Wealth Creator Financial Planning Software
Review by Kurt Rosentreter, CA, CFP, CIMA, TEP
krosentreter@berkshire.ca
Senior Financial Advisor, Berkshire Securities Inc.*
*Berkshire Securities is a member of CIPF.
Executive Summary
Wealth Creator software is best described as a toolkit of financial calculators and worksheets designed to help an investment advisor or financial planner make a sale. It is not a comprehensive financial planning product suite, it is not an advanced tool that can do everything, nor is it appropriate for the high net worth market. It basically helps a rep to educate a client on important basic concepts - concepts built around making a sale - whether that sale is mutual funds, insurance or borrowing to invest.
Background of the Company
Founded by Bruce Ramsey and three other key shareholders, the company is privately owned and profitable. Bruce wrote the program in 1987 and commercialized it in 1991. There are approximately 1,000 individual users and three investment dealer clients in Canada. The company has ten employees, five of whom are programmers.
Description of the Software
There are desktop and internet-based versions of the software. Wealth Creator can integrate with a mutual fund database, but it also has its own database called "FundView." The company is set to release an asset allocation tool developed with Richard Croft, which will be integrated into the software. Wealth Creator covers the basics of financial planning, providing a wide range of calculators and worksheets on a variety of topics. The client data entry is a good match to the KYC data you need for a client's investment purposes. As well, a data questionnaire is available in PDF format to give to clients. Some of the calculators are linked together so that you only enter data once. Other calculators and some worksheets are not linked together, and data is entered as needed. On the shared data screens, you have the ability to drill down to the detail level you want, or override and simply input the data you want. The software has an appealing look to it: The data entry and the results page are all on the same screen, facilitating changes and demonstrating "what if" scenarios.
Strengths of the Software
It is easy to use. You need little, if any, official training to get up and running with all the calculators and worksheets. It has a reasonable cost: $350 for a single user in the first year and $250 per year after that. It can be cheaper if your dealer signs a contract. The calculators and worksheets cover a wide variety of financial planning topics. Impressively, it includes some calculators (e.g. disability insurance needs analysis, bond calculator, retirement property calculator) that I have not seen before in any financial planning software. The creator, Bruce Ramsey, was a financial advisor himself. Often, if you call tech support, you will speak to Bruce. He is a developer that truly understands an investment advisor and financial planner's point of view.
Weaknesses of the Software
The biggest weakness is that it can't link the cash flows of a couple to generate a consolidated retirement plan. So, for example, if Dad has a deficit in his cash flows at year end, and Mom has a surplus, the software cannot net the two in the retirement planner. This essential calculation is needed to make Wealth Creator a useful tool for family financial planning. This weakness limits the tool's usefulness in doing any consolidated retirement planning. Bruce knows the importance of this calculation and is currently working on an update to add this feature. Investors Source, the company that produces Wealth Creator, has been around since 1991, but currently is a company of only ten people. This may worry a large dealer that is looking for the comfort level of a larger software firm. Tech support is only available during business hours, and only available in English. Also, there is no 1-800 number. Formal training courses are offered as needed, in person. No web training is available, but it will be available in 2003. You can't edit the report templates included in the software without exporting them to MS-Word first. This is not as efficient as you may like and it will be changed in upcoming releases. As with most Canadian made software tools, an outside third party (e.g. accounting firm) does not audit the financial data in the software for accuracy and completeness.
Important Factors for Corporate Buyers (e.g. Investment Dealers)
Wealth Creator can be privately-labeled for individual dealers and can be networked easily. It can be integrated with a firm's back office system, but for downloading client data only (not trades and positions). Currently, Wealth Creator (desktop version) is integrated with WINFUND front office system only. It does offer password control of defaults and the setting of password levels for management control. It is not CRM integrated yet, but this is currently being examined.
Overall
If you prefer a basic financial planning tool that allows you to know the owner of the company, pick up the phone any day to discuss changes you would like to see made and pay less than $500, consider Wealth Creator.
With that said, should you have the desire to generate elaborate, complex financial plans, you will need to purchase a second software tool to help you with more advanced financial planning.
The views and content expressed here have been provided by the author and not FPSC. This article is meant for informational purposes only and readers are encouraged to check with a qualified financial professional before making any financial decisions.
CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® and are certification marks owned outside the U.S. by Financial Planning Standards Board Ltd. (FPSB). Financial Planners Standards Council is the marks licensing authority for the CFP marks in Canada, through agreement with FPSB.
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