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Over the past several years, few new players in the financial planning space have developed innovative software. Instead, innovation has mostly come from more established names, such as MoneyGuidePro, Finance Logix and Advicent (which makes NaviPlan).
So it’s refreshing to see a small startup, Advizr, enter the fray with a somewhat fresh approach to financial planning. Advizr aims to simplify the planning process, making it accessible to a wide range of financial service professionals while keeping costs low.
The Advizr interface is clean and simple, similar in some respects to the type of design favored by consumer-facing online advisors. The landing page clearly focuses on business growth opportunities; several gray boxes at the top provide such crucial information, including number of plans created, rollover assets, insurance and rollover opportunities, and potential income generation.
Below the boxes you’ll find a list of top clients by assets, and top life insurance and asset-gathering opportunities. The left navigation area has a list of recently accessed clients, a client-search bar and a button to add clients.
There are two ways to begin the planning process: Advisors can enter the data themselves, or generate an email invite to the client, who would then use the link to set goals and enter data. For this discussion, let’s assume the advisor is entering all data.
After you hit the add-client button and enter the name, an easy-to-follow new-client wizard is launched. It asks who the plan is for (client, spouse or partner, family member), then requests the name, date of birth and gender of each family member. Next, you’re asked to describe the client’s investment style (conservative, moderately conservative, moderate, moderately aggressive and aggressive). For each style, the software provides a brief description.
SELECTING GOALS
You then select goals for the financial plan. If you are creating a plan for a couple, goals are limited to retirement and life insurance. If you choose a family plan, you can create an education goal for each child.
The wizard then gathers the data it needs to complete the goals.
If there’s an education goal, you’re asked the desired type (community college, technical school, in-state/out-of-state public school, Ivy League). You’re also asked to submit the child’s age at enrollment.
The next step is data gathering....