PlanPlus Planit financial planning software has launched in Hungary and Russia, with Bulgarian and other variations in development, PlanPlus Inc. said Friday.

This expansion comes as many countries are enforcing new compliance standards and updated regulations to better protect the public in the wake of the global financial crisis, which has placed a greater focus on systemic and objective methods to deliver financial advice like financial planning.

The ability of the PlanPlus software to support multiple languages and counties has made it a natural choice for small European countries where financial planning is just emerging, the Lindsay, Ont.-based company says.

PlanPlus recently conducted its first training class in Budapest for Hungarian financial planners.

“A professional financial planning software is really needed to help individual financial advisors in Hungary”, said Zoltan Luttenberger, president of the Hungarian Association of Qualified Financial Planners.

“We were able to translate the software and work with PlanPlus to ensure the asset allocation, taxes and other rules for Hungary were proper. No other tool would have been this flexible, and few companies other than PlanPlus would have considered this effort for a small market like Hungary,” Luttenberger added.

“Software is just a small aspect of this effort,” said Shawn Brayman, president of PlanPlus. “Training and support are critical, especially in countries like Hungary with its unique language requirements and regulations. PlanPlus could never have done this without working with the local association and great partners like Zoltan Luttenberger.”

Lubomir Christoff, chairman, Institute of Certified Financial Consultants Bulgaria is also working with PlanPlus to localize the software for Bulgaria.

“At this time the software will primarily be used for educational purposes but with the national Financial Planning certification taking off in Bulgaria,” said Christoff, “the software will also be launched to professional advisors.”

PlanPlus is also working to introduce its software to financial advisors in Russia.

“Russia is currently lagging countries like Hungary as we do not yet have a certification program”, said Natalia Smirnova, director of Personal Advisor ltd. and head of the Research & Education Centre at the Institute of Financial Planning (IFP) in Russia.

“I feel the Russian market is now ready for a product like PlanPlus Planit. The software has been localized for Russia including Cyrillic language and local tax rules, making it an ideal fit for our country,” she said.

PlanPlus and the IFP in Russia will work together to introduce PlanPlus Planit to Russian advisors in order to determine the demand for financial planning software in a country where the concept of financial planning is still fairly new.

“It is exciting to be working with the financial planners that are passionate about creating a profession of financial planning in their countries”, said Brayman. “PlanPlus hopes that by working with these pioneers in the early days we can help accelerate the process of making financial planning commercially viable and rewarding for consumers and planners alike.”

IE