The latest version of Money-GuidePro focuses on flexible features designed to automate an adviser's initial meetings with clients.
Due for release Sept. 20, Generation 2 is the first major retooling of the software in four years, an effort that relied on suggestions for improvements from advisers.
The investment advisory arm of New York-based Morgan Stanley is pilot testing the new version, according to Robert Curtis, chief executive of PIE Technologies Inc. of Powhatan, Va., the firm that developed MoneyGuidePro.
In comparisons to competitors such as NaviPlan from Emerging Information Systems (USA) Inc. of Carlsbad, Calif., eMoney Advisor LLC of Conshohocken, Pa., and Money Tree Software Ltd. of Corvallis, Ore., Generation 2 is the most highly automated, although it has limitations.
In the latest iteration, an adviser collects a range of data from clients early in the process of building a financial plan, starting with asking clients for their "ideal" and "acceptable" retirement ages, and inputting the information into the system.
Then the adviser proceeds to the new "Goal Wizard," which helps him or her walk clients through a multi-step method that leads to a list of their top 10 goals.
The goals are based first on the client's most important "needs," which are ranked on a scale of importance. They are followed by "wants" such as travel or a new car. Next are "wishes," such as renovating the kitchen or paying their grandchildren's college tuition.
The idea is to allow an "adviser to get into more depth in terms of a client or potential client's needs, wants and wishes upfront, and [then build] the software so that it can prioritize these," Mr. Curtis said. "That's instead of a focus on a single amount of money they want to have at retirement, or on a single date, [and that] makes for a much more powerful tool and experience."
Moreover, because MoneyGuidePro is web-based, advisers can even have prospects complete the Goal Wizard at home prior to their first meeting.
Another important new feature is a revamped "What If" section that allows an adviser to generate up to four scenarios based on different inputs from clients on a single screen. For instance, if clients do not have enough money for retirement, they can reduce the amount of money they spend on travel, delay the purchase of a car or put aside less money for their grandchildren's college education.
Based on the demonstration that I participated in, the Goal Wizard and What If features work well, they are powerful enough to make instantaneous changes possible and they provide a competitive advantage.
Through attributes such as "Super Solve," advisers gain access to automated recommendation and enhanced presentation features, freeing them from the tyranny of relying on trial and error to calculate how much money needs to be set aside to satisfy a goal, as was the case with previous versions of the software.
Super Solve performs calculations in seconds and is a welcome advance that could save as much as a couple of hours of work, according to advisers.
Russ Thornton, a fee-only registered investment adviser and owner of Thornton Wealth Management LLC in Atlanta, said it is easy to generate calculations and show the results on the system, as well as to make changes to data that is entered into the system. He participated in a webcast and sat in with me on a demonstration of the software.
Despite the enhancements, the software suffers from some shortcomings.
Super Solve cannot alter pension amounts when a client delays retirement or opts for an early retirement.
"This can have a huge impact on the results if the adviser does not manually make those changes," said Dylan Ross, an adviser with hourly fee-based Swan Financial Planning LLC of East Windsor, N.J.
Another criticism that advisers expressed about the system was that while the values that were entered could be changed, the algorithms that were developed to make the calculations could not be altered.
That limitation presents a problem for advisers who rely on customized spreadsheets to create financial plans for clients. They found the algorithm in the software overly restrictive.
In contrast, NaviPlan offers an open system that allows advisers to make changes to the algorithms.
E-mail Davis D. Janowski at [email protected].
