Advisor Group, a New York-based network of independent broker-dealers, has adopted Envestnet’s practice management platform for its growing retirement plan business.
The Envestnet Retirement Solutions (ERS) platform will be available through Advisor Group’s Retirement Plan Consulting Services (RPCS) division.
In announcing the new tool, Advisor Group said that it’s retirement planning business has experienced “tremendous growth” in the three years since its launch, doubling sales and its number of qualified plans each year. In 2014, the firm saw a 195 percent increase in new plan assets, followed by a 162 percent increase in new plans in 2015.
Taylor Hammons, senior vice president of RCPS at Advisor Group, said that the new tool will also help retirement plan advisors comply with the U.S. Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule, which goes into effect in 2017.
“We are extremely pleased to offer a solution that is tailored to both the advisor’s and plan sponsor’s needs, while being sophisticated enough to account for constantly evolving regulatory compliance and fiduciary standards,” Hammons said in a statement released on Thursday. “In our opinion, many of the stand-alone systems used in the retirement industry have impeded forward progress for plan advisors. We feel that ERS addresses these shortfalls.”
ERS will provide Advisor Group affiliates with investment tools, processes and analytics in a single web-based application that will be integrated into the network’s suite of digital, educational and personal solutions for retirement planners.
The new platform includes a CRM dashboard, an advisor management dashboard, a RFP tool, fund research reports, investment analytics and a vendor search tool.
Four broker-dealers comprise Advisory Group: FSC Securities, SagePoint Financial, Woodbury Financial Services and Royal Alliance Associates.