who desire a rapid and easy set-up of their own website.

ProQuest’s system allows advisers to scientifically gauge a client’s risk tolerance with a view to deciding on asset allocation for a client’s investment portfolio. It has been developed over five years by ProQuest managing directors Paul Resnik and Geoff Davey alongside the University of New South Wales’ applied psychology unit.

Davey says the system not only provides an insight into their client’s financial attitudes but also to meet legal requirements.

“The ProQuest system is an inexpensive way for advisers to meet common and statutory law duty-of-care obligations and to gain a more insightful understanding of their clients’ financial attitudes, values, motivations, preferences and experiences,” he says.