IPS AdvisorPro® co-founders Norm Boone, MBA, CFP®, and Linda Lubitz Boone, CFP® will be speaking on:

After the “Crisis”: Managing Client Expectations Using Investment Policy Statements

When: April 22–25, 2010  

Where: Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort, San Antonio, TX

February 1, 2010

Norman Boone has an impeccable resume. Founder and president of Bay Area-based Mosaic Financial Partners, Boone earned his CFP certification in 1984 after an undergraduate degree from Stanford and an MBA from Harvard. He served in the first class of directors elected to the national board of the FPA. And he has been included as one of America’s Best Financial Advisors by the Worth/Robb Report every year since the list’s inception in 1994.

A PDF version of this article can be downloaded  here.

THE IPS EDGE

But it’s not his credentials that set him apart; it’s his flair for innovation. In addition to managing Mosaic, which has offices in San Francisco and Lafayette, Calif. Boone, with spouse Linda Lubitz Boone, founded IPS AdvisorPro, an online software application that helps advisors create customized investment policy statements (IPSs). Lubitz Boone has her own Miami-based advisory practice, which provides Boone with additional ways to serve East Coast clients.

IPS AdvisorPro facilitates two crucial functions for advisors. First, it helps them comply with the law. Second, it enhances and clarifies the mutual understanding between client and advisor. Quips Boone: “Well-crafted investment policy statements help clients avoid surprises and help planners avoid lawsuits.”

Today, IPSs are considered a best practice. “What many busy planners fail to recognize is that these IPSs are legally mandated for virtually all fiduciary relationships, including qualified plans, irrevocable trusts, endowments, charitable trusts and foundations,” Boone says. His own clients include several endowments and corporate retirement plans.

While there is no legislation mandating an IPS for individual clients, Boone notes that, in some districts, the SEC is asking to see the IPS between particular clients and their RIA. He suspects that the IPS will increasingly become a factor in audits of client records.

TAKING IT HOME

Boone’s IPS software has helped him streamline his own practice, limiting liability, providing clarity for clients and simplifying compliance. His firm manages over $335 million for 200 clients with average investable assets of $1.7 million. Mosaic and its staff of 12 are strictly fee-only. The firm charges 1% of the first $2 million in AUM, 0.7% of the next $3 million, 0.5% of the next $5 million and 0.3% on assets above $10 million. The minimum annual fee for clients is $15,000. In addition, new clients pay a first-year planning fee that typically runs anywhere from $8,000 to $20,000, based on projected time requirements and hourly rates.

The first-year client experience is thorough. New clients attend a series of two-hour meetings that cover over a dozen topics. For clients with over $1.5 million in AUM, there are no additional financial planning fees for ongoing planning beyond the first year.

Each client has a unique IPS, and the investment philosophy emphasizes low- cost, well-diversified passive strategies, spiced with a few actively managed funds and alternative investments. In general, Boone prefers ETFs to index funds.

NEW IDEAS

Boone is pushing the envelope in two new areas. He’s seeking to merge with other firms to take advantage of economies of scale, specifically excess capacity in Mosaic’s investment department. The firm also built out its administrative infrastructure, positioning it to manage the business side of a larger combined firm.

Boone’s growth target is $500 million in AUM by 2011 and $1 billion by 2014, either through new client acquisition, new advisor hires or M&As. In the meantime he launched the Mosaic Family Business Center to assist multigenerational family businesses with strategic planning, business succession and leadership training. “We have the privilege of creating more effective methods to help our clients achieve their goals,” he says. “We’re fortunate.”

Jim Grote, CFP, contributes regularly to Financial Planning.

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

1.    Help render appropriate advice in a post-Black Swan Era
2.    Help advisor regain client confidence
3.    Help advisor rebuild or win new business

Thirteen (13) sessions held during the Practice Management Summit included, but was not limited to, the following:

• Investment Management Consulting in the 21st Century: Craft or Trade? Ron Surz, President, PPCA
• To Be or Not To Be: Fiduciary Landscape Under Regulatory Reform; Kristina Fausti, Director of Legal and Regulatory Affairs, fi360
• Using Public Relations to Turbo-Charge Your Marketing Plan; Marie Swift, President, Impact Communication
• Dynamic Asset Allocation: Rx for a Post-Black Swan Era; Rex Macey, Chief Investment Officer, Wilmington Trust
• Providing A Comfortable Ride for Your Clients (and Your Practice); David Loeper CIMA, Wealthcare Capital
• In Search of Manager Alpha: Does Active Management Still Make Sense? Larry Sinsimer
• The Value Gap: In Search of Advisor Alpha; Steve Barger, Consulting Partner, Advisor Solutions Network
• The Art of Conversation: Your Leading Advantage; Lewis Walker, Founder, Life Transitions Advisors
• Rebuilding Your Business and Managing Client Expectations with Investment Policy Statements; Norm Boone and Linda Lubitz-Boone, IPS AdvisorPro®
• How Personal Legacy Planning can Differentiate Your Practice and Drive Your Production; Mark Colgan, President / Plan Your Legacy
• Audio recordings and speaker presentations are available at www.asn360.com.agenda.asp

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). 

Click here to download a PDF version of this Press Release.

“The use of IPSs has become more than just a “best practice” in the industry,” said co-founders Norm Boone, MBA, CFP^® and Linda Lubitz-Boone, CFP^®.  “In today’s environment, disclosure and transparency are becoming increasingly important and the IPS becomes the go to document and record of the agreements between advisor and client about how their money will be invested.”

As part of the arrangement, financial advisors affiliated with VSR will have access to preferred pricing, education and training on customizing and using comprehensive IPSs in their practice.

“We’re very excited to be able to enhance our offering to our financial advisors and their clients through the online technology of IPS AdvisorPro®,” said Chatten Scruggs, SVP Technology, of VSR Financial Services, Inc.  “We take a long term, thoughtful approach to providing financial services and the use of IPSs is a critical aspect of that delivery.  We look forward to streamlining that process and making it an easy step for our advisors through IPS AdvisorPro®.”

About VSR Financial Services, Inc.

VSR Financial Services is a full-service securities broker/dealer founded in 1985.  VSR’s focus is on the long-term strategies and products designed to change visions into reality.  By design, VSR is a small firm providing individualized service and support.  VSR is not transaction-oriented and offers no proprietary products.  The highest priority is building and maintaining long-term relationships.  Through a network of more than 250 representatives, VSR represents over 80,000 client accounts throughout North America and has invested annually some $5 billion on their behalf.

About IPS AdvisorPro®

Created by financial advisors for financial advisors, IPS AdvisorPro^® is designed to work with all types of wealth management professionals and their practices.  IPS AdvisorPro^® offers a flexible solution to creating and managing Investment Policy Statements that are easy to use through an encrypted, secure web-based environment.  With over 1,000 users and 17,000 IPSs created, IPS AdvisorPro^® is the industry’s leading technology solution.  IPS AdvisorPro^® was named in 2006 by Morningstar as the “Software of the Year” and was a CPA Wealth Provider “Financial Planning Awards Winner” in 2009.  For more information, please visit www.IPSAdvisorPro.com

For More Information, please contact:

IPS AdvisorPro^®: Linda Groden, 330-724-7145, lindag@ipsadvisorpro.com

VSR Financial Services, Inc.:  Kevin Johannesen, 913-234-8331, kjohannesen@vsrfs.com

Download a PDF version of this article here.

Download a PDF version of this case study here.

Introduction

“While we enjoy a strong legacy as a Savings Bank, our approach to financial planning and investment management is truly at the forefront of the industry today.”

Cape Ann Savings Bank has a rich tradition of serving the Gloucester, Massachusetts area for over 160 years.  Building on that dedication to client service, Cape Ann Savings Bank created the Trust and Financial Services Department in 1986 to serve the needs of the Bank’s customers.  Since then, the Trust and Financial Services Department has grown exponentially and has gone on to earn the respect of area legal and financial professionals with its competence and dedication to clients.

With over $220 million in managed assets, Cape Ann takes an integrated, personal approach to financial matters, targeting investment choices and tailoring financial strategies as life circumstances evolve, and market conditions change.

“While we enjoy a strong legacy as a Savings Bank, our approach to financial planning and investment management is truly at the forefront of the industry today,” notes Vice President and Senior Trust Officer, E. Gail Ramos, CFP^®.

Investment Policy Statements

“The IPS gives us and the client a clear understanding of how the assets will be managed.”

Since its inception, the Trust and Financial Services Department has brought a focus on client service to its investment planning process.  Critical to that approach is the use of Investment Policy Statements (IPS).

“When we meet with our clients, we take a comprehensive view of all of their financial matters and document that through the IPS process,” commented Brian Eddy, Trust Investment Officer.  “The IPS is the fundamental agreement that outlines the risks and goals of each account and is so important to us that we make it an automatic part of the new account process.”

“The Investment Policy Statement gives us and the client a clear understanding of how the assets will be managed.  We believe that it is important for the client to see that in writing, otherwise it is just to easy to say “ok” and walk away, only to find that key aspects of the relationship weren’t fully understood and that leads to increased business and operational risk,” Eddy said.

“From the client’s point of view, they quickly understand the role of the IPS and are very comfortable in signing it.  In fact, we have recently required that each account be reviewed and the IPS signed on an annual basis,” continued Eddy.

“What we found, particularly in today’s investment atmosphere, is that investors’ risk tolerances have changed and therefore we needed to change their investment allocation as a result.  Without the IPS process, we wouldn’t have an organized, disciplined and thoughtful approach to make these adjustments.”

“The IPS process also becomes an excellent marketing tool in that it gives you a reason to reach out and touch your client base again.  Particularly in today’s markets, we’ve seen that our advisors need to do that and it shows that we are involved and proactive with their needs.”

Building a Full Service Investment Solution

“IPS AdvisorPro^® with its advanced technology standardizes our process across our multiple advisors and also produces very professional, easily readable and customizable IPSs that can satisfy our most sophisticated clients.”

As Cape Ann Trust and Financial Services has grown over the years, Gail and her team have brought in “best of breed” partners to round out its service offering.

“Two years ago, we did a complete analysis of how we handle investments in general and realized that we needed a sophisticated, technology driven solution to help us with investment research, asset allocation, fund choices and to manage our business and operational risk,” noted Gail.  “Because of our size, we did not have the full capability of a large investment house and sought out help to formalize our investment planning process.”

Key to that approach was to partner with IPS AdvisorPro^® to provide the fundamental tools for the IPS process.

“IPS AdvisorPro^®, with its advanced technology standardizes our process across our multiple advisors and also produces very professional, easily readable and customizable Investment Policy Statementss that can satisfy even our most sophisticated clients. “

“Additionally, because it is an online tool and has innovative templates, we can easily adjust the IPS for the annual review at the Trust Officer level in roughly 10 to 15 minutes.  In the past, we used to hand-type them on paper and it quickly got very messy as it basically required us to re-do the entire document for each client every time,” commented Gail.

Cape Ann also leverages IPS AdvisorPro^® with its outsourced money management partner.

“To provide our clients with the best investments, we work with an institutional firm in Chicago to complement our client relationship management with their investment expertise.  We use that firm to provide us with investment advice, research, and reporting,” said Brian.

In order for Cape Ann’s advisors and trust officers to communicate their knowledge and understanding of the client to the money manager, Cape Ann uses the IPS generated from IPS AdvisorPro^® as the key document.

“Basically, the IPS becomes the bridge between the investment professionals and us, streamlining the process tremendously, reducing risk and ensuring that nothing falls through the cracks,” noted Brian.

Reducing Risk

“One of the key benefits from IPS AdvisorPro^® and our use of IPSs with clients is that it definitely has reduced risk for us.”

One of Cape Ann’s business priorities is to reduce risk in their business operations.  For smaller banks and trust companies, the FDIC has become much more focused and involved on how banks are operating, particularly in light of the recent financial crises.  “Anything we can do to minimize risk is critically important for us,” noted Ramos.

“Our highest risk is in providing investment advice and serving as a discretionary trustee.  One of the key benefits from IPS AdvisorPro^® and our use of Investment Policy Statements with clients is that it definitely has reduced risk for us. “

“The presence of the IPS and our automation of the process through IPS AdvisorPro^® is proactive proof that we understand our clients, what their needs are and that we have an ironclad process in delivering financial services that are appropriate for their situation.“

“We take a lot of comfort knowing that we have policies, procedures and systems in place to provide this level of service, while managing our potential risk exposure,” commented Ramos.

Conclusion

“The IPS improves our professionalism and shows that we are keeping an eye on things – clients truly appreciate that.”

As Cape Ann Trust and Financial Services continue to grow, Gail and her team are confident in their outlook and dedication to client service.

“From the client reaction we get from our use of IPSs, we know that we are really providing value and helping our clients meet their goals.  The Investment Policy Statement improves our professionalism and shows that we are keeping an eye on things – clients truly appreciate that,” concluded Gail.

About IPS AdvisorPro^®

Created by financial advisors for financial advisors, IPS AdvisorPro^® is designed to work with all types of wealth management professionals and their practices.  IPS AdvisorPro^® offers a flexible solution to creating and managing Investment Policy Statements that are easy to use through an encrypted, secure web-based environment.  With over 1,000 users and 17,000 IPSs created, IPS AdvisorPro^® is the industry’s leading technology solution.  IPS AdvisorPro^® was named in 2006 by Morningstar as the “Software of the Year” and was a CPA Wealth Provider “Financial Planning Awards Winner” in 2009.  For more information, please visit www.IPSAdvisorPro.com.

]]> http://www.ipsadvisorpro.com/investment-policy-statement-blog/2009/08/cape-ann-savings-bank-trust-and-financial-services/feed/ 0 http://www.ipsadvisorpro.com/investment-policy-statement-blog/2009/08/intechbits/ http://www.ipsadvisorpro.com/investment-policy-statement-blog/2009/08/intechbits/#comments Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:58:57 +0000 Staff Writer http://www.ipsadvisorpro.com/?p=1217 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. 

For example, Mr. Boone breaks down the production of a statement using manual means into the following chunks: filling out the client questionnaire and organizing client data, 15 minutes; finding and inserting asset allocation models, 15 minutes; selection of benchmarks, 15 minutes; customizing the IPS for specific client requests, 30 minutes; entering client recommendations and proofreading the entire document, 60 minutes; and compliance review, 20 minutes.

Grand total, as mentioned above, is 155 minutes.

Mr. Boone claims that the same tasks performed on IPS AdvisorPro® would be 57 minutes.

In addition to the time breakdown, the article also has cost estimates for creating and updating statements manually versus using an online tool.

For example, Mr. Boone estimates that a 50-client firm will spend $22,500 in policy statement creation using a manual process, while a 250-client firm will spend $112,500.

He estimates a cost savings from $16,300 to $81,500 if advisers use an online solution instead.

For more information on the software, visit IPS AdvisorPro® online.

Firefox reaches a billion downloads

Since it was introduced in November 2004, Firefox web browser software has had over billion downloads of That milestone was reached last night, as tracked by the download counter at the spreadfirefox.com site.

The browser was created and is maintained by the Mozilla Foundation based in Mountain View, Calif. with the help of thousands of volunteers.

The browser remains Redmond Wash.-based Microsoft Corp.’s top competitor despite entries by the Safari browser from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. and the Chrome browser from Google Inc. of Mountain View, Calif.

The choice of web browsers is going to continue to be of interest to advisers as a significant percentage are now favoring applications hosted on the Internet. In a technology survey conducted by InvestmentNews last June, 24% of respondents preferred web-based applications, edging out the 23% who favored desktop or self-hosted applications.

Meanwhile 40% of advisers were in favor of a combination of both.

For more information visit the Mozilla blog and Spread Firefox website.