Plan Confidence: A Deep Dive into Held-Away Asset Management
Plan Confidence positions itself as a solution for Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) struggling with the fragmented landscape of client assets held across multiple custodians – a perennial challenge. In a market increasingly demanding holistic financial planning, the ability to aggregate and analyze these "held-away" assets is no longer a "nice-to-have," but a critical component of delivering competitive advisory services. This deep dive assesses Plan Confidence's potential value proposition and its fit within a sophisticated RIA technology stack.
Core Capabilities and Operational Leverage
Plan Confidence's core strength lies in its held-away asset aggregation. This functionality, if executed effectively, offers significant operational leverage by:
- Reducing Manual Reconciliation: The primary benefit is the potential elimination of manual data entry and reconciliation of statements from various custodians. This saves significant time for advisors and operations staff, allowing them to focus on higher-value activities.
- Improving Accuracy and Completeness of Financial Plans: By incorporating all client assets, Plan Confidence promises a more accurate and complete picture of a client's financial situation. This is crucial for creating realistic and effective financial plans, especially regarding retirement projections, asset allocation strategies, and risk management.
- Enhancing Client Reporting: Consolidated reporting, including held-away assets, provides clients with a clearer understanding of their overall portfolio performance and simplifies communication. This contributes to improved client satisfaction and retention.
- Facilitating Compliance: Aggregated data simplifies compliance reporting and audits by providing a centralized source of information on client assets.
However, the quality of data aggregation is paramount. The system must reliably handle various asset types, account structures, and custodial data formats. Errors in data aggregation can undermine trust and create more work than the system intends to solve.
Integration and Data Flow: A Critical Examination
The success of Plan Confidence hinges on its ability to seamlessly integrate into the existing technology ecosystem of an RIA. Key integration points include:
- Financial Planning Software: Direct integration with leading financial planning platforms (e.g., eMoney Advisor, MoneyGuidePro, RightCapital) is essential. Data must flow seamlessly to avoid manual data entry into planning tools, negating the system's primary benefit. The depth of integration needs careful scrutiny. Does it support real-time data updates or only periodic batch uploads?
- Portfolio Management Systems (PMS): While focusing on held-away assets, the system should integrate with existing PMS platforms to provide a comprehensive portfolio view. Conflicts and redundancies between Plan Confidence and the PMS must be avoided.
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems: Integration with CRM systems like Salesforce or Dynamics 365 allows for a unified view of client information, including their total assets under advisement (AUA), both managed and held-away.
- Data Security: Given the sensitivity of financial data, robust security measures are non-negotiable. Data encryption, access controls, and regular security audits are essential to maintain client trust and comply with regulatory requirements.
The alternatives cited – Albridge and ByAllAccounts – are established players in the aggregation space with proven track records and integrations. Plan Confidence must demonstrate superior functionality or a more compelling value proposition (likely through pricing) to gain traction.
The Verdict: A Niche Tool with Potential, but Due Diligence is Key
Plan Confidence is definitively built for:
- RIAs with a significant portion of client assets held away. Practices with clients who hold substantial assets in 401(k)s, brokerage accounts at other firms, or real estate will benefit most.
- Firms seeking to improve operational efficiency and reduce manual data entry. The potential time savings from automated data aggregation can justify the investment, if the system performs as advertised.
- Advisors prioritizing holistic financial planning and client communication. The ability to present a complete financial picture to clients is a key differentiator in a competitive market.
Firms should avoid Plan Confidence if:
- Held-away assets represent a small percentage of their AUM. The cost and complexity of implementing a dedicated system for held-away assets may outweigh the benefits.
- Their existing technology stack already adequately addresses held-away asset aggregation. Some PMS or financial planning platforms offer basic aggregation capabilities that may be sufficient for their needs.
- They lack the resources to properly implement and maintain the system. Effective implementation requires a commitment from both IT and advisory staff to ensure data accuracy and system integration.
Critical due diligence is crucial. Before committing to Plan Confidence, Golden Door Asset recommends:
- A thorough evaluation of the system's data aggregation capabilities and integration with existing platforms. A pilot program with a small group of clients is highly recommended.
- A detailed cost-benefit analysis, including the cost of implementation, ongoing maintenance, and potential time savings. The AUM-based pricing model needs to be carefully considered relative to the volume of held-away assets managed.
- Verification of the system's security measures and compliance with relevant regulations. Security audits and penetration testing are essential to ensure data protection.
In conclusion, Plan Confidence addresses a real need in the wealth management industry. However, its value proposition hinges on reliable data aggregation, seamless integration, and a competitive pricing structure. Until more information is available, Golden Door Asset recommends a cautious and thorough evaluation before adoption.
