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PORTFOLIO ANALYSIS – FINANCIAL SIMPLICITY

Financial Simplicity is a portfolio monitoring and rebalancing system for firms running their own investment proposition. It tests each portfolio against its own mandate, including exclusions, substitutions and tax preferences, and calculates the trades needed to bring it back into line.

PORTFOLIO REBALANCING SUPPLIER/SOFTWARE: Defaqto Engage

Defaqto Engage portfolio rebalancing happens inside the adviser’s review, one plan at a time. Each review compares the plan’s calculated risk level with the client’s agreed level, then rebuilds the portfolio through a route limited to funds Defaqto has rated or a manual route with asset class targets. A report in two parts, one for the client and one for compliance, records the alternatives, and a fund proposal returns to the back office for acceptance. Engage does not schedule rebalances, rebalance to a model in bulk or produce trade files.

RISK PROFILING/RISK PROFILING SUITABILITY TOOLS SYSTEMS SUPPLIER/SOFTWARE: Defaqto Engage

Defaqto Engage risk profiling runs attitude to risk, capacity for loss, investor experience, suitability and ESG questionnaires, then tests the result against stochastic projections before the client agrees a level. Justification is recorded at each stage and carried into the report, and answers are checked for consistency. The agreed level then feeds cash flow, drawdown, research and switching, and reviews flag any plan whose own rating, based on volatility, has moved away from it.

RESEARCH SYSTEMS SYSTEMS SUPPLIER/SOFTWARE: Defaqto Engage

Defaqto Engage research covers products, platforms, funds, discretionary model portfolios and critical illness cover, with products, platforms and investments linked so a choice in one narrows the others. Filters and saved templates build a shortlist, DNA scoring ranks it on the features the adviser selects, and a filter report shows which providers each criterion removed. Risk-rated workflows limit investments to the client’s agreed level, using a mapping Defaqto bases on volatility. Charges reflect providers’ standard terms, so negotiated rates sit outside the data.

SWITCHING ANALYSIS SUPPLIER/SOFTWARE: Defaqto Engage

Defaqto Engage switching analysis covers two modules: pension switching for up to nine defined contribution plans, and product and platform switching for ISAs and general investment accounts. Each shortlisted product and platform combination is ranked by reduction in yield, with household holdings priced into charge tiers and staying put always among the options measured. Illustration figures are keyed in from providers, and the ranking measures cost alone, so guarantees and other features outside charges remain the adviser’s to weigh.

FINANCIAL PLANNING, CASH FLOW MODELLING & RETIREMENT PLANNERS SUPPLIER/SOFTWARE: Defaqto Engage

Defaqto Engage cash flow planning starts from the client record already in Engage, modelling a household’s income, spending, assets and pensions year by year. Projections run deterministically or stochastically depending on the firm’s licence setting, and stress testing gives a probability of success. A separate drawdown module tests a required income against the investments meant to pay it, then hands into research. Inheritance tax and protection needs sit outside the model.

REPORT GENERATION SUPPLIER/SOFTWARE: Genovo

Genovo is a suitability report writing system that builds each report from structured wizard steps and a library of standard wording controlled by rules, not from an edited document. Gena, its AI assistant, extracts facts from meeting notes into fields for the user to verify, while the adviser supplies the reasoning behind the recommendation. The trade is control and repeatability against the freedom of a blank page, which suits firms where several people work on each report.

CLIENT PORTALS SUPPLIER/SOFTWARE: Wealthcraft Investor Portal (Morningstar)

The Wealthcraft investor portal is a published view of the client record rather than a second system. It is included with Wealthcraft, shows property and liabilities alongside managed investments, and what each client sees is decided by the firm account by account.

WEALTH PRACTICE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS SUPPLIER/SOFTWARE: Wealthcraft (Morningstar)

Wealthcraft’s distinction is architectural before it is functional. Morningstar deploys it into the firm’s own Microsoft Dynamics environment rather than hosting it, which puts advice workflow and document storage under controls the firm already owns, and makes adoption a configuration project rather than a subscription.

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