It's hard to imagine the days of financial planning and portfolio management without technology. Independent advisors, registered representatives, and accountants have come to rely on sophisticated financial software to help them devise appropriate investment and retirement plans for clients. Here we have compiled a list of financial planning software programs popular among professionals for cash flow analysis, long-term planning, and tax strategy plans.
Key Takeaways
- Financial advisors often use an array of software solutions including customer relationship management tools, portfolio management tools, trading/rebalancing solutions, and investment analytics.
- Financial planning tools that aggregate financial strategies into streamlined solutions are a common software solution.
- MoneyGuidePro has been the most popular financial planning software by financial advisors since 2020, according to Technology Tools for Today, a technology conference for financial advisors.
- Financial planning tools can help financial advisors better engage with clients by visualizing household finances, managing budgeting goals, and projecting outcomes of financial decisions.
Software for Financial Advisors
Financial software programs typically provide a wide arrange of useful information and capabilities. The most in-demand software products include:
- Customer relationship management software organizes client information and streamlines process flows and communication techniques.
- Financial planning software provides cash flow analysis, long-term planning, and tax strategy plans.
- Portfolio management software provides comprehensive reporting tools for greater awareness and management of your client's entire asset holdings.
- Trading/rebalancing software automates and coordinates portfolio transactions.
- Investment analytics software provides all-encompassing data and historical information regarding securities and other investments.
- Risk tolerance software identifies, navigates, and quantifies hidden and known portfolio risks.
- Document management software simplifies document transmission, signature retrieval, or document storage.
Most Popular Type of Software
In a 2023 survey conducted by Technology Tools for Today, a technology conference for financial advisors, financial planning software programs were reported to have an 83.68% market penetration, meaning that 83.68% of projected sales from financial planning software programs occurred in 2023.
Though many companies may use several of the software groups above, some are very specific to financial advisors. Customer relationship management, risk tolerance, and document management solutions are common across industries.
In this article, we'll look at the top five financial planning software programs used by financial advisors. The top five financial planning software programs used by professional financial advisors based on market share include MoneyGuidePro, eMoney Pro, RightCapital, Orion Financial Planning, and eMoney Plus.
1. MoneyGuidePro
With 31.52% of the industry's market share by user in 2023, MoneyGuideProis the most popular financial advisor software program in terms of market share.
Part of MoneyGuidePro’s success is attributed to its visually engaging, user-friendly presentation. The main portal is designed to fully engage the client, including Play Zone where the client can input different choices and options to see potential effects. The advisor retains ultimate control of the program including what parts of the program the client is allowed to see.
Owned by Envestnet, the MoneyGuide suite of products has two levels:
- MoneyGuidePro provides more sophisticated solutions including custom report templates, estate planning, net worth statements, and risk management tools.
- MoneyGuideElite offers the high level of services including dynamic income modeling, tax planning quantification, and annuity strategy modeling.
2. eMoneyPro
eMoney offers a very in-depth program and is known for its detailed cash flow analysis module. The market share for eMoney Pro came in at 28.47% for 2023.
One of eMoney's strengths is its financial feed that provides real-time data, alerts, and news, helping advisors stay on top of important client and market situations. Another noteworthy feature is the eMoney client portal (emX) which allows clients to access a printout of their finances at any time.
eMoney boasts the title of the top ranked financial software solution in regards to customer satisfaction. The eMoney product line also has various standalone solutions and APIs to aid financial advisors at various levels of service.
3. RightCapital
RightCapital came in third place for 2023 with 15.65% of the market share, up from 11.59% in 2022. Founded in 2015, it's a relatively new software especially compared to the other software leaders. RightCapital competes very well with the leaders—MoneyGuidePro and eMoney Pro—when it comes to newer, smaller advisors.
RightCapitalgenerally appeals to millennial clients who need help with budgeting and was created to exist in themiddle ground between toolimited and too comprehensive planning tools. It boasts a number of partner integrations with CRM programs, performance reporting solutions, custodian/clearing firms, and analytics software tools. RightCapital also boasts several specific features to its product including:
- RightIntel, a built-in business intelligence solution.
- RightPay, an integrated client billing system.
- Snapshot, personalized plan summaries for clients.
- BluePrint, an organizational visualization system for household data.
4. eMoney Plus
Another eMoney offering, eMoney Plus, comes in at fourth with 5.26% of market share in 2023. The software is a step below eMoney Pro, focusing on foundational planning with a more simplified suite of solutions compared to eMoney Pro's more advanced planning features. eMoney Plus sees most of its success with dually-registered advisors.
eMoney Solutions
eMoney Plus
Product Description: Leverage intuitive, streamlined goals-based solutions to build more planning-led relationships and deliver more plans to more clients.
Solutions include basic access to eMoney's platform, foundational planning, and advanced analytics.
eMoney Pro
Production Description: Harness advanced planning to provide the most comprehensive cash-flow-based capabilities to accommodate clients' most complex planning needs.
Solutions include advanced platform access, advanced planning, and advanced analytics.
5. Asset-Map
Asset-Map comes in at 5th with 4.68% of the market share for 2023, surpassing Orion Financial Planning which had been the 5th most commonly used software in 2021 and 2022.
Asset-Map is designed for financial professionals, and it allows users to profile and engage with clients more productively. The software visualizes household finances and tracks financial progress to help users understand finances more efficiently and thoroughly, in order for financial planners to provide more suitable investment strategies.
Asset-Map provides two main services:
- Asset-Map Pro: All Asset-Map features for financial planners
- Asset-Map Essentials: The features of Asset-Map Pro, without Target-Map service which provides visualizations of financial planning goals
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What Software Do Financial Advisors Use?
There are dozens of financial planning software tools with the most common being MoneyGuidePro. In addition, financial advisors may use customer relationship management tools, portfolio management tools, trading/rebalancing software, or document management solutions.
What Is the Best Financial Planning Software?
Every financial advisor will be best suited for software that meshes well with their client's needs. Some advisors are better suited with more simple, less expensive solutions that can more easily explain client portfolios. Others require heavier analytical capabilities or more robust management tools. In either case, a financial advisor should reflect on their client's needs and back into whether a financial planning software tool is the right level for that need.
What Are Popular Financing Planning Tools?
In 2023, MoneyGuidePro was the most popular financial planning software solution for financial advisors. eMoney also had two of the top five financial planning tools.
The Bottom Line
Whether you have a new, small firm or a larger firm looking to upgrade to a complex, highly capable analytic solution, there is a financial planning software tool best suited for you and your clients. Consider what you need to best address your client's investing needs, and pursue a solution to better manage your client's assets.
