BECOMINGONE
Account aggregation software has yet to be fully
embraced by advisors but it’s gaining ground.
FORmost advisors, a primary goal is to manage as much of a household’s wealth as possible. By increasing the number of accounts managed, including retirement plans and annuities, advisors can create a more
robust relationship with their clients and position themselves as the go-to person for holistic
financial counsel. But for this to be possible, there must be a way to view all of a client’s assets, not just those custodied with the advisor.
That was the challenge facing Rob Siegmann, chief operating officer and senior advisor
with Financial Management Group, in 2008. At that time the Cincinnati-based firm estimated that $30 million resided in their clients’ other accounts, mostly retirement deposits
and annuities. The only way to get a look at these “held-away” assets was to ask clients for
statements, and manually enter the data in a portfolio management and performance reporting system—a process many advisory firms currently use.
Instead of accepting this time-consuming approach, Siegmann and his colleagues turned
to a technology solution: account aggregation, in this case provided by ByAllAccounts. Now
data is collected nightly from clients’ accounts, including 401(k)s, annuities, credit cards
and mortgages.
