Collating client info for Voyant
Gustavo_Fring
Member
Hello,
Advisers, who are new to Voyant, are asking me what information we require in order to build a client case.
Most of it can be retrieved via the usual factfinding but I'd be interested in other people's techniques and methods in ensuring the adviser provides you with enough information.
This doesn't just apply to Voyant...
Thanks
Comments
If you aren't getting enough information to create a first draft basic Voyant from an adviser's initial factfind then you have a bigger problem at an earlier stage in the process.
If the advisers want to put the Voyant at the front of the process, then they should be able to work out what is needed by knowing what a cashflow plan output shows i.e. you will need details of the people, their incomes, their expenses, and their existing stuff (in other words, see my first point!)
As Benjamin says, planners should surely be getting the base data required including specifics around debts, terms, interest rates etc and not just the mortgage figures. If they are doing a proper fact finding job, then most should be there. However, things I tend to find are missed more than others are as follows:
Each firm differs though and if they want this as part of the process I would breakdown exactly what you require to build the plan, but a detailed fact find should do most!
We use a detailed expenses spreadsheet as well if clients want to break down costs now/at retirement etc....some prefer just a high level 'lifestyle expenses figure'.
I assume you also have all the settings etc in place for your firm? Me and the planners meet annually to re-confirm/change assumptions etc and carry out further research to back up these assumptions at the time.
Hi both, thank you for the replies. I agree this information should be gathered at factfinding stage and to be fair, most of it is. However, there are some pieces of detail which are useful for cashflow. Examples off the top of my head are mortgage rate, whether the target expenditure figure include ISA contributions/life insurance premiums or is that on top? Just little details that the adviser forgets to explicitly record.
A supplementary checklist may be useful perhaps.
@Nath Yes, we do have the settings consistent across the firm and we review our assumptions annually and back them up with evidence.
Yeah good point regarding contributions....I find this too and Voyant obviously adds the contributions on top of any essential/lifestyle/luxury expenses added. If not explicitly stated, I would always add contributions on top of expenses they have detailed but then share the income/expenses sheet produced via Voyant so adviser can confirm with the client. It's likely they might not even know and the client would have to confirm anyway
Our process:
We use Fact Find to gather mostly 'hard' data (but not expenditure). For policies/investments etc this is just basic plan name, provider, policy number.
For expenditure we have a spreadsheet for clients to complete. This excludes anything they are paying into policies on a regular basis (as we get this as part of our LOA / plan info gathering process from the provider).
Fact Find and Spreadsheet are sent to client via FileHaven to complete - advisers not involved in this process.
The spreadsheet asks not just for the expenditure item but also for them to tell us if it is essential or discretionary. It does other stuff as well and I have attached the current ' master' version - feel free to use/adapt. (It has macros in so you may get a security warning when opening).
I also have a second version to which I copy and paste the expenditure data as this gives me some pivot tables and dynamic charts etc.
When data comes back I review it, clarify anything which is either missing or unclear direct with client.
Inputting data to Voyant is then pretty easy. We add in all the policies with premiums etc for which there is a regular commitment. We would not include (at the initial stage) any lump sum payments into ISAs.
Then do a 'sense check letter - confirming the Asset / liability data from Voyant as well as income and expenditure.
From the inc / exp we can work out (roughly) how much spare cash the client should have each month - most of the time they laugh at the amount and from there we agree a monthly 'stuff' budget to cover money being spent but on unknown things.
Once this is done adviser arranges a more interesting lifestyle fact find meeting where we gain an understanding of a range of objectives/goals - what the clients want to achieve (& why) etc.