Technology plays an ever increasing role in financial advisers’ service delivery. The ‘i’ age has brought with it tools to help advisers engage with clients. Devices such as iPads and SmartPhones are crossing the generational divide with clients more mobile and requiring a more tech-sophisticated service that goes beyond online scheduling tools for setting up meetings.
Launched at the January 2012 Planner conference, Hillross has introduced new apps for advisers to download and use as engagement tools in client meetings. Apps can be used for quoting or provide simulation software, or scenario planning that help ‘picture your tomorrow’ so clients can understand where they are and what they need to do to achieve their goals.
Below are the eight recently introduced apps, designed to assist planners with the scoping of advice, gathering data about clients and illustrating various advice strategies. Additional apps for client engagement will be launched later this year.
- Home Loan calculator – designed to determine the minimum weekly, fortnightly or monthly loan repayments required for a specified borrowed amount over a selected period. Calculations can be performed for both ‘Principal and Interest’ or ‘Interest only’ loan types.
Insurance needs calculator This calculator is intended to provide broad guidance on the level of insurance cover required to meet debt obligations and replace a portion of income in the event of death, TPD or temporary disablement. - My Money Choices budget planner – designed to help clients to assess their current financial situation, and to give them some idea of the amount they can afford to invest. It provides for a perfect opportunity to engage consumers not currently seeking financial advice.
- My Money Choices scoping tool – this application leverages the highly popular scoping wheel and scoping pads which are currently available for use in hard copy format. The application allows planners to annotate segments of the My Money Choices wheel and to commence Fact finding with the client and records details electronically in the electronic scoping pad.
- Picture Your Tomorrow – a client engagement approach to help more Australians own their tomorrow, by first picturing it. It is a way of linking a client’s future desires with a financial plan for today. The iPad app is designed to emotionally engage new and existing clients visually. It has been designed to complement your existing advice processes.
- Risk profiler – contains the standard risk profiling questions from AMP’s Fact finder. It is designed to assess a client’s attitude to, and appetite for, investment risk. The profiler allows the client to provide answers to questions to determine the most appropriate investment strategies to match their investment risk profile.
- Super contributions calculator – designed to compare the effect on take-home pay and superannuation accounts of either making contributions to super using salary sacrifice or from after tax salary.
- Super simulator – designed to work out how much an individual may need to retire and whether they are on track. It is intended as an educational tool, helping the individual to see the long-term effects on their superannuation of the things they may be able to control, and that could have an impact such as the age at which they will retire; their investment mix; and making extra contributions.
