To simplify work flow while maintaining maximum flexibility, Raymond James plans to create templates for a variety of tasks. Individual branches can then take these and easily modify them to meet their individual needs.
To continue making the CRM application the hub of activity, in late 2008 or early 2009 the SunGard PlanningStation will be integrated with Microsoft CRM. In January 2008, Business Analyzer 2.0 was rolled out to reps. This application offers advisors numerous ways to analyze their book of business. Reports available include: top 50 clients, bottom 50 clients, assets by type and many more. This year Raymond James plans to enhance the reporting capabilities of this application and integrate report-generating functionality into a single location that can be accessed from within the CRM system.
Other technology enhancements scheduled for 2008 include a new supervisory workstation for faster and more efficient trade reviews, a new annuity order system to speed the application process and a business automation initiative to improve the processing of paperwork received by the home office.
Securities America
"Securities America is making it easier for advisors to do business -whenever and wherever they want-while at the same time helping them meet compliance regulations and secure their practice," says Janine Wertheim, president of Securities America Advisors Inc. and chief marketing officer of Securities America Inc.
During 2007 the firm enhanced technology to help its advisors protect their practices while streamlining compliance and supervision requirements. As a result, Securities America is already positioned to handle recent FINRA rule changes with little or no additional impact on its advisors. Strong supervision systems are now in place to help advisors document suitability and compliance. For instance, online OSJ pre-trade approval and e-mail surveillance systems along with a post-trade review system were rolled out in 2007. Additional compliance tools and enhancements are in store for 2008. These include an online advertising review system and a post-trade review system. A new e-mail solution ensures the permanent archiving of all e-mails while allowing advisors to instantly retrieve old ones.
Securities America is also rolling out technologies to help advisors work whenever and wherever they want. For example, unlike a number of other B/D's that are deploying signature pads as an alternative to the traditional ink-to-paper signature, Securities America is rolling out the Smart Pen. This digital signature solution surpasses the old signature pad technology while protecting the advisor in case the signatures are contested later. No longer do advisors need to carry around a clunky laptop or signature pad. They simply print out the applicable form on special paper and use the ballpoint Smart Pen to complete the application. The pen "remembers" and stores 600 pages of handwritten information so the advisor can handle a full day's workload with a single Smart Pen. At the end of the day, the advisor docks the pen to a computer and all information is downloaded into the form, ready for transmittal.
As a security measure, the pen is keyed to one PC, so that if it is lost, no one else can download the info. Instead of calling a dictation service to recap a client meeting, the advisor can simply use the Smart Pen and notebook, and the notes are transcribed, ready for attachment to the client's record. According to Securities America, the Smart Pen meets all regulatory requirements. It should be available by April 2008.
Securities America will build upon existing paperless office technologies. For some time, reps have been able to upload required books and record documents to Securities America for digital storage. They are now focusing on reducing the length of forms and capturing and processing data. At the request of its advisors, Securities America also is working on a tool that will provide a desktop solution to store documents (other than those sent to them for processing) that interacts with the Securities America imaging platform. The idea is to offer advisors a "desktop vault" or a shadow copy of all their files locally for fast access on a daily basis, while storing another copy on the Securities America Servers.
Securities America continues to apply technology to aid retirement income distribution planning. In 2007, the firm integrated the ROI Profile, a suitability questionnaire that measures a client's risk tolerance for both guaranteed and nonguaranteed income, into the Income for Life Model proposal system from Wealth2K (www.wealth2K.com), a software and media company targeting the financial service industry.
In 2008, the firm will be working with its fee-based platform provider EnvestNet to develop the capacity to automatically implement and track a time-segmented distribution strategy within Securities America's managed opportunities platform. The firm also plans to enhance its "rep as portfolio manager" program, called Managed Opportunities Advisor Directed, in 2008.
Common Goals
While each of these firms has its own specific agenda, there are some common themes that all of them are addressing. Broadly speaking, they are making significant technology investments to lift the administrative and compliance burden on advisors. The B/D's clearly realize that time spent on these tasks takes advisors away from their primary mission: serving their clients, and there is an industrywide push to help them do this with better and more automated financial planning, portfolio management and compliance tools; turnkey asset management programs; and paperless office technologies. If successful, the results will be beneficial to everybody-broker-dealers, advisors and clients alike.