Kelley Rating (one asterisk = lowest, five asterisks = highest):
• Ease of navigation, design of interface and learning curve ****
• Instructional documentation and help system ****
• Carries out the goal of the product as advertised *****
• Overall usefulness ****
Pallete Platform, from private client resources, is an integrated system of personal service and online tools designed to enable advisors to provide effective and interactive service to their clients. The program is combined with the publisher’s private wealth aggregation and custom solutions services. The online platform gives advisors a tool for reporting, analysis, billing, client resource management and document management, among other tools.The architecture and engineering of Pallete Platform offers comprehensive and transparent interactions between the advisor, personnel and the client family members through a single interface that can be be customized to the varied needs of private wealth firms. The program provides a complete overview of the client’s financial situation with tools to enhance the advisor’s service.
What’s it all About?
Pallete Platform offers web-based wealth data and information management, analysis tools and reporting capabilities. The reporting component includes full multi-currency reporting. The program includes document storage and management as well as a client billing feature. Sophisticated customer relationship management is part of the product goals and service. The program is designed to enhance the collaboration between the advisor and the client family and includes news feeds in addition to investment data accumulation for further education. The system also includes some rebalancing information and target information for planning purposes and collects financial and investment information and reconciles and validates that data using a technology base for clients to analyze and report data and custom integration of the system workflows. The program is accessible from mobile devices including the iPad.
How it Works
The Pallete Platform dashboard is accessible from the private client resources website and requires a client login. It’s designed to be accessed by the lead advisor, other authorized advisors and various client family members. Each user has a password that allows only a pre-selected amount of access to the system. Each site can be set as private and labeled with a personalized logo. The management information service includes a view of assets under management. Third party data is dynamically integrated into the displays of assets.
The opening screen displays summary graphics of the assets under management, a list of tasks to be performed and news feeds from selected sources. The user can select a screen to show a graphic summary of the assets under management by the advisor and sorted by asset class.
The client family may enable, a screen to display a portfolio summary, a graphic summary of asset allocation, top ten asset holdings and their performance over the last 30 days. The charts displayed can be further broken down into a display of the details of asset holdings (such as account, security and transaction information).
A spreadsheet (referred to as the “pivot analyzer”) is available for internal analysis of a client account and provides a Microsoft Excel-like display of asset data providing a data pivot capability. The user can select and filter columns based on the account, asset type, advisor, asset class, asset style, beginning market value, ending market value and other asset characteristics. The data displayed on this spreadsheet may be exported to Microsoft Excel.
The system also includes an elaborate document management system, which features custom tagging for easy search and retrieval and embedded document viewing and annotating.
A screen that incorporates a workflow and task management system is included for customer use. It shows all the activities going on at a given time with update authorizations.
The collaboration center screen displays a graphic summary of assets under management, outstanding client form updates, open issues to be addressed, letters of authorization and status and active tasks to be completed. The center also provides electronic forms to the user for entering updated information. Workflow may be monitored and managed and a collaborative calendar is available. This customer relationship management area includes maintenance of contacts, the ability to make notes and notices of various events.
The billing functionality of the platform generates invoices based on data in system and includes a display of invoice history and has tracking abilities.
How Are Reports Furnished?
The program provides pre-built reports that can be customized to client specifications. The user can generate reports in PDF and Excel formats. The reporting process is capable of tracking multicurrency exchange rates on a daily basis and selecting of the reporting currency.
The user can construct reports for multiple periods and can display a portfolio summary, portfolio returns, asset summaries and asset growth tracking with graphic summaries on a single screen. The asset allocation report (similar to a pie chart) can be customized with classes and styles and target allocations set. Assets can also be grouped, supporting custom blended benchmarks, custom security master categorizations and custom rollups as defined by the client. Performance information is generated “on the fly” as the reports are developed. A foreign holdings report and a very detailed alternative investment report may also be displayed. Reports can be filtered by various levels of family with dynamic filtering as new items are generated. The user can exclude various assets from certain reports and can restrict the reports to show just the market value of assets. Reports include measurement against targeted asset allocations, custom, blended and industry benchmarks.
Help and Support
Each screen of the program has a context-related help for general program operation and detailed help for individual screens that can be accessed by clicking the question mark symbol. As part of the publisher’s general service to the user, technical help on processing of data and preparation of reports is available by phone and email.
Product Availability
Pallete Platform is priced based on the number of accounts and the complexity of each relationship, with a minimum annual fee of $15,000. This usually translates into fees that range from one to three basis points on aggregated assets.
For information and ordering, contact:
Stephen Vondrak, ChFC
(203) 762-9006 x2276
[email protected]
www.pcrinsight.com/index.shtml
Competitive Products
Rockit supplies web-based services that provide data reporting and management services for family offices, high-net-worth individuals and financial institutions.
Wealth Touch offers investment reporting, expense management and bill payment options.
Wealth Passport from Northern Trust is a web-based platform that offers data aggregation and reporting capabilities with detailed summaries of net worth and performance measurement data.
Bottom Line
Pallete Platform provides rapid, detailed and easily visualized data aggregation, management and reporting for advisors and their clients in a collaborative environment.
Trusts & Estates magazine is pleased to present the monthly Technology Review by Donald H. Kelley—a respected connoisseur of the software and Internet resources wealth management advisors use to further their practices.
Kelley is a lawyer living in Highlands Ranch, Colo. and is of counsel to the law firm of Kelley, Scritsmier & Byrne, P.C. of North Platte, Neb. He is the co-author of the Intuitive Estate Planner Software, (Thomson – West 2004). He has served on the governing boards of the American Bar Association Real Property Probate and Trust Section and the American College of Tax Counsel. He is a past regent and past chair of the Committee on Technology in the Practice of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.
Trusts & Estates has asked Kelley to provide his unvarnished opinions on the tech resources available in the practice today. His columns are edited for readability only. Send feedback and suggestions for articles directly to him at [email protected].
