New tools at the touch of a button

While the planning software market appears to have settled down into something akin to trench warfare, there are still some players making forays into open territory.

The big players are constantly adding new functionality and streamlining applications into a single package.

While the new functionality has simplified time-consuming tasks such as sending and tracking bulk e-mails, there is also an emphasis on new tools.

These include practice management solutions allowing planners to more scientifically analyse their own businesses, according to Phillip Thomas, IWL’s executive general manager, adviser software strategy.

“Few planners are in a position to do ‘what if’ analysis, and many are at a loss about how to value the fee-for-service paradigm,” he says.

VisiPlan’s new tool allows planners to use existing activity information and model scenarios employing either fee-for-service or a mix of commission and fees. It can also be utilised for business valuations for succession planning and to check whether the practice is offering the right service mix and charge rates.

“We are aiming to put a little bit more science behind the numbers,” Thomas says.

In addition to new functionality within existing packages, a number of customer-facing tools are available to assist planners with the sales process.

Customer Acquisition and Retention Management (CARM) is currently offering a holistic planning tool that has been taken up by Count Financial and the $15 billion industry superannuation fund, UniSuper.

CARM’s Guided Planning System (GPS) is an automated sales and business system designed around goals-based planning, with the plan developed interactively with the client. It helps clients identify lifestyle goals and plans.

According to CARM chief executive officer Matthew Lock, the system is “a client-facing selling system rather than a plan production system”.

It is designed to provide a user-friendly front-end that helps dealer groups and planners control the customer experience. The CARM approach is generic and non-product specific, so it can work with data from other plan production solutions.

Another arrival is Corepath, which has launched a web-based data warehouse and advice process where clients can store their updated financial and personal information in a ‘personal vault’, which can be accessed by all their various advisers.

The vault contains information such as bank accounts, taxation and superannuation, as well as copies of documents including financial plans, asset and liability statements, and birth certificates.

According to managing director Trevor Sinclair, Corepath is a customer-centric tool built “around the delivery of holistic advice”.

He views it as akin to the general practice model used in the medical profession.

“The application seeks to provide the diagnostics of their situation. It identifies the issues and then refers them on to a specialist if necessary,” Sinclair says.

“We see Corepath as a complement to planning software, not a replacement.

“We don’t see it as financial planning software, we see it as a customer engagement model for fee-for-service.”

And it appears to have hit a chord in the market, with the firm currently talking to eight to 10 big dealer groups considering moving to a fee-for-service model.

ANZ Financial Planning has already agreed to pilot the personal vault with 15 advisers and, if the response is positive, roll it out across its network.

There is also strong interest from the UK.