By Jason Spits
Financial services technology provider PlanTech ConsultingGroup has experienced encouraging industry support for its new planning software tool, 4Cast, with four dealer groups signing up to use the system since it rolled-out two months ago.
Financial Partnership, Meritum, Pivotal and Aon have incorporated the software, with PlanTech saying another five dealer groups are in discussion to take up the system, which has also been released to the South African market.
PlanTech managing director Tony Smith says the addition of 4Cast has filled a space in the group’s product suite, which also includes ProPlanner — a client relationship management (CRM) tool. Smith says this covers portfolio management, correspondence, workflow and commission management.
According to Smith, ProPlanner can be used as a practice management tool and is designed to work with 4Cast and the group’s risk insurance research tool (Risk Researcher) and corporate superannuation tool (Super Solver). Each of the software tools can also be used separately as stand-alone systems.
“Financial planning software had been the only tool left to develop in our product suite as we decided to build it from the CRM side first, but with 4Cast we now have a full suite of products,” Smith says.
4Cast will allow dealers to configure the software for their own uses without having to request programming changes from PlanTech.
The four packages are also set to be brought under a new distribution and advice management suite under development and set for release in October.
Smith says this new system will allow institutions to manage a range of distribution groups within their business while providing multiple planning and research tools, commission management and client management throughout the system.
According to Smith, the new package will eliminate the need for multiple software packages to run dealer groups, advisers and their desktop planning software.
