Advicent Unveils Compliance Blueprint Ahead of DOL Fiduciary Rule

Advicent has rolled out its Compliance Blueprint, a collection of digital tools and strategies designed to help firms and advisers comply with the Department of Labor’s conflict of interest rule, which goes into effect April 2017.

The suite utilizes eight particular features to help clients meet their compliance goals.

• Scenario manager: The Blueprint allows advisers to present multiple scenarios resulting in different outcomes, in order to show they are acting in a client’s best interest throughout the advising process.

• Transparent client reporting: Through a transparent reporting structure, Advicent provides a strategy that allows firms to show their clients how the recommended retirement strategy will play into their financial goals.

• Recommendation rationale: Advicent supplies free-form text entry into a financial plan that allows an adviser to provide qualitative logic behind specific strategies, when the reasoning that drives a clients’ best interest is not easily quantifiable.

• Complete documentation: A secure vault is offered to store collaborative documents and Advicent says it is the “only financial planning software provider with the internationally recognized standard of excellence for information security, the ISO/IEC 27001:2005 Code of Practice for Information Security Management Systems (ISMS).”

• Compliance workflows: The Blueprint allows advisers to present a step-by-step outline for creating a financial plan, which can be used to ensure recommendations are made following the same workflow for all advisers throughout the firm.

• Progress reporting: Advisers can compare current and past results from recommendations through Advicent reporting, thereby creating an auditable trail of previous financial plans and successful recommendations to show they were made in the client’s best interest.

In rolling out its Compliance Blueprint, Advicent also partnered with North Highland to complete an assessment of its financial planning software, and to certify it as “DOL-ready and equipped to meet the business needs of both firms and advisers.” The assessment evaluated each screen and feature presented in the user interface focusing on NaviPlan Premium and Narrator Clients, the client-facing portal offered by Advicent.

Advicent clients are now able to work with North Highland and utilize its DOL Fiduciary Foundations Playbook, which includes a risk assessment, DOL readiness assessment, adviser training, and more.

Advicent also offers the DOL Education Center in its Advisor Briefcase marketing communications tool. This Education Center contains a grouping of documents that can be shared with end-users that are curious to learn more about the DOL rule and how it impacts their financial future.

Advicent is the latest in a string of firms that has rolled out digital tools designed to help those in the retirement-services space comply with the DOL’s fiduciary rule, which is scheduled to be fully implemented by January 2018. Others include fi360, RiXtrema, AssetMark, Impact Financial Systems, and PCS.  

To learn more about The Compliance Blueprint as well as Advicent’s partnership with North Highland, visit AdvicentSolutions.com.