Client 360 has been officially reborn.
I recently took the first outsider's look at the updated technology engine and platform of independent broker-dealer Commonwealth Financial Network and found that it now integrates all client management tools: customer relationship management, portfolio management, document management and performance reporting.
The previous version of Client 360 used by the firm's 1,400 affiliated registered representatives and advisers was hardly flawed. About the worst complaint I was able to drag out of Commonwealth advisers over the last three years of was that the platform's user interface had grown a bit dated.
Advisers insisted the platform did everything they needed it to do and that much of the underlying core technology and the back end were improved regularly. It just wasn't pretty enough. (Oh yes, they also grumbled about its expense, but noted in the same breath that the firm's great customer service made Client 360 well worth the price.)
“They are a technology services company fronting as a broker-dealer,” said adviser Daniel Grossman, owner of Acorn Financial LLC, a registered investment advisory shop that manages $130 million in assets.
“We run our business on two-and-a-quarter staff, and we could not do that without the technology they provide. As they revamped Client 360, they have touched every aspect of the client relationship,” he said.
Ten years ago, Gary Pinkerton, principal of Pinkerton Wealth Management LLC, said he was persuaded by a fellow adviser to leave Commonwealth for the fresh technology being rolled out by a young LPL Financial.
A year and a half ago, he and his $50 million in client assets went back.
“When I came back to Commonwealth from LPL, even the old version of Client 360 was a breath of fresh air compared to what I had been using,” said Mr. Pinkerton, who has been using the new version for six months as part of a limited rollout of the upgrade.
Saying he was frustrated by a lack of centralization and integration in the LPL system — which he claims required him to visit multiple places within the platform's tools to access different client accounts or data — Mr. Pinkerton said the upgraded Client 360 system offers far tighter aggregation and consolidation of client, account and holdings data.
The enhanced report-generation tools are the single most important set of new features, saving his firm eight weeks of time spent assembling quarterly reports, he said.
LPL spokesman Michael Herley responded: “We are able to continuously reinvest in our technology platform throughout each year.”
With the new version of Client 360, advisers have access to 50 new reports and many report templates, all of which can be modified and re-saved.
Daren Tedesco, the managing principal at Commonwealth responsible for technology, said that while reporting features are important, the underlying consolidation of client data at a household level — no matter where the assets are under custody — ultimately would be most meaningful to advisers.
FIVE GROUPING LEVELS
The system provides five levels of household and account grouping and 10 distinct ways to dissect a client's asset allocation.
“One of the key pieces where we truly differentiate ourselves is with the level of cross-household-performance reporting,” Mr. Tedesco said. “Other broker-dealers can do household reporting, but not across-the-board performance.”
These features and the platform's ability to provide daily time-weighted performance data on all types of assets, which can be reviewed using customized, blended benchmarks in addition to standard benchmarks, will attract and retain advisers to Commonwealth, he said.
Joseph Conway of Diversified Investment Services Inc., whose name was given to me by Commonwealth, said he switched to the firm two years ago after spending 17 years working with Royal Alliance Associates.
His firm's five advisers and 10 staff members manage $650 million in client assets.
“I used the Vision 20/20 platform at Royal Alliance and it was good, but this is definitely one step above,” he said, referring to the Client 360 platform.
“I can look at rates of return for a portfolio, as well as individual investments, but more important, it can provide everything on a single page,” Mr. Conway said. “With just a couple of clicks, I can compare performance to benchmarks, whether T-bills, the S&P 500 or whatever is most appropriate.”
He also likes the platform's tight integration between reporting features and other tools, including the firm's trading system.
“If I'm with a client and go to their portfolio, I can click one button and go right to the trading page if I need to initiate a trade straight away,” Mr. Conway said.
Advisers also note some im¬proved integration with outside providers, such as its improved ability to map variable annuity subaccounts to Morningstar Advisor Workstation.
Other features on the way include a “One-Click Review,” which will bundle features to provide a series of client-specific reports with one click, and a custom-built re-balancing feature, which would replace third-party systems.
(Commonwealth's slide show of its new Client360 platform can be viewed
HERE)
