Review Automation Cuts Prep Time by 60%, Improves Client Satisfaction
Executive Summary
Harrington Legacy Advisors faced significant time constraints preparing for client reviews, limiting their capacity to serve a growing client base. Golden Door Asset implemented a review automation system leveraging eMoney Advisor and CRM integration. This solution automated data collection and report generation, resulting in a 60% reduction in advisor preparation time and a 15% increase in client satisfaction scores. The enhanced efficiency allowed advisors to focus on personalized client interactions and strategic financial planning.
The Challenge
Harrington Legacy Advisors, a growing RIA managing over $350 million in assets, found that their advisors were spending an unsustainable amount of time preparing for client review meetings. Prior to implementing a solution, each advisor would spend an average of 8 hours preparing for each client review. This involved manually pulling portfolio performance data from multiple custodians, compiling financial planning reports, reviewing client goals, and crafting personalized presentations.
For example, advisor Sarah Miller, managing $50 million across 75 clients, would spend approximately 600 hours annually solely on review preparation. This equated to nearly 3 months of dedicated time each year, limiting her capacity to acquire new clients and proactively engage with existing ones. The manual nature of the process also increased the risk of errors and inconsistencies in the data presented to clients.
Specifically, compiling performance reports involved accessing platforms like Schwab Advisor Center, Fidelity Wealthscape, and TD Ameritrade Institutional Veo One. The data from these sources then needed to be manually entered into financial planning software, like eMoney Advisor, to project future scenarios and assess progress towards financial goals. The sheer volume of data points, including individual security performance, asset allocation, and cash flow projections, made the process incredibly time-consuming.
Furthermore, the manual review process often left less time for advisors to truly personalize the client experience. Instead of proactively identifying opportunities for tax optimization or estate planning adjustments, advisors were often focused on simply compiling the necessary data. This reactive approach sometimes led to missed opportunities to enhance client outcomes and strengthen relationships. They estimated that missed opportunities for proactive tax loss harvesting alone accounted for a potential average savings of $5,000 per client portfolio annually. Ultimately, the inefficient review process hindered the firm's growth potential and negatively impacted client engagement.
The Approach
Golden Door Asset collaborated with Harrington Legacy Advisors to streamline their client review process through automation. Our approach focused on integrating their existing technology infrastructure and leveraging data to create a more efficient and personalized client experience.
First, we conducted a thorough assessment of their current workflow, identifying key bottlenecks and pain points in the review preparation process. This involved shadowing advisors, analyzing their data sources, and mapping out the steps involved in creating client review reports and presentations.
Based on this assessment, we designed a solution that leveraged eMoney Advisor's API to automatically pull client data from various sources, including custodial platforms and CRM systems. This eliminated the need for advisors to manually enter data, saving significant time and reducing the risk of errors.
Next, we developed a system to automatically generate personalized client review reports and presentations. These reports included key performance indicators (KPIs), such as portfolio performance, progress towards financial goals, and risk tolerance. The system also allowed advisors to easily customize the reports with client-specific information and recommendations.
Our strategic framework prioritized several key principles:
- Data Centralization: Consolidating client data from disparate sources into a single, unified platform.
- Workflow Automation: Automating repetitive tasks, such as data entry and report generation.
- Personalization: Enabling advisors to easily customize client review reports and presentations with client-specific information.
- Scalability: Ensuring the solution could scale to accommodate the firm's future growth.
- Security: Maintaining the highest standards of data security and privacy.
We also implemented a robust training program to ensure that advisors were comfortable using the new system and understood how to leverage its capabilities to enhance the client experience. This included hands-on training sessions, online tutorials, and ongoing support from our team of experts. The training focused not only on the technical aspects of the system but also on how to use the data to have more meaningful and impactful conversations with clients.
Technical Implementation
The technical implementation involved a multi-phased approach, starting with data mapping and integration. We used eMoney Advisor's API to connect to Harrington Legacy Advisors' existing systems, including their CRM (Salesforce) and custodial platforms (Schwab Advisor Center, Fidelity Wealthscape, and TD Ameritrade Institutional Veo One). This allowed us to automatically pull client data, such as:
- Portfolio holdings and performance: Daily updates of positions, market values, and realized/unrealized gains. We calculated time-weighted return (TWR) for accurate performance benchmarking against relevant market indices like the S&P 500.
- Financial goals: Retirement projections, education savings plans, and other financial objectives, with progress tracked against defined benchmarks and assumptions for inflation (using a long-term average of 3%) and market returns (using a conservative estimate based on historical data).
- Risk tolerance: Client risk scores based on questionnaires, investment allocation, and historical trading behavior. We utilized a risk assessment model incorporating Sharpe Ratio and Sortino Ratio to quantify portfolio risk-adjusted performance.
- Client demographics and contact information: Ensuring accurate and up-to-date information for communication and compliance purposes.
- Insurance policies and estate planning documents: Integration allowed reminders to prompt review and proactively identify gaps/opportunities.
We then developed a custom report generation engine that automatically created client review reports and presentations. This engine used pre-defined templates that could be easily customized by advisors. The reports included:
- Executive summary: A concise overview of portfolio performance, progress towards financial goals, and key recommendations.
- Performance analysis: Detailed charts and graphs illustrating portfolio performance over time, compared to relevant benchmarks. Attribution analysis was included, highlighting the impact of asset allocation and security selection on overall performance.
- Financial planning projections: Interactive simulations showing the likelihood of achieving financial goals under different scenarios. Monte Carlo simulations were run to assess the robustness of financial plans, considering various market conditions and economic factors.
- Risk assessment: A clear and concise assessment of the client's risk profile and portfolio risk, including a review of asset allocation and diversification. We used Value at Risk (VaR) calculations to quantify potential portfolio losses under adverse market conditions.
- Actionable recommendations: Personalized recommendations for optimizing portfolio performance, adjusting financial plans, and managing risk.
The system also included a built-in compliance module that ensured all reports were compliant with regulatory requirements. This module automatically reviewed reports for potential conflicts of interest and ensured that all disclosures were included.
Finally, we integrated the system with Harrington Legacy Advisors' CRM, allowing advisors to easily access client review reports and presentations from within their existing workflow. This streamlined the review process and made it easier for advisors to provide a consistent and personalized client experience.
Results & ROI
The implementation of the review automation system yielded significant results for Harrington Legacy Advisors:
- Reduced Advisor Preparation Time: Advisor preparation time for client reviews decreased by 60%, from an average of 8 hours per review to 3.2 hours. This freed up advisors to spend more time on client acquisition, proactive client engagement, and strategic financial planning.
- Increased Client Satisfaction: Client satisfaction scores increased by 15%, as measured by post-review surveys. Clients reported that they felt more informed and engaged during review meetings, and that they appreciated the personalized attention from their advisors. The average client satisfaction score increased from 8.0 to 9.2 on a scale of 1 to 10.
- Improved Advisor Productivity: Advisors were able to conduct 25% more client reviews per month, increasing their revenue-generating capacity.
- Increased Assets Under Management (AUM): Over the first year after implementation, Harrington Legacy Advisors experienced a 10% increase in AUM, partially attributed to the improved client experience and increased advisor productivity. This translated to an additional $35 million in AUM.
- Reduced Errors: The automated system significantly reduced the risk of errors in client review reports, ensuring data accuracy and compliance. The error rate decreased by 75% compared to the previous manual process.
- Cost Savings: The time savings translated to significant cost savings for the firm, estimated at $50,000 per advisor per year, based on an average advisor salary and hourly rate.
Quantified ROI:
- Time Savings: 4.8 hours per client review x 75 clients per advisor = 360 hours saved per advisor per year.
- Client Satisfaction Improvement: 15% increase leading to higher retention rates (reduced churn by approximately 2%).
- AUM Growth: $35 million increase in AUM generating additional revenue for the firm (assuming a 1% average advisory fee).
Key Takeaways
- Automation is Essential for Scalability: Automating time-consuming tasks like client review preparation is crucial for RIAs looking to scale their business and improve advisor productivity.
- Data Integration is Key to Personalization: Integrating data from multiple sources allows advisors to create more personalized client experiences and deliver more relevant advice.
- Client Satisfaction Drives Retention: Investing in client satisfaction leads to higher retention rates and increased AUM.
- Technology is a Strategic Differentiator: Leveraging technology to improve the client experience can differentiate your firm from competitors and attract new clients.
- Training and Support are Critical for Success: Implementing new technology requires proper training and ongoing support to ensure that advisors are comfortable using the system and leveraging its capabilities.
About Golden Door Asset
Golden Door Asset builds AI-powered intelligence tools for RIAs. Our platform helps advisors automate tasks, personalize client interactions, and make data-driven decisions. Visit our tools to see how we can help your practice.