Deals & People July 25, 2007

Bruce Harrington Moves to Cogent Research

Cogent Research LLC, an evidence-based consultancy, has named financial services veteran Bruce Harrington, previously at MFS Investment Management, as managing director of its wealth management practice.
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Harrington will be responsible for development, sales, and marketing of Cogent Research’s syndicated research products, as well as strategy development and thought leadership, according to the announcement. Among Harrington’s first responsibilities is marketing Cogent Research’s Investor Brandscape study, and in the fall, Harrington will launch Cogent Research’s Advisor Study.

Prior to joining Cogent Research, Harrington served for eight years as vice president and director of product development and marketing for MFS Investment Management where he was responsible for the development and implementation of such products as the MFS 529 savings plan, retirement income planning, new IRA products and new investment products. Prior to MFS, Harrington was with Putnam Investments, most recently as vice president of retirement marketing.

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“We are excited to have such a highly regarded industry expert join the firm,’ said John Meunier, principal at Cogent Research, in the announcement. “Bruce brings two decades of hard-earned product knowledge and retirement planning experience to the table.’

Products July 25, 2007

NorthStar Updates Adviser Desktop

NorthStar Systems International has launched NorthStar 5.0, an updated version of its adviser desktop program.
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NorthStar 5.0 streamlines wealth workflows, enables advises to better manage clients and products, and leverages Customer Relationship Management data, according to a press release.

According to the company, features of the updated software include:

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  • Straight Through Processing for Wealth Managers – Specifically, NorthStar 5.0 automatically pulls investor profiling information into every step of the wealth lifecycle, such as asset allocation, investment proposal, and portfolio construction, thereby eliminating data re-entry, improving adviser productivity, and ensuring suitability of client portfolios.
  • Enterprise-class, active Client Hierarchy – Advisers dynamically navigate a graphical, hierarchical representation of a client’s financial network including relationships, portfolios, accounts, and products. The Client Hierarchy enables advisers to focus on real decision-makers and take immediate action through NorthStar’s signature 360-degree client views.
  • Firm-wide Product Catalog, spanning all product types – Advisers can access banking, insurance and alternative investment vehicles. The Product Catalog includes a unique Product Finder and Product Cart where advisers can locate, track and compare financial instruments they are entitled to sell. Advisers can become instant product experts by uploading talking points and other marketing materials.
  • Entitlement-driven integration with firm’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) – NorthStar 5.0 seamlessly passes client information, client service events, entitlements, and security policies already set up in the firm’s CRM system to NorthStar. Once CRM is linked to NorthStar 5.0, advisers no longer need to be trained on disparate applications nor re-key client data.

Other updated features include configurable risk questionnaires, more personalized investment proposals, richer portfolio analytics to identify compliant, suitable products to recommend, and enhanced reporting.

For more information, visit http://www.northstar.com.

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