News & Events

Friends Provident launches Dynamic Portfolio Planner

Friends Provident, the FTSE 100 life and pensions company, in conjunction with Distribution Technology, has launched Dynamic Portfolio Planner (DPP) – a new web-based investment portfolio planning tool.

Designed for IFAs, DPP enables accurate client risk profiling, offers guidance on efficient asset diversification as well as fund portfolio construction. This is an easy to use online tool, which is ‘advice led’ adopting a strategic asset allocation starting point, rather than a single ‘product driven’ solution.

Key features for IFAs include:

• Ability to analyse a client’s current investment portfolio holistically, be it on an individual or household basis.
• Review data on the underlying asset mix of the existing arrangements to establish required action effectively and efficiently.
• Conduct a focused behavioural risk questionnaire to drive client risk profiling, which then feeds into ten risk constrained and efficient asset allocation models.
• Demonstrate the efficiency of a client’s current versus existing arrangements both on line and also via the financial plan produced.
• Input a client’s financial objectives to create asset forecasts and probabilities of achieving goals, which are relayed both on-screen and via a financial plan.
• Produce forecasts based on stochastic modelling techniques which are updated quarterly.

A further benefit is the flexibility in fund selection. DPP offers three routes for an IFA to select the most appropriate range of funds available via the Friends Provident Investment Portfolio Bond:

• Sample fund portfolios from Old Broad Street Research (OBSR)
• Sample multi manager fund portfolios (based on Richard Philbin’s Multi Manager funds at F&C)
• Self build with drop search by fund asset allocation

Jim Henning, Investment Marketing Manager at Friends Provident, said:

“We have designed an innovative planning tool which will improve the consistency, compliance and quality of financial planning. Through using the tool IFAs can deliver high quality portfolio reports in a timely fashion. This will be seen as a major boost for IFAs.

Also with the Financial Services Authority and the Association of British Insurers looking closely at the ongoing advice process, the re-balancing of a client’s portfolio on a regular basis is a strong added value service. The DPP makes this an extremely simple task to execute.”

Ben Goss, Managing Director of Distribution Technology, said:

“We are delighted to work with a blue chip organisation such as Friends Provident with its industry recognised technology strengths. We are confident that the Dynamic Portfolio Planner will become the new benchmark in on-line investment portfolio planning tools.”

There is access to the Dynamic Portfolio Planner via Friends Provident’s IFA extranet site http://www.friendsprovident.com/ifa/dpp.

IFAs visiting the extranet will also benefit from special offers currently running on the Investment Portfolio Bond and the Income Distribution Bond.

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01/03/05