Planners resort to DIY software

Dissatisfaction with available financial planning software is leading dealer groups to create their own, with some practices now selling their programs to other dealer groups.

HNW Planning principal Robert Cumming started marketing his own internal software, Syncrm, to other dealer groups three weeks ago amid widespread dissatisfaction with the available software.

“[Syncrm] came about over pure frustration with existing software not being able to cope with complex client situations, [the problem of speed and] not being able to keep enough information,” he said.

Cumming told Money Management the Coin and Xplan applications were so complex he became entirely dependent on trained staff to use the programs, and when they left he was unable to even start them. It is a common problem in the industry, he said.

Martin Myers, chief financial officer at Compound Capital, said they constructed their own software because the available programs could not handle complex portfolio transactions and the after-sales support was “pretty poor”.

“If I had an organisation [like] that I’d be hanging my head in shame,” he said.

Compound is still looking for a software system that offers value for money and provides assistance with documentation and products, Myers said.

Fiducian recently announced it is planning to launch its own flexible, easy-to-customise software next month.

“We were sold Visiplan some time back when we started, but it seemed too complex and expensive, [so] we just continued with our own development,” Fiducian managing director Indy Singh said.

Jenny Powell, director of Powell Capel Securities, said Coin took up so much computing power it could only be used for larger dealer groups, and when she switched to Xplan she found the after-sales support “totally frustrating”.

Powell said the group subsequently created its own templates rather than waiting three months for Xplan to design them and did not use Xplan’s table of assets and liabilities.

Andrew Clegg, a financial planner at Hales Douglass, said the company switched to Coin because Xplan did not offer any after-sales support, but Coin’s commissions reporting system left a lot to be desired. As a result, Hales Douglass had to use Coin’s separate system, Olicc Technologies, to support its commissions reporting, he said.

Iress senior business development executive Michael Kinens said they had made improvements to Xplan since they purchased the software, and added everyone was trying to extract as much as they could from software in this current environment.

Coin managing director Darelle Jenkins said it was typical to receive feedback from clients saying the software was either too complex or, conversely, praising it for its ease of use.

Financial planners also had to make sure the version they used fit their job requirements, she added.