Plannr, the pioneering adviser CRM, has unveiled the first phase of its integration with Seccl, the Octopus-owned embedded investment platform at today’s Empowering Advice Through Technology event in London.
Financial advisers and their teams can now set up client accounts on a Seccl-powered platform, as well as create and display its platform-generated product illustrations, from within Plannr itself. Illustrations can be created in under 2 minutes and with as few as 3 clicks, all without leaving the CRM. To see the integration in action, head to https://plannrcrm.com/seccl-illustrations.
Today’s release completes the first phase of a continuing integration project that will go on to allow advisers to open accounts online, auto-reconcile firm income and allow the end client to self top-up their investments.
Gareth Thompson, CEO of Plannr, said: “The fact that we could build this out in as few as 10 days of development time just goes to show how quickly this market can move when truly API-first technology providers join forces.
“While this already stretches the market’s understanding of what a CRM/platform integration can look and feel like, it’s only the tip of the iceberg. We want to rethink the whole advice journey, empowering financial planners to seamlessly perform all of their key tasks through the back office itself, without the need for a separate, standalone platform interface. It’s a bold vision, for sure, but it’s one that is months, not years, away.”
This streamlined approach is already being pioneered by the UK arm of Söderberg & Partners, who announced its partnership with both Plannr and Seccl earlier last year.
Commenting on the announcement, Nick Raine, UK CEO of Söderberg & Partners, said:
“When we set out on this journey, we were adamant that the technology providers we selected must be genuinely flexible and integration-friendly. We want to build a fully end-to-end solution for our advisers, which is seamlessly integrated throughout, and where rekeying is a thing of the past. It makes for a big step forward in the UK adviser market – significantly improving client experience and adviser efficiency alike.”
David Ferguson, CEO of Seccl, concluded: “To date, platforms and CRMs – locked in a pointless battle for total control of the adviser experience – have typically supported only surface-level integrations. As ever, it’s planning professionals who have paid the price and been forced to muddle on with both systems in tandem.
“But it doesn’t have to be like this. A different and much more unified future is possible, where the platform meets planners where they work, and where the need for a separate platform begins to fall away. Make no mistake, that future is now.”
Seccl recently launched a new paper, Gradually, then suddenly, which explores some of these concepts in more detail. To find out more, head to https://seccl.tech/gradually-then-suddenly.