What is Digital Advice?
Digital Advice is a technology solution that helps firms and advisors:
- Provide engaging, efficient, and scalable experiences that appeal to investor’s preferences for digital interactions
- Serve smaller accounts and high potential clients more effectively
- Boost productivity
eMoney and Fidelity have collaborated to co-develop the industry’s first fully integrated, planning-centric digital advice platform delivered through advisors, branded AMP (Automated Managed Program).
AMP integrates a Goal based planning tool and Investor questionnaire with Fidelity’s account opening processes and investment capabilities. Advisors using AMP are further supported by a suite of resources including best practices and multi-media marketing strategies and collateral that they can customize to attract prospective self-guided investors.
What is needed to enable AMP?
- An eMoney License (Select or above)
- A relationship with Fidelity with access to Fidelity’s Digital Suite and usage of Portal IDs
- The Fidelity Institutional Integration enabled within eMoney
- Risk Tolerance Questionnaire (RTQ) with scoring mapped to Geode model portfolios
How does an advisor/firm sign up for AMP?
Advisors that are eMoney subscribers and that clear through Fidelity can sign up for AMP by contacting their Fidelity Relationship Manager.
Due to the deep integration required between eMoney and Fidelity for AMP to work, the onboarding process takes time.
First, the deep integration between eMoney and Fidelity must be enabled at the advisor/firm level.
Each advisor/firm must also enter into an agreement with Fidelity and a sub-advisory agreement with Geode, and add an addendum to their existing eMoney agreement. These agreements are available through an advisor’s Fidelity Relationship Manager.
Additionally, each firm must develop an Investment Profile Questionnaire (also referred to as a Risk Tolerance Questionnaire Risk (RTQ) and map the scores of the RTQ to the investment options available in AMP. These, in turn, must be coded into the advisor’s unique profile and tested to ensure the end-user experience is seamless. While each firm’s RTQ will be unique, Fidelity RM’s have a template that clients can use to format the RTQ prior to submission.
How is this digital offering different from any others in the market today?
- One Platform for Success: AMP provides advisors with maximum flexibility to serve BOTH traditionally-advised and self-directed investors from within one platform. The solution will allow advisors to more easily migrate clients from automated to a collaborative relationship as the client’s needs evolve – without changing technology platforms. This is an important consideration as small account, emerging affluent end-investors accumulate wealth and their financial planning needs become more complex.
- Power in Planning: Another significant point of differentiation is its planning-led approach. While “robo” advice has long been available to wide segments of the investor population, financial planning has largely been reserved for high-net worth investors or those with significant assets. Infusing our proven planning-focused, advisor-centric philosophy and best-of-breed client experience into a self-directed digital model enables more investors to benefit from the planning process, while positioning our already technology-enabled advisors to better address a large and growing gap in the wealth management industry.
How does digital advice/AMP work ?
The digital advice solution is an advisor-enabled, digital offering that provides a streamlined, intuitive process for the end investor:
- Advisor’s/Firm’s Website a eMoney provides advisors a URL to place on their website, social media channels, email or other marketing channels of their choosing. When an investor (prospect) clicks on the link, they will be directed to your digital landing page.
- Landing Page: Here, prospects can start a plan to work toward their financial goals by entering their age and income.
- Goal Selection: Prospects then select a goal and adjust financial data inputs to see how their scenarios changes.
- Risk Profiling: Prospects complete a RTQ and Portfolio recommendations are made.
- eMoney Account Creation à Prospects complete eMoney’s Self-Registration process.
- Account Set-Up: Clients open a brokerage or retirement account through Fidelity’s Account Opening Workflow.
- Client Portal Access: Clients are taken to the homepage of their client portal, where they have access to all functionality as a traditionally advised investor, which will show their pending account and the goal that they set up, along with access to open additional accounts and view alerts.
- Funds Transfer: Once investors finish signing their account opening forms through Docusign, they will be alerted to return to transfer funds into the account.
- Client Portal Access with Digital Features: Client Portals for digital accounts will have additional features associated with them. On the account profile page within the Organizer, the client would have access to account performance, account maintenance (to edit beneficiaries, account contact info, etc), and funds transfer capabilities.
