Earlier this year, we announced that we’ll be launching Advisory Models PRO, giving adviser firms access to our award-winning technology to build and run their own advisory model portfolios.
Since then, our teams have been busy speaking to firms about the new service and getting ready to welcome our first partners. So far, the response to the new service and its potential for relieving the pain of managing client consent and version control, has been excellent.
As ever though, we’ve had a lot of questions. Here are our 4 most frequent challenges from the firms we’ve spoken to:
What’s the catch?
Almost everyone asks this and the simple answer is: there isn’t one.
We’re here to help reduce cost, reduce risk and allow you to focus on adding value to your clients. You’ll still run the same advisory models process as you do today – building your own centralised model portfolios, deciding on what goes into those models, making changes to those portfolios and making sure your clients are happy in them. We’re just making some of the less efficient processes simpler. So when you decide to make changes to the model, our systems will take care of the consent gathering, disclosures and placing the changes in the trading queue.
This not only helps you be more efficient, but means your clients are clear on what’s happening to their investments and kept up to date with your recommendations. The new service comes at the standard agreed custody charge for your client.
How are you developing Advisory Models PRO?
We’re developing our first iteration and launching with a select number of firms. This will give us a chance to work with real Advisory Model PRO users and get feedback that helps us identify future features and improvements.
How far have you got with development?
We’re currently making sure that our Customer Success, Operations & Customer Service teams are ready for the first few Advisory Models PRO users to join us, and polishing and testing our systems. These have been our 3 main focuses throughout September:
- Our staff are testing the mobile app that will support clients through the consent process
- We’re finalising our first release for our launch partners, setting up the screens and the back-end processes that will support your day-to-day work
- We’re making sure our processes are robust and training our teams to make sure our people are confident in supporting you.
What’s happening next?
The next step will be releasing our mobile app to users, starting in late October with several partner firms. From this point, any existing customers will be able to download the mobile app and log in. Multi Factor Authentication (MFA) will allow them to access their account and portfolio details easily and securely on their mobile. To read more on why MFA is important, Sarah Coles our Information Security Manager has written a great article here. New customers will be able to set up their account straight from their mobile phone.
We’ll also be finishing some of the outstanding screens for the client consent process, and updating our documents and reports so they’re Advisory Models PRO-ready.
Who can I talk to about this?
If you’d like a demo from one of our Customer Success team, please speak to your Regional Sales Manager.
This article is for financial professionals only. Any information contained within is of a general nature and should not be construed as a form of personal recommendation or financial advice. Nor is the information to be considered an offer or solicitation to deal in any financial instrument or to engage in any investment service or activity.
Parmenion accepts no duty of care or liability for loss arising from any person acting, or refraining from acting, as a result of any information contained within this article. All investment carries risk. The value of investments, and the income from them, can go down as well as up and investors may get back less than they put in. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns.