Financial planning is art: Techies

While financial planning software has helped streamline operations, experts at NAVA Inc.’s marketing conference this week encouraged advisers to keep the client experience in mind. “I’m in a different realm from people who use financial planning tools, but I believe financial planning is an art,” said Edmond Walters, founder and chief executive of eMoney Advisor LLC of Conshohocken, Penn. “It’s a custom situation for clientele. Technology needs to let the reps spend time with the art.” Mr. Walters spoke on a panel at the Reston, Va.-based variable annuity trade association’s annual marketing conference in New York. His program, eMoney Advisor, allows users to create personal home pages for high-net-worth clients, as well as graphic presentations that depict clients’ financial plans and products. These kinds of tools, Mr. Walters said, should allow advisers to spend less time on back-office duties and more time communicating directly with clients. Advisers can also integrate this technology into the planning process. “What we’re trying to do is bring in institutional principles into individual investing,” said fellow panelist Peng Chen, president and chief investment officer at Ibbotson Associates Inc. in Chicago. “Think holistically about the asset side and liability side of the individual investor, then personalize it.” Technological advances can help lighten advisers’ work load, but only if advisers and reps know the product, Mr. Walters said. “The other piece of it is education,” he said. “The reps won’t sell something if they don’t feel comfortable with it. We had Monte Carlo simulations in our toolbox, and many reps didn’t use it, because they didn’t understand it.”