Xplan has been supporting advice professionals for a generation, providing you with the tools to deliver better advice outcomes for clients. This is made possible through constant innovation. Existing tools are being continually refined and new functionalities added, ensuring Xplan evolves with industry needs to remain the unmatched software of choice.
Iress listens to the industry, to understand what advice professionals need - and want - from their tech. This directly influences the enhancements made. Here are some of the key areas where we’ve been developing Xplan and, crucially, where new enhancements are being implemented in 2024.
Adviser efficiency
Advice professionals often have to deal with duties that get in the way of actually advising clients. The 2023 Iress Advice Efficiency Survey found that 50-70% of an adviser’s working week will often be taken up by administrative duties. This is a headache for anyone working in advice, from principals to paraplanners, will be familiar with. Which is why we’ve enhanced Xplan to do more of the heavy lifting.
We’ve streamlined portal administration, allowing you to provide your clients with a more comprehensive reporting capability, and uplifted the Iress Portfolio System to support SMA integration. This level of efficiency has been extended elsewhere. Automation of statement loading between suppliers and CommPay’s back office is now possible, meaning statements can be generated quickly and without delay.
Now, we’re building on this progress to bring more options to your screens. You’ll soon be able to achieve more comprehensive outcomes for clients with the benefit of complete modelling all in one place. We’re making it possible for users to model multiple super funds at once, giving greater sight of the options available to a financial plan. Modelling of assets and liabilities will also become more intuitive in time, with little need for manual data entry. This automation could also be used to streamline invoice processing.
We’re even reviewing how data is saved. Soon you’ll no longer lose time finding data - we’re making changes so all product features, fee and asset allocation information at the point of proposal are saved in one location to allow for faster retrieval.
Compliance & security
Professional standards are only heightening. Last year, the 2023 Iress Advice Efficiency Survey revealed 74% of financial services expected their regulatory burden to increase. This is why we’ve worked to deliver inbuilt compliance and automated updates that not only save time but help protect against errors and risk.
With new emerging legislation and changing regulatory guidance, we’re constantly seeking ways to implement market leading approaches to information security practices. As part of this approach, we’re proud to share the successful completion of SOC 2 Type 1 audit for our Xplan software.
The voluntary audit conducted by our partners at EY reviewed our information security practices, policies and procedures to meet rigorous SOC 2 standards for security and confidentiality. It’s part of our ongoing commitment to maintaining the highest standards of information security and privacy for Xplan, and protecting the confidentiality and integrity of customer data.
Our commitment to proactively safeguarding advice businesses has also seen us adopt the latest in multi-factor authentication protocols. We’re now exploring how this can be extended to allow for seamless access across the entire suite of Iress products. This will allow you to use a singular login method aligned across these apps.
Portfolio precision
Advice professionals must have access to the most accurate data possible to deliver better advice outcomes. A testament to the work we do in this area is that 98% of advisers don’t see modelling capabilities as an area of advice software that needs to be improved. We aren’t complacent though, and portfolio precision remains a critical area of focus.
Data quality of investor accounts has been enhanced through the automation of interactions between Iress and data suppliers, with this scope expanded to include additional funds and super accounts. Creating robust retirement plans is a key part of financial advice. Xplan supports this by providing greater functionality, with users able to choose particular assets, supers or pensions as part of re-contribution strategies. We’re also continually exploring new data feeds – from both insurers and supers – that can further improve the advice outcomes created.
User experience
We live in a world where technology has transformed experiences in both business and everyday life, so it’s only natural that you want your advice software to also be intuitive and appealing.
We’ve already enhanced the user experience through the design of a digital fact find and the launch of the next generation of Iress digital advice - both innovations are part of the natural progression from paper-based systems to the modern experience clients now expect. The advice journey has also been optimised with the delivery of a self-service financial literacy platform – Super Smart – to provide personalised education content to clients.
We’re actively exploring other UX enhancements. New screens designed to help you better access recommendations, performance and transactions are being rolled out, and we’re now exploring a replacement of the existing content management system. In time we also plan to give you better transparency through clearer sight of data feed administration screens.
Business insights
Advice professionals don’t just need excellent software to support clients’ financial plans, but their own businesses as well. This is why Xplan is designed to empower you with the best in business insights. We’ve created robust mechanisms to make data more accessible, and are continually adding to these. Throughout 2024 this will include the development of a new underlying data infrastructure and a more efficient – and secure – mechanism to support how data is shared with clients.
Building on this, we’re also exploring how we can make it easier for you to track and report on processed data. This means including details of each data feed in platform summary reports, and helping outline encountered issues more clearly.
Integration & strategic partnerships
Integrations and partnerships help make our software even better, which is why we focus on finding and working with the best. This has already seen us execute a strategic review for Iress - developing, implementing and optimising the governance model of how integration supports this program.
We’re continuing to widen our horizons, with the active adoption of OpenAPI standards to improve the interoperability of Xplan’s APIs. In time we plan to go further and introduce Docusign integration in Q3 of 2024 to strengthen e-signature capabilities, as well as reimagine advice documentation through partnerships with industry-leading third parties.
We’re proud of the work we’ve done and continue to do to make Xplan unmatched in advice technology. These tools must evolve to keep supporting advice professionals and the better advice outcomes you create.
We’re excited about the improvements being made across the Xplan software suite, and where these will help take you and your clients next. Make sure to get in touch with the Iress team for more information and detail on the 2024 Xplan product roadmap.
