Two portfolio settings are offered: One rebalances the accounts linked to a goal annually and uses the weighted average balance of the returns of the linked assets. The other does not rebalance, and each asset retains its separate rate of return throughout the plan.
Perhaps the single greatest enhancement is that an advisor can now include the current scenario and the recommended scenario in a single plan. This is a major departure from the way NaviPlan has worked historically, and it is a welcome change. The goal analyzer allows you to compare plans side by side with a focus on the plan's ability to fund (in percentage terms) all specified goals.
The "what-if" capabilities of the program have also been improved, and they are easier than ever to use. There are many reporting improvements, including some user editing capabilities.
Although I have not tested the "data scrubbing" feature, I like it a lot in principle. It indicates that EISI takes security and privacy concerns seriously.
As all users migrate to the new platform, there will eventually be only one NaviPlan product. As a result, EISI's ability to monitor, maintain, support and upgrade the application should be better.
Cons
I was a little bit disappointed to see, however, that EISI chose not to create an advisor dashboard as the start page. Such a page, with some practice analytics and perhaps some planning alerts, would be welcome in the future.
It also did not appear to me that the calculator section had been updated or enhanced. There might be room for some additions here.
The new client creation wizard is great, but it would be better if advisors could pre-populate the application with data from other applications. I believe the program works with Albridge, but I'm sure advisors would appreciate being able to connect with industry leading CRM systems.
Some operations, meanwhile, are still less easy to use. One example: You can display a cash-flow statement for this year and next year side by side, but I challenge advisors who have never done it to figure this one out on their own.
When I first tried the application, I ran into pop-up blocker issues. Since some advisors may have three levels of pop-up protection (their browser, their security program and perhaps a toolbar like Google's), they may find this to be a nuisance.
Finally, a Web-based application should be accessible regardless of the browser or operating system. NaviPlan Select is moving in that direction, but it isn't there yet. Internet Explorer and Firefox work fine with it in Windows, but I experienced minor issues with Chrome, and Chrome also had trouble with the program on a Mac whereas Firefox didn't. Hopefully, EISI will play well with all major browsers on both platforms soon.
Although I think Select is very good, long-time Extended users may at first find the move to the new platform frustrating. Almost every old feature and numerous new ones are there, but finding some of them will be a challenge. Overall, the new system is better, but overcoming old habits will take a little bit of time. In addition, EISI has not yet released a tool to convert old plans to Select. I expect the company will do this soon, however.