Technology shortcomings dishearten advisers
Advisers are frustrated with current software options because they are difficult to integrate, hard to use and more complex than they need to be.
Advisers are frustrated with current software options because they are difficult to integrate, hard to use and more complex than they need to be.
These problems have plagued the financial advice business for years, and while there has been much talk about resolving them, from the perspective of many advisers, little progress has ensued.
That was the overwhelming sentiment expressed by advisers last week at the InvestmentNews Retirement Income Summit in New York.
“We have been discussing these issues for the past five years,” one adviser said at the conference. “Will we be sitting here talking about these same problems in another five years?”
Many of the concerns involved the complexity of products.
“My planning software used to be very simple and straightforward to use. But with this latest edition, it has gotten so complex — if I don’t understand [the reports] the clients simply don’t stand a chance,” said Eddie Ngo, a certified financial planner with The Planners Network of Redlands, Calif., who uses Profiles Professional from Emerging Information Systems Inc. of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Mr. Ngo is seeking a replacement for the software, although “the problem is the learning curve and time commitment required in taking on something new, especially after so many years relying on something else,” he added. “I’d also like something with better” reports.
Major changes in the software were introduced last year, and that can cause unhappiness among some users, said Cindy Bennett, director of marketing at Emerging Information Systems.
“It sounds like this adviser would probably be a good candidate for our Profiles Forecaster software, which is a really basic, easy-to-use product that produces very slick, visual reports,” she said.
Martin S. Kleinman, a financial planner and owner of Kleinman Financial Services of Tarrytown, N.Y., would like to replace the firm’s contact management system, but the time commitment and drain on resources is too great,
“I just feel overwhelmed right now. There are simply too many new things coming out to keep up with, let alone stay ahead of,” he said.
Meanwhile, Orazio Financial Services of Suffern, N.Y., has become bogged down with its most recent technology-based initiative.
“It seemed like a great idea when we embarked on it, but getting all 500 to 600 current clients into our Redtail Technology CRM system [from Redtail Technology, Inc. of Gold River, Calif.] has ended up being a huge undertaking,” said certified financial planner Shari Reffsin. She even hired her son last summer to scan account documents, but the firm is only up to clients with surnames beginning with the letter “E.”
“We know we’ll be better off in the long run, that our systems will be faster once all this information is computerized, but getting there is too time-consuming,” Ms. Reffsin said.
A quibble on Goldmine Standard, the customer relationship management software from FrontRange Solutions USA Inc. of Pleasanton, Calif.: It’s not Internet-enabled.
“The problem is that you need to be in front of your computer if you use Goldmine,” said Timothy J. Watters, a CFP and principal of Watters Financial Services LLC of Paramus, N.J., adding that overall, he is satisfied with Goldmine.
The Corporate and Premium versions of Goldmine offer Internet connectivity as an option.
While the perception is that there are few attractive software options, advisers who take the time to educate themselves about software might come to a different conclusion, one provider said.
“It’s more that they don’t realize what talks to what, aren’t proactive enough, and really just don’t know where to look for the information,” said Naomi Scrivener, a CFP and owner of Back Office Solutions LLC, a provider of financial planning support services to financial advisers in Colleyville, Texas.
The lack of integration among vendors is largely a myth, and the situation is much better than it used to be, she said.
Ms. Scrivener recommended Your Silver Bullet, a consortium of software venders whose offerings can be more easily integrated than other software.
For example, she said that Your Silver Bullet of Portola Valley, Calif., allows advisers to integrate MoneyGuidepro, financial planning software from PIE Technologies Inc. of Midlothian, Va., with risk-tolerance- assessment software from FinaMetrica of Sydney, Australia.
“Having said that, it’s not always like there is a magical flow of information from one software solution to another,” she added.
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