What We Offer
Our core strengths are technology and team — the most important types of support an advisor can receive. See the six core services where we excel to help you achieve more success.
Reporting
We generate quarterly reports through the Tamarac system, posting them to the client portals. We mail paper copies for a charge.
Trading
Our dedicated team of traders use Tamarac’s Rebalancer to systematically trade while considering advisor input when flexibility is required by the client situation.
Client Portal
We use proprietary client software to summarize portfolio performance and client retirement projections and create portfolio analysis scorecards.
Billing
We handle all of your client billing and get the money in your bank account before the 15th of the month.
Networking
Meet with other advisors working to achieve professional and personal goals at educational and social events throughout the year.
Compliance
Forum has a dedicated team that manages our firm’s compliance program and continually reviews policies and procedures in response to the changing needs of the firm, industry rules and governmental policies.
Are You Focused on Your Clients?
$4.5 million
“Advisors who focus on clients add 14 new clients per year on average for a total of $4.5 million in new assets.”
$1.9 million
Advisors who focus on investment management add “four new clients per year on average for a total of $1.9 million in new assets.”
Where are you spending your time? If you are not focusing on developing deeper relationships with your existing clients, connecting with prospects and asking for referrals, you are missing an opportunity to add to the value of your business.
Source: “Advisors Focused More on Client Management Than on Investment Management See Double the Growth in New AUM, According to FP Transitions’®Data.” SEI Investments Company via GlobeNewswire, October 10, 2016.
The Onboarding Process
Onboarding Project Plan
Our BackOffice group has facilitated the onboarding of more than 30 advisors over the past five years. We have developed a meticulous project plan that details the hundreds of steps we go through to make the transition successful. An advisor and his or her colleagues will meet the entire transition team throughout the process managed by our Advisor Relations Manager. The plan is specifically designed to allow time for advisors to become familiar with the people, resources and tools available to them.
Up and Running
We plan for a smooth transition for advisors and their teams. We stagger the process to make each step manageable. Our goal varies slightly depending on the complexity of each transition. For the typical solo- or dual-practitioner office, we will help prepare for the transition about two months ahead of the targeted transition date. If historical performance data must be imported, we will begin dually running performance reporting with an approximate three-month lead time so that we have a full quarter to reconcile any discrepancies.
We also plan for client transitions. For clients transitioning to our investment models, we also establish a plan ahead of the transition date. We can bring on your current investment models and transition clients slowly over time toward our models, so that the change gradually takes place for clients and any taxes are spread out over a period of years.
We can transfer clients in less than a month. By preparing in advance, we can typically have most clients fully on board within two weeks of the targeted transition date. Even with a few stragglers, the impact on revenues is negligible.
Our BackOffice group is there to provide support after the transition. We have found that the period right after the actual transition is when things become real. We dedicate significant BackOffice team and partner time during the subsequent month to bringing an advisor and his or her team up to full speed with training on technology and process.
Areas of Focus in Year One
- Training for the advisor and his or her staff on resources, technology and back-office procedures
- Revisiting how an advisor will divide time between business development, practice development and operational management going forward
- Developing a business development plan focused on deeper engagement with high-value, high-referral client relationships and centers of influence
Room to Grow
Dennis Packard of Align Wealth Management talks about growing his practice since he began working with Forum.