New Functionality: Asset Allocation Ranges and Much More
September 1, 2010
We are pleased to announce a new version of IPS AdvisorPro® released this morning containing a wide array of new functionality:
Asset Allocation Ranges
Other Improvements in the Asset Allocation Area
- Asset Class Groups
- Add new asset class groups
- Group labels may be changed
- Colors of asset class groups may be changed to reflect display within the pie chart
- Asset classes may be moved to different groups
- You may override the calculated historical return or standard deviation for an asset allocation model even if no custom asset classes are used
Improved list of existing IPSs
- You can quickly identify the IPSs that are standard vs professional
Template Management Improvements
- You hand-pick the templates to which you wish to apply (sync to) a particular paragraph
- Header/Footer customization was added to standard templates as well
New Verbiage Available For Your Review and Import To Your Current Templates
- Executive Summary
- Removed duplicate “Asset Allocation” title
- Adjusted expected return tokens in Profit Sharing template
- “Asset Classes to be included” under “Diversification and Investment Constraints”
- Added space
- “Plan Fiduciary Bond Information” -> “Overview”
- Updated verbiage for Self Directed 401(K) plan, Pension Plan, and Profit Sharing templates
- “Investment Monitoring and Control Procedures” -> “Reports”
- Updated template sections to accommodate the new asset allocation ranges functionality
- “Asset Allocation” -> “Portfolio Allocation, Statistics & Rebalancing – With Statistics”
- “Asset Allocation” -> “Portfolio Allocation, Statistics & Rebalancing – Without Statistics”
- “Asset Allocation” -> “Portfolio Allocation, Statistics & Rebalancing (Projected Returns)”
- “Asset Allocation” -> “Portfolio Allocation, Statistics & Rebalancing (Historical Returns)”
- “Asset Allocation” -> “Portfolio Allocation, Statistics & Rebalancing – Updated Allocations”
New Functionality Released: Additional Template Control
December 14, 2009
As part of our commitment to continuing to enhance the IPS AdvisorPro® platform to make it even more useful, we are pleased to introduce a new set of functionalities. With these new functionalities you will have increased flexibility when customizing your templates AND you will have increased options when tailoring each of your client IPSs.
The new features include
- Compare a paragraph of your template to the latest version in the default IPS AdvisorPro® template
- Add a paragraph to all your IPSs
- Remove a paragraph from all your IPSs
- Restore an IPS to its original verbiage as configured by template
- Add new or pre-existing paragraph to an IPS
For instructions on how to use this functionality please refer to our HELP MANUAL. Additionally, please take a few moments to view the video below that will provide a visual illustration of the new functionalities. For better visibility, you can click “Full Screen” in the video player. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact our Help Desk at support@IPSAdvisorPro.com.
As always we thank you for your continued support of IPS AdvisorPro® and would like to remind you that we appreciate and value your feedback. If you would like to provide feedback and/or suggestions regarding this improvement or others you are interested in then please contact us at support@IPSAdvisorPro.com.
We wish you a Happy and Healthy holiday season!
The IPS AdvisorPro® Team
VSR Financial Services, Inc. Selects IPS AdvisorPro® for Investment Planning Technology
August 28, 2009
~ Innovative Platform Will Provide VSR’s 200+ Advisors with Web-based Tools for Creating Investment Policy Statements
Miami, FL and Overland Park, KS – August 26, 2009. VSR Financial Services, Inc. announced today the selection of IPS AdvisorPro® to provide their over 200 financial advisors with advanced investment planning tools for developing Investment Policy Statements (IPS). Read more
IPS AdvisorPro®: Go online and save time on investment policy statements
August 6, 2009
By Davis D. Janowski, technology reporter for InvestmentNews, this article was originally published July 31, 2009 in IN: TECHbits. I got a sneak preview of a white paper from IPS AdvisorPro® that sheds light on the time, costs associated with creating investment policy statements.
By one estimate, it can take the typical financial adviser 155 minutes to create an investment policy statement from scratch using a word-processing program such as Microsoft Word.
To refresh your memory, an IPS is a written document agreed to by both an adviser and client that outlines goals, policies and procedures to be used by the adviser for managing investments.
Such statements are required these days where a fiduciary relationship exists.
The above estimate is by Norm Boone, president of San Francisco-based Mosaic Financial Partners Inc. and co-creator of the popular IPS AdvisorPro® software and online application from BLIPS Partners LLC in Miami.
While the white paper is clearly meant to urge advisers to buy the firm’s software, the estimates included in the white paper, “Investment Policy Statements: The Technology Return on Investment for Financial Advisors,” seem reasonable and should be of interest to advisers in terms of comparing their current procedures and the time involved in preparation of policy statements. Read more
Investment Policy Statements: The Technology Return on Investment (ROI) for Financial Advisors
July 31, 2009
Download a PDF version of this white paper here.
Executive Summary
The financial services industry is undergoing rapid change due to recent financial crises on Wall Street and the impacts of a prolonged recession. Market volatility has increased, creating uncertainty and angst in investors’ minds. The demand for transparency has increased, as have the expectations for better “prudent practices.” As a result, there has been a renewed focus for investment planning by financial advisors and the use of the time-tested approach of Investment Policy Statements (IPS).
Considered a “best practice” in modern wealth management, documenting advisor-client agreements in an IPS provides a systematic discipline for decision-making, bringing transparency, clarity and shared understanding to the advisor-investor relationship, helping to build an increased level of trust.
Many financial advisors are using word processing software solutions combined with manual processes to perform the related tasks of creating, updating and maintaining IPSs and the resulting inefficiencies cause higher costs and lack of controls, which result in declining profitability.
Industry experts all agree that the best solution is to adopt technology to increase efficiency, streamline operations and enable rapid response to market changes. New advances and innovations in technology specifically designed for financial advisors to provide web-based investment planning tools for creating Investment Policy Statements that allow advisors to meet these challenges head on and provide a substantial return on investment (ROI) is now available.
“If we tried to create our own Word document, the problem we see is that it would be extremely difficult to maintain consistency, what with re-entering and re-casting the allocations for hundreds of clients. By using the templates in IPS AdvisorPro® we know that we are achieving a big time savings and ROI.”
David Strege, CFP®, CFA®, Co-Founder and Senior Wealth Coach, Syverson Strege & Company
NOW INTEGRATED: IPS AdvisorPro® and MoneyGuidePro™ – Import Financial Planning Data into Investment Policy Statements
June 8, 2009
IPS AdvisorPro® and MoneyGuideProTM Integrate Software Systems, to provide a Complete Financial and Investment Planning Solution
IPS AdvisorPro® is pleased to announce the release of its first software integration with MoneyGuideProTM, the industry’s leading financial planning software tool. With this announcement, the integration between these two industry award-winning online financial software programs is available immediately to IPS AdvisorPro® users. The new integration will save time and streamline the preparation of financial plans and investment policy statements (IPS) ensuring consistency of data between the two programs and providing financial advisors with a complete financial and investment planning solution. Read more
System Updates: March/April, 2009
June 4, 2009
UPDATE MESSAGE
In response to the degree of market downturn and unusual investment results in 2008, we just implemented an update to questions 8 & 9 in the Risk Tolerance questionnaire. In conjunction with these revisions, you may wish to update your existing client IPSs accordingly. Additionally, if you are using parallel questionnaires, you may want to adjust those, as well. Read more
System Updates – 2009/02/03
February 3, 2009
IPS AdvisorPro® is continually working to bring features you want to our software application. Your ideas and requests are critical in helping us determine what improvements are desired. Please continue to send us your ideas and requests. Read more
