| Technology Review January 14,
2009 |
|
Brought to you by
 |
| A web-based system for financial, retirement and estate
planning |
Kelley Rating (one asterisk = lowest, five
asterisks = highest):
- Ease of navigation, design of interface and learning curve ****
- Instructional documentation and help system *****
- Carries out the goal of the product as advertised *****
- Overall usefulness *****
SunGard
WealthStation is all about convergence. It presents a common
interface for financial planning, asset allocation, proposals, account
balancing and back-office operations. It is web-based, with a flexible,
modular front-office platform that will interface with other accounting
systems. It offers tools for client management, financial planning,
wealth accumulation planning, retirement planning, investment
management, asset allocation, data aggregation, trading, rebalancing,
reporting, client access and compliance. Some calculations are
goal-based and some are cash flow-based. For example, you may target
retirement needs by focusing your WealthStation calculations on
"at retirement" investment goals.
WealthStation includes a search filter for client files and
maintains a list of the client's advisors. This product also allows
entry of each client's assets, liabilities and other information.
This product gives you a high degree of flexibility in portfolio
arrangement with risk tolerance settings, asset allocation weight,
rebalancing and portfolio suggestions. Buy-sell requests trigger the
trading component. It also allows a tax-sensitive approach, offers
pre-profiled packages and permits a choice of investment vehicles.
Competitors
Competitors are Advent
Solutions, InvestEdge ASP,
and Odyssey
Management Platforms.
What's It All About?
The WealthStation facility integrates financial planning and
asset allocation capabilities from a common database, including data
from back-office systems, thus avoiding redundant data input. This
facility allows you to select financial planning packages ranging from
quick plans to comprehensive plans:
- The "Foundations Series" is an introductory tool with 10 to 12
questions to establish client needs and goals. It covers topics such as
asset allocation, planning for retirement and post-retirement, education
for family members, and survivor planning.
- The "Planning Series" includes interactive data input and
calculation modules for the advisor and client, with about 80 questions
on financial planning issues such as allocation, retirement estate,
insurance (life, disability and long-term care), financial statements,
etc.
- The "Advisor Series" is in-depth planning at the highest level,
covering education, estate planning, financial statements, retirement,
stock options and other issues. This package generates a 100-page,
detailed report based on 300 data elements.
WealthStation also provides a planning approach that it refers to
as "Concepts." These include extensive facilities identified as
Retirement, Needs Analysis, Estate Advisor, Cash Flow Consultant and
AllocationMaster. Under "Retirement," for example, you will find tools
for retirement planning, retirement advisors, IRA analysis, IRA
conversion, lump sum pensions, net unrealized appreciation, and more.
WealthStation offers a simple interface based on a series of tabs
at the top of the screen. Clicking on "Clients" brings up a summary
screen displaying the client's name and age. It also displays the
client's earnings, assets, liabilities and insurance, and provides
access to details through a click on a summary line. The categories for
data entry and selection of planning techniques are also reached from
the tabs. For example, clicking on "Assets" brings up a screen that
organizes assets by categories and allows you to enter asset details,
annual contributions and yield rates. This screen also displays and
provides immediate access to the Concepts and Calculators that have been
utilized for the client's planning. The "Comprehensive" tab walks you
through the entire client data input and planning process.
The interface provides an overview of current client activities, with
the ability to drill down to specifics by portfolio, account and
relationships. It provides overviews of the client's assets,
relationships and contact information. WealthStation delivers
graphic representations of client assets, asset allocations, net worth,
and other information related to financial plans and asset holdings.
You may create scenarios that replicate the client database, allowing
for different assumptions, techniques and investment returns. You may
then generate a comparison report for the scenarios. Because this
facility is web-based, you may permit tailored access to data and
calculations for the client's various advisors.
The program generates reports in PDF format, which may include
proposals, preservation of assets, branding, disclaimers and investment
policy. You may choose the degree of detail desired for client reports.
Presentations for client education are included.
WealthStation performs a number of calculations based on zCalc,
including charitable gift annuity, CLAT/CLUT, GRAT/GRUT, gift tax,
installment sale, private annuity, and QPRT. Other calculations
include: life expectancy, loan amortization, net unrealized
appreciation, RMD, SEPP (72t), stretch IRA, time value of money, taxable
vs. deferred, refinance, IRA conversion, critical illness, pension plan
and registered payout.
What About Help and Support?
The right-hand area of the screen includes a context-related series of
help topics that may be turned on or off. This area displays the help
information related to whatever area of the program you've selected from
the left side of the screen.
Where Do You Get This Facility?
This service is available from:
SunGard Financial Systems
Phone: 800-825-2518
Website: www.sungard.com/wealthstation
Pricing is based on seat licenses and the number of components and
modules utilized. Volume pricing is available.
Bottom Line
WealthStation provides wealth managers with a well-designed
web-based facility for portfolio management and a full range of
financial, retirement and estate planning tools. It is a high-end
sophisticated product with logical and visible navigation and
well-organized, easily generated reports.
Trusts & Estates magazine is pleased to present the monthly
Technology Review by Donald H. Kelley - a respected connoisseur of
the software and Internet resources wealth management advisors use to
further their practices.
Kelley is a lawyer living in Highlands Ranch, Colo., and is of counsel
to the law firm of Kelley, Scritsmier & Byrne, P.C. of North Platte,
Neb. He is the co-author of the Intuitive Estate Planner
Software, (Thomson - West 2004). He has served on the governing
boards of the American Bar Association Real Property Probate and Trust
Section and the American College of Tax Counsel. He is a past regent and
past chair of the Committee on Technology in the Practice of the
American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.
Trusts & Estates has asked Kelley to provide his unvarnished opinions
on the tech resources available in the practice today. His columns are
edited for readability only. Send feedback and suggestions for articles
directly to him at dhkelley@qwestoffice.net.
|
|
advertisement
Get Your Billing Under Control
Automate complex billing processes, from fee creation to
accounts-receivable management with Advent Revenue Center®. Reduce
billing errors and improve insight into your revenue base. Streamline
and automate your revenue management system to avoid uncomfortable
billing conversations. Find out if Advent Revenue Center is right for
you, go to the interactive
calculator.
 |
advertisement
If you are still drafting estate planning documents using
cut-and-paste methods, or if your drafting system was designed by
only a few practitioners, switch to WealthDocsTM. WealthDocs
is a powerful drafting system featuring the collective wisdom and
collaborative expertise of hundreds. For greater efficiency, increased
profitability, and higher confidence, click
here.
 |
advertisement
How can you increase your chances of an IRS
audit?
The audit rate for an estate tax return is nearly 8X that
for an individual tax return. The average recommended additional tax for
an audited estate tax return is $248,657.00! In fact, the IRS examined
almost 10% more estates in 2007 than 2008. Click here to
learn more.
 |
|
advertisement
 Wealth Transfer Planning TM is the
most powerful drafting and strategy system for estate planning
attorneys. Authored by Jonathan G. Blattmachr and Michael L. Graham --
leading experts in estate planning-- no other system is as powerful or
as comprehensive. Click
here |
For information on advertising in this newsletter,
please contact Rich Santos,
Group Publisher
To subscribe to this newsletter, click here: Subscribe
To unsubscribe to this newsletter click here: Unsubscribe
You are subscribed to this newsletter as #email#
To get this newsletter in a different format (Text or HTML),
or to change your e-mail address, please visit your profile
page to change your delivery preferences.
For questions concerning delivery of this newsletter, please contact our
Customer Service Department at:
Trusts and Estates
A Penton Media publication
US Toll Free: 866-505-7173
International: 847-763-9504
Email:trustsandestates@pbinews.com
Penton Media | 249 W. 17th Street | New York, NY 10011
Copyright 2009, Penton Media. All rights reserved. This article is
protected
by United States copyright and other intellectual property laws and may
not be reproduced, rewritten, distributed, re-disseminated, transmitted,
displayed, published or broadcast, directly or indirectly, in any medium
without the prior written permission of Penton
Media | |
| |
|
