40% Faster Special Needs Trust Onboarding with Automated System

40% Faster Special Needs Trust Onboarding with Automated System

Executive Summary

Special Needs Trusts (SNTs) are crucial for safeguarding the financial well-being of beneficiaries with disabilities, but their creation can be a time-consuming and administratively burdensome process. Benjamin Wealth Management, a leading firm specializing in special needs financial planning, sought to streamline their SNT onboarding process. By implementing an automated system integrated with their existing CRM, Benjamin Wealth Management reduced their SNT onboarding time by 40%, significantly improving efficiency and client satisfaction.

The Challenge

Benjamin Wealth Management prides itself on delivering compassionate and comprehensive financial planning services, particularly for families establishing Special Needs Trusts. However, the manual processes associated with SNT onboarding presented significant challenges.

Specifically, the firm faced the following hurdles:

• Lengthy Onboarding Time: The average time to onboard a new SNT client was 10-12 weeks. This involved manually collecting client information, verifying eligibility requirements, preparing trust documents, and ensuring compliance with relevant regulations. This extended timeline often caused anxiety and frustration for families already navigating complex personal situations.

• Excessive Paperwork and Manual Data Entry: The process involved a significant amount of paperwork, including legal documents, medical records, and financial statements. Manually entering this data into their CRM and other systems was prone to errors and consumed valuable staff time. An estimated 15-20 hours per SNT were spent purely on data entry and verification.

• Compliance Complexity: SNTs are subject to intricate regulations at the federal and state levels, requiring meticulous attention to detail and ongoing compliance monitoring. The manual process made it difficult to track compliance requirements and ensure adherence to all applicable laws, increasing the risk of errors and potential legal liabilities. A single compliance error could result in penalties of up to $5,000 and necessitate costly legal remediation.

• Inefficient Communication: Coordinating between internal teams, legal counsel, and clients relied heavily on email and phone calls, leading to delays and miscommunication. Tracking the progress of each SNT application was challenging, hindering the firm's ability to provide timely updates to clients.

• Scalability Concerns: With increasing demand for SNT services, Benjamin Wealth Management recognized that its existing manual processes would hinder its ability to scale its operations effectively. They risked being unable to serve more families in need due to the administrative burden. They projected needing to hire two additional staff members within the next year at a cost of $150,000 in salary and benefits to maintain their current onboarding volume if they didn't find a better solution.

These challenges highlighted the need for a more efficient and automated SNT onboarding system to improve client experience, reduce administrative costs, and ensure regulatory compliance.

The Approach

To address these challenges, Benjamin Wealth Management partnered with Golden Door Asset to develop and implement a customized automated system for SNT onboarding. The approach involved the following key steps:

1. Needs Assessment and Process Mapping: The Golden Door Asset team conducted a thorough assessment of Benjamin Wealth Management's existing SNT onboarding process, identifying pain points, bottlenecks, and areas for improvement. This included detailed process mapping to visualize the entire workflow from initial client consultation to trust establishment.

2. Customized Workflow Design: Based on the process mapping, Golden Door Asset designed a customized workflow automation engine tailored to Benjamin Wealth Management's specific needs. This included creating automated tasks, triggers, and notifications to streamline each step of the onboarding process. The workflow was designed to be user-friendly and intuitive for both staff and clients.

3. CRM Integration: The automated system was seamlessly integrated with Benjamin Wealth Management's existing Salesforce CRM. This enabled the firm to centralize client data, track progress, and automate communications. The CRM integration ensured that all client information was securely stored and accessible to authorized personnel.

4. Automated Document Generation: The system was designed to automatically generate essential SNT documents, such as trust agreements, beneficiary designations, and funding instructions. This eliminated the need for manual document preparation, saving significant time and reducing the risk of errors. The documents were pre-populated with client information from the CRM, ensuring accuracy and consistency.

5. Compliance Automation: The system incorporated compliance checks and alerts to ensure adherence to all applicable regulations. This included automated verification of eligibility requirements, tracking of reporting deadlines, and generation of compliance reports. The system was designed to adapt to changing regulations, ensuring ongoing compliance.

6. Client Portal Implementation: A secure client portal was implemented to provide clients with real-time access to their SNT information and facilitate communication. Clients could upload documents, review progress updates, and communicate with their financial advisors through the portal. This improved client engagement and transparency.

7. Training and Support: Golden Door Asset provided comprehensive training and ongoing support to Benjamin Wealth Management's staff to ensure they could effectively use the automated system. This included user manuals, online training modules, and dedicated technical support.

The strategic decision to integrate with Salesforce was critical. Benjamin Wealth Management had already invested heavily in their CRM and were comfortable with the platform. Leveraging this existing infrastructure allowed them to avoid the costs and disruptions associated with implementing a completely new system. Furthermore, the integration enabled them to leverage the robust reporting and analytics capabilities of Salesforce to track the performance of the automated onboarding system.

Technical Implementation

The automated SNT onboarding system leverages a combination of technologies and methodologies to streamline the process. Key technical elements include:

• Salesforce CRM Integration: The system is built on the Salesforce platform and integrates seamlessly with Benjamin Wealth Management's existing CRM instance. This allows for centralized data management, automated workflows, and enhanced reporting capabilities. The integration utilizes Salesforce APIs to synchronize data between the CRM and the custom-built workflow engine. Custom Salesforce objects were created to manage SNT-specific data, such as trust beneficiaries, funding sources, and compliance requirements.

• Custom Workflow Automation Engine: A custom-built workflow automation engine was developed using Apex and Visualforce within the Salesforce environment. This engine automates tasks such as data validation, document generation, compliance checks, and notifications. The workflow is designed to be configurable, allowing Benjamin Wealth Management to adapt the process to specific client needs and regulatory requirements. The engine incorporates branching logic to handle different SNT types and funding scenarios.

• Automated Document Generation: The system utilizes Conga Composer, a Salesforce-native document generation tool, to automatically generate SNT documents. Templates were created for various document types, such as trust agreements, beneficiary designations, and funding instructions. These templates are pre-populated with client data from the CRM, ensuring accuracy and consistency. The system supports the generation of both PDF and Word documents.

• Compliance Automation: The system incorporates compliance checks and alerts based on federal and state regulations. This includes automated verification of eligibility requirements, tracking of reporting deadlines, and generation of compliance reports. The compliance rules are defined using Salesforce validation rules and custom Apex code. The system also integrates with third-party compliance databases to ensure that the rules are up-to-date. Specifically, data relating to Medicaid spend-down rules (42 U.S. Code § 1396p(c)) and SSI resource limits (20 CFR § 416.1205) is pulled via API daily.

• Secure Data Storage: All client data is securely stored within the Salesforce platform, which is compliant with industry-standard security certifications, such as SOC 2 and HIPAA. Data is encrypted both in transit and at rest using AES 256-bit encryption. Access to data is controlled through role-based access controls, ensuring that only authorized personnel can access sensitive information. Regular security audits are conducted to identify and address potential vulnerabilities.

• Client Portal: The client portal is built using Salesforce Community Cloud, providing a secure and user-friendly interface for clients to access their SNT information and communicate with their financial advisors. The portal is designed to be mobile-responsive, allowing clients to access it from any device. The portal also supports secure document uploading and downloading.

The system utilizes formula fields within Salesforce to calculate key financial metrics, such as the present value of trust assets and the projected future value of the trust based on various investment scenarios. These calculations are used to provide clients with a comprehensive overview of their SNT's financial performance.

Results & ROI

The implementation of the automated SNT onboarding system yielded significant results for Benjamin Wealth Management:

• Reduced Onboarding Time: The average SNT onboarding time was reduced by 40%, from 10-12 weeks to 6-7 weeks. This faster turnaround time significantly improved client satisfaction and allowed the firm to serve more clients.

• Increased Efficiency: Manual data entry and paperwork were reduced by 75%, freeing up staff time for higher-value tasks, such as client relationship management and financial planning. This translates to approximately 12-15 hours saved per SNT.

• Improved Compliance: The automated compliance checks and alerts ensured adherence to all applicable regulations, reducing the risk of errors and potential legal liabilities. The number of compliance-related errors decreased by 90%.

• Enhanced Client Experience: The client portal and automated communications improved client engagement and transparency, resulting in higher client satisfaction scores. Client satisfaction surveys showed a 25% increase in overall satisfaction.

• Cost Savings: The reduced onboarding time and increased efficiency resulted in significant cost savings for Benjamin Wealth Management. The firm avoided the need to hire two additional staff members, resulting in annual savings of $150,000 in salary and benefits. The return on investment for the automated system was estimated to be 200% within the first year.

• Increased Scalability: The automated system enabled Benjamin Wealth Management to scale its SNT services without sacrificing quality or efficiency. The firm was able to increase its SNT onboarding volume by 30% without adding additional staff.

The implementation of the system also allowed Benjamin Wealth Management to increase the average assets under management (AUM) per SNT client by 15% within the first year, due to the increased efficiency and improved client service.

Key Takeaways

Here are some key takeaways for other RIAs and wealth managers considering implementing an automated system for SNT onboarding:

1. Prioritize CRM Integration: Seamless integration with your existing CRM is crucial for centralizing client data and automating workflows. Leverage your existing investment in CRM infrastructure rather than rebuilding processes elsewhere.
2. Automate Document Generation: Automating the generation of SNT documents can significantly reduce manual effort and improve accuracy.
3. Incorporate Compliance Checks: Automate compliance checks and alerts to ensure adherence to all applicable regulations. This can help minimize the risk of errors and potential legal liabilities.
4. Provide a Client Portal: A secure client portal can improve client engagement and transparency. Clients appreciate having real-time access to their SNT information and the ability to communicate with their financial advisors.
5. Invest in Training and Support: Provide comprehensive training and ongoing support to your staff to ensure they can effectively use the automated system. This will maximize the benefits of the system and minimize disruption to your operations.

About Golden Door Asset

Golden Door Asset builds AI-powered intelligence tools for RIAs. Our platform helps advisors automate complex workflows, improve client engagement, and achieve superior investment outcomes. Visit our tools to see how we can help your practice.