2013 Planner Technology Report released
Key findings of the Investment Trends 2013 Planner Technology Report:
- XPLAN continues to lead the planning software market with the largest number of adviser relationships
- Midwinter has the highest satisfaction amongst its users
IRESS leads planning software market in number of adviser relationships
IRESS’ XPLAN increased its lead in the software space following the migration of VisiPlan and MLC’s AdviserCentral users to it, and now holds 51% of primary planner relationships among software users in Australia, according to a new report released last week from leading wealth researcher Investment Trends.
In its tenth year, the May 2013 Planner Technology Report is an in-depth study of Australian financial planners and their technology needs. The study is based on a survey of 1,141 financial planners concluded in May 2013.
“The planning software market has completely morphed over the past decade,” said Investment Trends Senior Analyst Recep Peker. “Where VisiPlan used to dominate, and Microsoft Excel was used to plug the gaps, XPLAN is now the main planning tool for half of Australian planners.”
The industry has gone from the top four providers holding 56% of primary relationships in 2004, to a concentrated market where the top four now hold 87% of primary relationships.
Most used planning software by primary adviser relationships
|
Planning software |
Percentage of primary relationships among software users |
| XPLAN |
51%, up from 39% in 2012 |
| COIN |
25%, steady |
| midwinter |
7%, steady |
| AdviserNETgain |
4%, down from 5% |
Industry satisfaction levels hit a five year high
Planners’ satisfaction with their most-used software reached a five year high, although increasing only slightly from 2012.
“Versus last year, Australia’s planning software providers increased adviser satisfaction the most with constructing portfolios, capturing fact-find information, helping select investments and producing client review reports,” said Peker. “This reflects the extensive development work undertaken in these areas over the last 18 months.”
“Planners are also happier with their planning software across every element measured compared to a decade ago, though the area with the smallest growth in satisfaction, ease of use, is also the main area that planners still say they want software providers to improve.”
“Among the two large players, XPLAN had higher satisfaction than COIN, and the gap between them increased from last year,” said Peker. “Given the acquisition of COIN by Rubik, it will be interesting to see what happens to COIN’s satisfaction ratings following their new and upcoming developments including the refresh of the COIN user experience.”
Midwinter had the largest increase in users’ overall satisfaction from 2012, and the highest average overall satisfaction rating. Relative to the industry, it scored notably better for ease of use, producing simple plans and scenario modelling.
AdviserNETgain had the highest satisfaction ratings for value for money, producing comprehensive financial plans and producing client review reports.
Average time to produce a full SoA continues to decrease
“Even with planners’ clients’ needs becoming more complex, and a greater compliance burden placed on planners’ shoulders, software providers have continued to shave precious minutes from the time it takes to produce the average SoA,” said Peker. “Planners now estimate it to take over an hour less to produce a SoA than it did six years ago.”
“The greatest time savings are from editing and personalising the document, and calculations, modelling and projections.”
About Investment Trends
Investment Trends is the leading specialist market research organisation in the Australian retail wealth management industry, and also operates in the US, UK, Germany, France and Singapore. We provide new insights and decision support information to over 200 leading financial services businesses. We combine analytical rigour and strategic thinking with the most advanced research and statistical techniques to help our clients gain competitive advantage.
Investment Trends’ clients include all of the top five Australian banks, the top ten investment platform providers, the top five online brokers, as well as industry regulators, leading margin lenders, dealer groups, financial planning software providers and risk product providers.
About the report
The results are drawn from the Investment Trends May 2013 Planner Technology Report, released to Investment Trends’ clients last week. This report was based on a survey of 1,141 financial planners in April and May 2013.
