DeVere said it is in the process of formally introducing the new paraplanning technology into its offices worldwide, after its technical team built it over the last six months in the UK, working alongside the company’s global IT, compliance, legal and customer service departments.
The system, which deVere calls the Automated Reasons Why Letter Programme, combines “high performance, innovation and efficiency” as it “produces individually tailored advice documentation for each of [deVere’s] new and existing clients”, deVere said in a statement.
It said its advisers may use the new technology not only to focus on their clients’ financial planning objectives, but also to adapt it to accommodate new providers and products that enter the marketplace.
Mike Coady, deVere Group director, said the company decided to develop its own technologicial system after studying the market and concluding that an “off-the-shelf system” would not be “sufficiently adaptable” for the evolving requirements of the deVere business model coupled with those of the global industry and its ever-changing regulations.
“Consequently, we decided to invest in developing our own bespoke paraplanning technology, which has been built to evolve in today’s sophisticated financial market,” Coady said.
The new programme’s high-specification features include: functions to analyse clients’ current financial arrangements, automatically calculate projections, tailor-make product and provider recommendations to meet the client’s requirements, and analyse risk and asset allocation in line with the Group’s risk policy.
There is also an inter-company "branding facility", which allows the system to accommodate the various brands within the group, and the differences within different markets.
A “passive compliance functionality” also has been included, which is said to ensure certain key elements are addressed, such as a client’s age, investment term, and their attitude towards investment risk.
Only allow use of correct products
The new paraplanning system has been developed for the worldwide market and, as such, will only allow the user of the system to select the investment products that are available for use in the relevant jurisdictions.
Once the system, with input from the adviser, has completed a “recommendation report” for a client, it is then “automatically archived, and locked in the system as a permanent record of the recent advisory process”, according to deVere.
Coady said deVere believes that the system will help its financial advisers not only to put together product recommendations of a high standard, but will enable them "to clearly document and concisely demonstrate why a recommendation they have made is suitable for a client, and is how it is tailored to meet the client’s financial objectives”.
“We believe it will help drive the standards of international financial advice to a higher level,” Coady added.
“Having worked in the financial services industry for 15 years, I have viewed many suitability letters, and this technology generates one of the best examples I have seen to date. I would be proud to issue a report to any of my clients using this system.”
