Products February 13, 2017

Trust Builders Revamps Fiduciary Support

“Financial advisers’ clients need to understand how market volatility can hurt their chances of a successful retirement, and they also need to know that options are available to mitigate the risk,” the firm suggests. 
Reported by

Trust Builders announced the release of two features to help retirement specialist advisers serve clients in a fiduciary capacity.

The two newest features complement the retirement readiness solutions in The Retirement Analysis Kit (TRAK) by integrating an annuity illustration into the sequence of returns analysis and allowing advisers to document their advice to clients, the firm explains.

Never miss a story — sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters to keep up on the latest retirement plan adviser news.

“Financial advisers’ clients need to understand how market volatility can hurt their chances of a successful retirement, and they also need to know that options are available to mitigate the risk,” says Edward Dressel, president of Trust Builders. “The new annuity illustration will help advisers educate clients about the possible benefits of an annuity to safeguard their retirement income.”

According to Trust Builders, the first new feature complements the existing sequence of returns calculator offered by the firm, which illustrates a client’s retirement plan using historical market performance. The new feature allows an adviser to illustrate market volatility and then illustrate how an annuity may provide some protection against market downturns during retirement.

The second feature, the firm suggests, allows an adviser to document which scenarios were presented to the client and which one was selected by the client. This feature allows the adviser to keep records of what advice was presented to a client and what advice the client decided to take action on, including client verification of the document. “This paper trail helps advisers comply with strict fiduciary standards and protect themselves by demonstrating that they have acted in a client’s best interest,” the firm reports.  

For more information about the expanded offering, visit www.AskTRAK.com. 

Products February 13, 2017

Advicent Updates NaviPlan Compliance Programming

Advicent introduced new client report integration capabilities in its latest update of the NaviPlan financial planning software. 
Reported by

Advicent, provider of financial planning technology to the U.S. advisory industry, has announced new updates to its planning software tool, NaviPlan.

Features in NaviPlan 17.0 include “in-depth data reporting, updates to federal and state tax calculations, and various other improvements to offer accuracy and transparency for client plans.” All of this should promote compliance with Department of Labor conflict of interest standards, which the firm predicts will remain important even if/when the Trump administration succeeds in dialing back reforms in this area.  

For more stories like this, sign up for the PLANADVISERdash daily newsletter.

George Fischer, senior vice president for product, says the enhancements in the NaviPlan 17.0 update should benefit U.S. and Canadian advisory partners. “Firms can ensure they are both productive in the planning process and foster a transparent, collaborative client-adviser relationship,” he suggests.

“Regardless of what ultimately happens with the DOL rule, Advicent wants to ensure that our partners are prepared with the latest enhancement to support firm-wide compliance strategies,” agrees Angela Pecoraro, president and COO of Advicent. “Even if the rule is eliminated, each of the enhancements in 17.0 will empower our users in providing the best client-adviser experience available.”

The firm is particularly excited to be rolling out “synopsis reporting capabilities” allowing an adviser to provide a list of assumptions and inputs into the client’s plan in a single report, “ensuring the data is correct and the adviser is acting in the client’s best interest … This report presents client data in an easy-to-understand format and style that is consistent with other client reports. The Plan Analysis Synopsis report, like all other NaviPlan client reports, can be included within a client presentation as a compliance requirement, part of a template with other client reports, a special inclusion to a presentation, or a standalone report for clients.”

The firm is also highlighting an updated Quovo integration to include custodial feeds, as well as updates to U.S. federal and state tax calculation capabilities. To learn more, visit www.advicentsolutions.com. 

«