Financial Profiles, Inc. — Profiles+ Professional

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From the June/July 2006 Review of Estate Planning Systems

Profiles+ Professional is aimed at the financial advisor market, with tools that allow the advisor to help maximize sales, while helping clients achieve specific financial and estate planning goals. It is utilized by brokerage houses, securities dealers and financial planners. Some of the company’s users include Securian, Waddell & Reed, SunAmerica, 1st Global, SunTrust and others.

Comprehensiveness, Reliability & Ease of Use -- 5 Stars
The product is available in a stand-alone Windows desktop version, a browser-based (ASP) version or mixed environments. For this review, the company provided access to the browser-based version, although the user interface is exactly the same on both versions. After logging into the product website, the program displays a menu across the top of the browser page with standard menu items. Also available are icons for New Case, Open Case, Save Case, Help and Home. The main screen contains a selection of the company’s approaches that can be used for a client: Preview, Primetime, Personal and Business. The Preview approach is designed to be an introduction to the kinds of services you can offer the client, and can be done with limited information and time. The Primetime approach is used to help a client discover their financial issues based on a “lifetime clock.” Similarly, the Personal approach is used to discover prospects’ financial issues. The Business approach is used to identify the client’s financial issues based on their business’ needs.

In cases where the client does not require a complete profile, or their concerns are more narrowly focused, you can also use a modular input method using one of the eight modules: Financial Statements, Income Tax, Asset Allocation, Education, Accumulation, Survivor Needs, Disability, Financial Independence, Long-Term Care or Estate.

Calculations -- 5 Stars
Data entry and calculations are done either on a “comprehensive” or “modular” basis. If you are providing a comprehensive financial plan, calculations are based off the detailed information entered, such as assets, liabilities, income, expenses, life insurance, disability, long-term care, financial independence, survivor needs, accumulation goals, education goals and estate. Each of these items has a detailed screen where the pertinent amounts and other information are entered. Once the data collection process is complete, a voluminous selection of reports allows the planner to present a plan of action based on all the data that was gathered.

If you are providing a limited consultation, the “modular” approach lets you choose the type of data to enter, and only enter those items that are of importance to the engagement. A list on the screen provides links to each of the modules. Similar to the comprehensive approach, the ultimate output of the program’s calculations is a series of reports that address a particular planning area.

Since this review primarily is focused on estate planning, I took special note of what reports and calculations are available in the Estate module. The reports available include Charitable Lead Trusts, Charitable Remainder Trusts, Credit Shelter Trust, Estate Cost Estimator, Family-owned Business, Financial Legacy, Gifting During Life, Grantor Retained Interest Trusts, Insuring Your Estate Value, Qualified Personal Residence Trusts, Revocable Living Trusts, Special Needs Trusts, Stretch IRA, Wealth Replacement Trusts, and Wills and Trusts.