Adviser software provider True Potential is in talks with six firms about acquiring their businesses and is set to further expand its operations with the opening of a London office.

It said it was offering its Guaranteed Business Exit Strategy (GBES) service to six firms that already use its adviser software.

True Potential has previously stated its intention to become a national IFA through the acquisition of firms looking to exit financial services.

David Harrison, True Potential managing partner, said potential acquisitions would have to be a True Potential client for at least a year so their processes were transferable.

He said he expected more firms to use the GBES service as the retail distribution review (RDR) approached.

‘It’s more designed to come into play next year and the year after,’ he said. ‘A lot of people of panicked about RDR. If you are capable of getting ready and capable of getting qualifications, you should go for it. Or if you are not we will buy you.’

True Potential’s new London office, to open in October, is part of the firm’s ongoing expansion which saw it take on nearly 100 adviser clients in June and July.

Daniel Harrison, senior partner at True Potential, said a London office was important due to the number of clients and customers based in the South East.

‘As we continue our rapid growth it is important that we have an office in the South East and London is one of the key places to be for many reasons,’ he said. ‘The new office will provide a cost-free space where IFAs can meet their clients for meetings and seminars.’

Following on from our development of V2 mobile applications, it gives me great pleasure to share the news that we have now developed our first iPad specific app for True Potential users and our their clients.

Client homepage

To download the app onto your iPad, simply go to the app store and type in ‘True Potential”.  This will display an app called “True Potential for iPad”. Follow the prompts to install this (it is a free download).

If you’re a TP user, simply use the same details that you use to login into True Potential. Please note that only your adviser logins work. Your clients can login using the same details that they use for their client sites and mobile applications.

If you’re not a TP user but want to see the app, you can login as a demo client. The details are:

Access ID: 6002
Username: demo
Password: demo
Passphrase: a a a

We have been big fans of the iPad since it was released earlier this year, as we think it is a tool that can be used effectively in front of your clients. Its large display, mobile connectivity and ease of use really lend itself to working with your clients on the move.

Client portfolio

Work is already underway to develop V2 of the iPad app. V2 will contain some excellent additions, including:

-       Asset allocation

-       Full factfind

-       Risk profiler

We are on track to have this delivered at the end of October.

We believe that this will give you a great point of sale tool for new clients and an excellent servicing tool for your current clients.

As ever, if you have any questions please drop me a line.

Thanks

Daniel

True Potential recently received the following review from noted industry commentator Mark Loosmore from AT8. If you haven’t seen it already here it is below:

Professional Adviser
Mark Loosmore

AT8’s Mark Loosmore begins a series of reviews of practice management systems. This week he discovers a portal with potential.

We use the term ‘practice management’ to describe the various systems that would typically be referred to as back-office or point-of-sale (POS), or customer relationship management (CRM).

The term is used more routinely in Australia where solutions are more holistic, and we are seeing more of those in the UK moving in this direction. So, we will be covering systems that support financial distributors in both the front- and back-office. We will look at packaged solutions and those that allow bespoke work to get the system tailored to the distributor’s exact business processes. We will consider both the budget end of the market and the premium end.

None of the solutions should be considered superior to others, because they all meet different needs. It is the goal of the reviews to help identify which systems may be most suited to particular distributors.

The first system of the series that we are reviewing is True Potential. Rarely has a new system come to market with such immediate prominence. Its impact may, in part, be due to a high-profile management team including David Harrison, famed for making Positive Solutions a success before it was sold to AEGON. When combined with a unique business model, True Potential has gained the attention of potential clients and competitors alike, creating quite a stir.

Broad functionality

True Potential covers most of the functionality required to run an adviser business. To coincide with the articles we are writing about practice management systems, AT8 has written a detailed review and comparison report on the systems available. In this research, True Potential came out as the firm with the broadest range of functionality.

It has a strong set of front-office tools that support the fact find processes and needs analysis, including financial calculators. It also runs its own quote and apply portal (in competition with the likes of Assureweb and Exweb). While the portal does not have the breadth of provider coverage that the rival portals claim to have, being integrated into the business processes within the True Potential solution ensures that an electronic process is seamless. The portal has by far the highest conversion rate in the market from electronic quote to electronic application.

True Potential also includes support for what would typically be seen as back–office capability, such as contact management, commission reconciliation and contract enquiry. It doesn’t yet link to as many product providers for contract enquiry as Adviser Office (more of a market leader for contract enquiry)to support these functions. However, its high profile has ensured it has linked quickly to many of the key players.

The True Potential business model is different from its competitors in the practice management space, because it provides complementary services, so it not only has the functionality to support commission reconciliation but also manages the process of commission reconciliation and collection. The commission services include the input of statements from all providers. If the statements are not available electronically, True Potential will manually enter them in on the firm’s behalf. It has recently extended these support services to include the completion of GABRIEL Returns.

Key to middle-office

In what we would term the middle-office (compliance and adviser functionality), we have long been fans of True Potential’s TCF capability that takes Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and enables management to monitor these in real time. If these KPIs fall beneath the target levels, the management team is asked to document explanations and where appropriate take action to address them. The aim is to ensure that the company is taking TCF to the heart of their business and the beauty of this approach is two-fold: it helps to drive proactive management of the business for customer and business benefits and demonstrates that it is doing so in an auditable manner for compliance and the FSA.

Another strong piece of functionality is the Client Portal, which allows the client to have the ability to log on and review and amend certain agreed details held on the system. For example, they could see their investment portfolio, and through the valuation links (bulk download and contract enquiry) links have this automatically updated.

Where there are no contract enquiry links in place, True Potential will use a price feed from Financial Express to update the value based on the number of units held on the system. The client can also access the fact find information and either complete it or update it as necessary.

The Client Portal works on the iPhone, Blackberry and Goggle Android phones. While not quite as graphically advanced as MoneyInfo (a specialist in producing client portals), it is the best implementation we have seen of a client portal from any of the traditional practice management systems.

All-you-can-eat pricing

As mentioned earlier, the True Potential business model is very different to its competitors, and while the system stands as a credible offering in its own right, it is probably the business/pricing model that will make or break a purchasing decision.

It does not charge licence fees in the traditional sense but instead charges a percentage of turnover. There are two levels for firms to choose from: the first is a 4% fee and for this the distributor gets everything. It is an all-you-can-eat pricing model, with unlimited licences, training and support. It also includes compliance support services.

The unusual nature of the pricing model is attractive to firms that want to adopt a ‘shared risk, shared reward’ approach. In many ways it appeals particularly to the smaller firms, because it allows them to focus on their core services, rather than having to employ people to undertake compliance or source the services from another service provider.

However, the deal does come with a necessary constraint. For the model to work for both the supplier and distributor it has to be long term. In the case of True Potential this means a three-year contract. With other vendors offering one-month rolling contracts, and with technology rapidly changing, a three-year term is off-putting for some (for those in doubt this three-year term is non-negotiable and backed with strong contractual terms), others see the long-term contract as reassuring and a few apparently have requested longer-term contracts.

Another issue the model has raised is that in offering compliance services, True Potential has put itself in competition with the networks and third-party service providers. With these organisations beginning to mandate technology solutions themselves, True Potential may find it is locked out of large chunks of the market place.

True Potential has made a huge impact in the market and continues to gain market share. It now claims to have about 9,000 users. In some ways the figure is a misleading comparison to other vendors, because the all- you-can-eat pricing model encourages wide roll-out of the system across each firm. In comparison, other vendors charging, say, £100 per user per month will ensure it is only rolled out to those that use it on a regular basis and derive value from it.

Maximising adoption rate

However, the True Potential approach does encourage roll-out throughout an organisation without extra cost, so it helps ensure its adoption rate is maximised as the system is taken to the heart of the organisation, becoming part of the DNA from secretarial staff, to administrators, advisers and management.

True Potential is a well thought-out system, worthy of consideration for many firms. However, potential buyers should ensure they are comfortable with the business model and pricing approach before they spend too long investigating something that may not fit their own model.

I’m also pleased to say that we get mentioned in there!

Professional Adviser
Maria Merricks
http://www.ifaonline.co.uk/professional-adviser/feature/1728414/top-iphone-apps-business

With over 200,000 iPhone apps to choose from we look at some of the best…

Since the iPhone and its apps were introduced to the market in 2007, the idea of using the concept within a business model has excited organisations worldwide.

Founder of IFA Life, Philip Calvert believes this is just the beginning: “This is a market that will grow and grow and grow. It’s really exciting and offers huge potential for IFAs to improve their own productivity as well as potential for new ways to engage with clients.”

But, with 200,000 apps to choose from however, it is difficult to know where to start. Professional Adviser takes a look…

Business tools:

Scanner Pro:

· Scanner Pro is a handy tool for those meetings with new clients away from the office. Simply point the camera at any required identification documents, click, and the image will be converted into a PDF file, ready to upload, print or email back to the office for instant compliance.

· The app can also be used to document any receipts, business cards and articles or notes for future reference, keeping them all in one place and easy to find.

· Price: £3.99

Dropbox:

· Dropbox enables users to synchronise and share files across multiple computers and devices, meaning advisers will be able to access any documents saved to their desktop computer, on the go.

· Effectively replacing briefcases full of paper and files, Dropbox is useful for any work done whilst travelling and essential for meetings away from the office. Need information, graphs or spreadsheets for a client? Find it on your iPhone and share it with them there and then.

· Price: Free

HT Recorder:

· Perfect for meetings, seminars and conferences, HT Recorder transforms the phone into a handy Dictaphone, eliminating yet another thing for advisers to carry about when away from the office.

· The app records even when the speaker is several feet away. As well as this, it reinforces whispers, skips silences and enables users to email files to colleagues back at the office.

· Price: £1.79

Social Media:

TweetDeck:

· The introduction of smart-phones has meant social networking has sky rocketed, and the business opportunities advisers can take advantage of is a hot topic. Industry commentators agree that the networking, marketing and new business prospects have to be taken advantage of, and are hailing Twitter and Facebook as valuable tools to do just that.

· TweetDeck allows users to update and view their Twitter and Facebook profiles direct from their iPhone, meaning advisers can manage this business tool on the go.

· Price: Free

LinkedIn:

· LinkedIn is the social networking site for professionals, effectively looking to replace face to face networking and business card exchanges. The site enables the users to make contacts, view company and individual profiles and even set up meetings.

· The LinkedIn app means advisers can make use of all of this on the go; ensuring contact with over 70 million professionals worldwide is just a touch away.

· Price: Free

Financial News and Markets:

Bloomberg:

· Bloomberg is a professional’s favourite for news on the world’s financial markets, and its app means it can be accessed anytime, anywhere.

· It provides news, stock quotes, company profiles, market leaders/laggers, price charts and market trend analysis along with a popular customisable homepage, meaning advisers can pick headlines from any market or Bloomberg category of their choice.

· Price: Free

Yahoo Finance:

· The iPhone’s default applications already include Yahoo Stocks, but this upgrade consists of even more.

· Users can navigate to find real-time and after hours stock data, currencies, graphs, statistics and ‘Tech Ticker videos’. It stands out from the crowd with its research section, which enables users to browse broad industry categories, commodities, treasuries and markets.

· Price: Free

Industry:

Fidelity Investments:

· Anyone can download the Fidelity app to chart stocks, research the markets, read the news and maintain a watch list.

· Offering a new way for advisers to engage with clients however, customers have the added ability to trade and manage their accounts. Users can take advantage of the following: track portfolios; trade stocks, mutual funds, ETFs and options; compare stocks and monitor the market with up to the minute streaming news and quotes.

· Price: Free

True Potential:

· Members of IFA service provider, True Potential, have access to this app which offers real time client valuations as well as secure access to data including historic investment performance and fund choices.

· The app has impressed the industry, and AT8’s Mark Loosmore describes it a ‘very useful application and a really nice solution’. Available also to clients, it works towards the belief that advisers need to able to provide their clients with information in a number of ways.

· Price: Free

Dynamic Planner – Risk Profiling:

· Distribution Technology (DT) offers this app to profile client risk and acts as a perfect example of how the iPhone can improve the adviser/client relationship.

· The app, a favourite of Informed Choice managing director Martin Bamford, uses DT’s core ten question psychometric risk questionnaire and provides advisers with a simple and effective way of educating clients about investment risk and risk profiling prior to a meeting.

· Price: Free

Coming soon…

IFA Life:

· The social networking site for financial advisers, IFA Life, is set to release three iPhone apps within the next year.

· Founder Philip Calvert assures the first will be out within the month and will give users the IFA Life ‘experience’ on their iPhone. The second, a consumer facing app entitled Find an IFA, is ‘completely new within the industry’ and the third, to come later in the year “will be groundbreaking for the industry and is ‘top secret’,” says Calvert.

Based in 42-44 Grosvenor Gardens, the office is based in the central London Victoria area and will be available to use free of charge for all of our True Potential users.

Meeting area

As you can hopefully see from the images on display here the office will be furnished to a high specification – when we began designing this space we wanted to give our users somewhere where they felt really proud to work from and a space that they would be happy to invite their clients and introducers to for meetings.

As well as providing 6 different sized meeting spaces, the office also has day one capacity for 30 of our users at any one time – with a further capacity for another 20 seats if the office proves as popular as I hope it will. Using a ‘hot desking’ approach, space can be easily booked online, meaning that your working area is guaranteed for the day selected.

Building work is to commence shortly and we expect to take occupancy in the middle of October. Keep your eyes peeled for an invite to our opening event!

In the meantime, if you’d like anymore information please let me know.

Regards

Daniel

Floor plan

IFA services provider True Potential is to open an office in London’s Victoria this October.

The new office will provide a working location for any of True Potential’s staff as well as their IFA clients, which includes over 600 firms and more than 3,900 registered individiuals (RI).

The Newcastle-based firm, which recently launched its latest iPhone and iPad software for IFAs, now has a 15 per cent share of the UK IFA market after 52 new firms joined its IFA support services platform in June this year.

Daniel Harrison, senior partner at True Potential, said: “As we continue our rapid growth it is important that we have an office in the South East and London is one of the key places to be for many reasons. The new office will provide a cost-free space where IFAs can meet their clients for meetings and seminars.”

True Potential managing partner David Harrison today met with FSA executives to discuss ways to speed up the application process for firms seeking direct authorisation.

The support services provider, which is handling the application process on behalf of new members, says the average authorisation time is approaching six months.

Among Harrison’s suggestions for quickening the process was enabling firms to apply electronically.

True Potential says it has overseen completed applications for 90 firms so far in 2010, but that 197 cases remain pending.

Senior partner Daniel Harrison says: “We need to speed up an application process that used to take six weeks but now takes six months. It is the sheer quantity of applications the FSA is handling.”

As many as 240 advisers previously with censured – and now closed – IFA Park Row are still awaiting re-authorisation, even though the national firm de-authorised them in November last year.

Meanwhile, True Potential says it has turned over more than £84m so far in 2010 and expects to post a figure approaching £130m for the year as a whole.

It says it has recruited 263 firms year-to-date, with a record 52 taken on in June.

Independent wrap Ascentric has integrated its platform with adviser support services provider True Potential.

The amalgamation provides True Potential users with a daily valuation feed of their client’s holdings that are available on the platform.

The tie-up means that True Potential users now have access to up-to-date portfolio valuation information alongside their existing client data when they login to their back-office system.

Richard Goodall, sales and marketing director for Ascentric, said: “This is a great example of how two technologies can combine to provide advisers with a holistic view of their clients. We have a large number of advisers that use True Potential and I am delighted to announce this integration as it will significantly enhance the user experience for both systems.”

Ascentric is an asset consolidation service for independent financial advisers offering a full wrap platform currently unrivalled in the UK.

However, Mike Shaw, managing director Dyfed-based Hedley Asset Management, raised some concerns.

He said: “We’re always looking for ways to improve our service and are constantly bombarded by the latest offering from the likes of True Potential and Simply Biz. The problem for small IFA firms is that it can be difficult to differentiate which offering is best as the goal post keeps moving.

“One IFA firm that I know which uses True Potential said that although it is good, things have to be done its way. We have more of a freestyle approach here so I fear we may find it too constricting for our needs.”

Ascentric has united with adviser support services group True Potential.

The link-up provides True Potential users with a daily valuation feed of client holdings on the platform.

They will also have access to to up-to-date portfolio valuation information, alongside existing client data when logging into their back office system.

“This is a great example of how two technologies can combine to provide advisers with a holistic view of their clients,” says Ascentric sales and marketing director Richard Goodall (pictured).

“We have a large number of advisers that use True Potential and I am delighted to announce this integration as it will significantly enhance the user experience for both systems.”

Ascentric has announced the integration of its wrap platform with the adviser support service True Potential.

The integration provides True Potential users with a daily valuation feed of their Ascentric wrap client holdings, and means they can view up-to-date portfolio valuation information next to existing client data when they log on to their back office system.

Mark Henderson, senior partner at True Potential, said: ‘Our users are now able to instantly see a complete view of their client assets, new and old generation, via their computers and on the move via iPhone and other mobile devices.’