Earth Day: 5 Tech Tips to a Greener Practice
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<b>1. Cut Down on Paper</b>
Determining the affordability of a clients goal plan does not have to mean a three-hour investment in a financial planning application that results in a 70-page report that your client likely wont understand or fully read, says Neal Ringquist, president and COO of Advisor Software Inc. Quick planning tools like goalgamiPros The Household Balance Sheet allow the advisor to easily and quickly perform the assessment of whether a clients goals are within reach.
<b>2. Ditch the Filing Cabinets </b>
Successful advisors go beyond simply providing expert advice and continual guidance, says Edmond Walters, founder and CEO of eMoney Advisor. They also give clients tools that offer transparency into current holdings and allow them to validate recommendations, continue their financial education, access important documents, and collaborate on financial decisions.
<b> 3. Go Mobile</b>
A lot of providers offer mobile apps with some features but not full functionality, says Bill Crager, president of Envestnet. . The solutions from Envestnet |Tamarac are fully functional on tablets via a web browser, so the full suite of solutions from both platforms is available to mobile advisors as needed.
The new Envestnet iPad App contains the AdvisorSuite platforms full range of features coupled with a Presentation Mode that allows the advisor and client to pass the tablet back and forth and closely collaborate on a financial plan whether they are in a restaurant, the clients home, or even a golf course.
<b>4. Skip the Postcard</b>
Electronic client communications not only allow you the ability to provide clients information more timely, but also in a more context rich experience, says Eric Clarke, president and CEO of Orion Advisor Services. These communications provide advisors the opportunity to weave in market commentaries about how current events or a winter storm may or may not impact portfolios.
Orion Mail allows advisors to proactively email portfolio values, allocation pie charts, performance and market updates in an automated fashion an advisors would normally pay to print and mail in a statement while still protecting a clients personally identifiable information.
These email communications provide a true win-win scenario, says Clarke. Advisors cut costs; clients receive information timelier, delivered 100% green.
<b>5. Trim the Electricity Bill </b>
Envestnet |Tamarac allows advisors to hand off back-office processes that used to keep the office brightly lit late into the evening. Each night the Tamarac Advisor Services team downloads, posts and reconciles portfolio positions from different custodians and imports accounts, account holdings and trade data as part of a seamless integration into the various Advisor Xi systems, so when advisors arrive at the office in the morning they can simply sign in and start servicing clients.
Envestnet |Tamarac is continually improving our technology and adapting our service deliverables to help practices become ever more efficient and scalable, says Stuart DePina, group president at Envetnet Tamarac. The dramatic time and resource savings we provide can be reapplied to revenue generating activities like building client relationships and bringing on more assets.
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