Facts, the customer
relationship management software developed by Toronto-based LynxDev Inc., is designed to be used by advisors and their firms to improve client service, increase productivity and lower administrative costs.

Robert Madej, president of LynxDev, says FACTS is “an investment counsellor in a box” that uses a wealth-management platform to integrate portfolio-management tools with CRM capabilities. The software links a company’s core financial software to a contact-management system for easy access to client-level information, including personal, household, account, holdings, transaction, performance and asset-allocation records.

FACTS is available in two versions: FACTS IC, for financial advisors; and FACTS FM, for financial services firms.

> FACTS IC, the client-management version, has a comprehensive set of features, including modules for client management, portfolio/account management, and client and management reporting. It allows for seamless integration with other software, such as Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook, as well as with portfolio-management software offered by firms such as CGI Group Inc., SS&C Technologies Inc., Citigroup Inc. and FRI Corp.

The IC version facilitates tracking of individual client contact details, including multiple contacts, addresses, e-mails, telephone numbers and spousal information. It has calendar, scheduling and task management features and allows users to perform mail merges, manage documents, organize mailing lists, conduct contact searches and store notes on clients.

FLEXIBLE REPORTS

FACTS IC also provides a range of flexible reports for individual clients as well as for management, drawing on information in the centralized database. For instance, reports by household, client and account can be generated, then sorted based on user-defined criteria. In addition, management reports such as assets under management, portfolio inventory, asset class benchmarking, portfolio analysis and sales can be generated.

> FACTS FM, the portfolio/account management version, maintains banking, asset allocation, performance and benchmark information and can consolidate multiple client accounts. It has user-defined security restrictions and provides the ability to search accounts by holdings, perform portfolio modelling and calculate fees, among other activities.

FACTS FM keeps track of sales and assets by advisor, dealer or branch. It integrates contact and financial data from sources such as FundServ Inc. and third-party record-keeping systems, and can also be integrated with your firm’s core financial software.

Madej says FACTS software allows advisors to have a 360-degree view of their clients. In addition, it provides intelligent information that can help improve client service, increase sales, eliminate manual tasks and reduce cost.

Clients can see their accounts using FACTS together with custom-built dealer Web sites. These “self-service” Web sites allow clients to view information such as holdings, transactions and performance, reducing the need for “high-touch” client service.

The fee calculator makes it easy to determine management, performance and trailer fees. For most firms, this typically is a time-consuming manual task. FACTS also supports electronic funds transfer via the Big Five banks and major financial institutions. There is no additional cost for this service.

FACTS also facilitates the use of an equity research database that can be used to share internal equity research among FACTS users in a specific firm. In addition, its NextPrice feature stores historical and current data used for calculating the net asset value of a portfolio. This feature also provides reports such as statements of portfolio changes and information on portfolio volatility.

FACTS costs $100 a month for a single user; the price drops as low as $45 a user for a large firm with multiple users. Given the potential cost savings, FACTS can be considered a moderately priced CRM tool that allows advisors to stay on top of their clients’ information and investments.

From a management perspective, it provides decision-makers with strategic information in areas such as business and sales performance, allowing them to track achievement of their goals and objectives.

Because FACTS has the capability to integrate CRM functions with financial software, it is more than a typical CRM tool. IE