Insurance, Integrated

Clients rely on their advisor's trusted guidance as they plan for, and later enjoy, their retirement. Insurance is an important component of a client’s overall financial picture, however, for many fiduciaries, incorporating insurance products hasn’t been possible. Barriers such as commission-driven distribution, product complexity, and a lack of connected technology solutions have made it difficult for firms to incorporate insurance products into clients’ financial plans.

Last year, that changed. SS&C Advent joined forces with DPL Financial Partners to form the Advent Insurance Marketplace Powered by DPL (AIM).  The groundbreaking platform provides SS&C Advent advisors direct, no-cost access to discover, implement, bill, and report on fee-only insurance and annuity solutions for their clients.  Selected insurance holdings pull into the advisor’s respective SS&C Advent platform, such as the Black Diamond® Wealth Platform, automatically via an Advent Custodial Data feed, bringing insurance natively into a client’s financial reports and enriching the dialogue between the advisor and client.

Black Diamond recognized AIM’s value and took this integrated technology to the next level by incorporating AIM into the platform’s Client View application. The addition of an Insurance dashboard fits right in since Client View is already the advisor’s command center for holistically managing a client’s financial life.

Now, through a dedicated hub, advisors can manage client-specific insurance solutions alongside the other aspects of the client’s financial life. Informational and operational, the Insurance space launches an advisor into DPL’s powerful tools and solutions as well as displays key account metrics for selected policies. The experience enables advisors to:

• Discover low-cost, commission-free insurance solutions to help address the income challenges confronting today’s retirees
• Evaluate client-specific options using resources and discovery tools that guide appropriate product selection
• Implement and bill on chosen solutions in Black Diamond by including the value of annuities purchased in their billed AUM
• Review and report on selected policies within the context of a client’s entire financial life in Black Diamond
• Communicate financial plans, updates, and reports to clients through the Client Experience portal

Easy connection to discovery tools makes it easy for an advisor to run real-time comparisons during prospect or client meetings, immediately illustrating the value of an advisor who goes beyond traditional investments. The Annuity Comparison Calculator, for example, allows advisors to evaluate existing annuities and then show their client or prospect the potential savings that they can realize after exchanging into a low-cost, commission-free annuity. 

Client Reporting that Tells the Whole Story

In the past, client reporting only sparsely included annuities. Either most advisors viewed insurance products as separate from their asset allocation plan or they did not have the ability to include annuities in their reporting structure at all.  However, for clients who already hold an annuity, the income received from these solutions is often a massive component of their financial picture. It became SS&C Advent’s imperative to empower financial advisors with the ability to include these investments within their clients’ financial plans as part of the overall portfolio and asset allocation.

With the newly enhanced data feed between AIM and Black Diamond, the Insurance space was able to enrich annuity reporting by introducing data points exclusively available through AIM. At a glance, advisors can easily view key metrics like product type, carrier, tax status, payout rate, expenses, riders, and beneficiaries directly inside of Client View. Insert Black Diamond’s already robust reporting capabilities and now fiduciary advisors have even more powerful tools to drive deep, value-add holistic conversations with their clients.

It’s a Win-Win

A conversation about insurance wouldn’t be complete without mentioning fees. Before, when an advisor determined that a guaranteed income product was the best investment vehicle for their client’s needs and goals, recommending an annuity meant the advisor lost either billable AUM or it was difficult to maintain operationally. The integration between AIM and Black Diamond solves those challenges and supports advisors using annuities. By leveraging existing billing workflows in Black Diamond, advisors can include the value of annuities purchased through AIM in their billed AUM. That ability gives advisors the freedom to make conflict-free annuity recommendations and flexibility in how advisory fees are collected, either from the annuity itself or a separate account. That is a win for both advisors and their clients. 

The game-changing experience AIM provides means advisors can elevate their offering and ensure clients receive the benefits of guaranteed income, principal protection, and tax deferral – all under the trusted fiduciary umbrella. If you want to learn more about the Advent Insurance Marketplace Powered by DPL, Black Diamond clients can simply launch straight into the experience using their platform credentials, otherwise, please request your personalized demo today.