eMoney introduces mass-market planning tool for advisers

eMoney Advisor announced the coming launch of a new platform that promises to help advisers create plans for clients with less complex financial needs and bring them to scale. Foundational Planning, which will be available in January to the 50,000 financial professionals who use eMoney's tools, takes a goals-based approach to planning. It prioritizes retirement planning, education saving, spending goals and asset allocation. It will also review life insurance, though not in the initial rollout. "We're helping advisers create more modular steps into planning," said Ed O'Brien, chief executive officer at eMoney. "eMoney does a good job on the high end of comprehensive wealth planning, but we want to make financial plans more modular and ultimately have more plans for more people." (More: Betterment links its tool for advisers with outside tech provider) The platform requires fewer input from individual and corporate enterprise wealth managers throughout the data-gathering process, which means they have more time to produce more plans for more clients. Because Foundational Planning is built into the same engine that powers eMoney's more advanced planning tools, advisers can transition clients as their financial situations evolve. "A client's needs are not static. They change and grow over time, and with a single platform, you can adjust the platform over time as clients' needs change and evolve," said Jess Liberi, head of product at eMoney. According to a Cerulli report, 72% of advisers say creating new financial plans is a long and tedious process. Foundational Planning also allows advisers to broaden their client base to previously underserved areas of the market. Ms. Liberi said that has led some to believe that the platform is for millennials, which she emphasizes is not the case. "There are clients across all segments, underserved individuals, who are not the most profitable in those business models but have true planning needs," she said. The details of the cost structure have yet to be released, but according to Mr. O'Brien, Foundational Planning will be offered at a lower price point than other eMoney platforms. (More: Is Orion building a financial planning tool?)