The New Standard in Advisor/Client Service: Envestnet Launches Industry's First Advisory Platform to Deliver Comprehensive Support for 'Unified Managed Household'

NEW YORK, Nov. 22, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Envestnet (NYSE: ENV) today announced the next generation of its industry-leading wealth management platform for advisors, the industry's first advisory platform with truly integrated analysis, guidance and reporting for the emerging "unified managed household" (UMH) advice model.

Advisors employing the UMH model seek to address the client's entire financial situation through focus on effective deployment of all of the client's investment assets, not just those managed by the advisor.

Through its platform launch, Envestnet seeks to empower advisors to not only respond to newly heightened client demand for more customized and open investment guidance but also deliver a fully integrated investment process that makes the advisor's practice more efficient and comprehensive, according to Jud Bergman, Envestnet founder and chief executive officer.

The Envestnet platform also provides innovative features enabling advisors to better plan, execute and document a fiduciary process for advice and service.

In a survey of more than 1,000 investors conducted by Envestnet in mid-2010, more than eight of 10 advised investors said they value advice more as a result of the financial crisis.  At the same time, nearly six of 10 said their expectations for advisory services have increased.

"After three years of unprecedented financial and market turmoil, it's clear that every advisor needs to create a new kind of relationship with clients," Bergman said.  "Investors are eagerly seeking practical solutions for fundamental financial challenges, which seem more daunting than ever, and they want to know that their advisors are working from a position of objectivity and knowledge."

"The Envestnet platform puts the advisor at the very center of a rigorous, comprehensive and integrative portfolio design and investment management process that delivers truly holistic support and, most important, places the client's fundamental needs and goals at the forefront," he said.

"Over the last two decades, advisory service has become increasingly complex.  Advisors are challenged by managing different technology and different investment programs and products in order to deliver advice and solutions that serve the multifaceted needs of their clients. What the Envestnet platform does is incorporate all the vital components of the advisor's practice and integrate them to work together in a cohesive way that allows advisors to offer comprehensive advice that's in the best interest of clients," said Bill Crager, Envestnet president.

"Next Frontier" of Advisory Service

To specifically address the burgeoning interest in the UMH concept, the Envestnet platform offers powerful data aggregation features that allow the advisor to assemble a complete picture of the client's wealth, encompassing investable assets (those managed by the advisor) as well as external assets (those managed by other providers) and supporting the delivery of more robust investment advice.

"The unified managed household concept represents the next frontier of advisory service," said Crager.  "UMH is all about the creation and delivery of truly customized and integrated solutions that analyzes a client's wealth to address the most fundamental, long term personal goals.  The UMH is an offering wealthy clients are asking for but the industry has struggled to deliver."

The platform's features are designed to help advisors engender and maintain client trust by making the portfolio design and management process more streamlined and transparent.

To directly guide fiduciary decision-making, the Envestnet platform offers an interactive feature called Fiduciary Oversight Notes, or "FONs."  FONs are virtual "sticky notes" that help the advisor document his or her decision making.  This can maintain a record of a fiduciary process.

The concept of fiduciary service is drawing greater attention industry wide, due in part to the current SEC project examining whether all advisors – traditional broker dealer representatives as well as registered investment advisers – should be subject to the service standards that, to this point, have covered RIAs only.

Investors Want Client-Centered Solutions

"Today, the concept of fiduciary responsibility is resonating more powerfully than ever. Investors remain profoundly shaken by the market downturn and highly cynical about both the markets and the financial services industry," Crager said.  "Financial advisors have a watershed opportunity to strengthen relationships and client loyalty by demonstrating their dedication to doing what they believe is best for every client, and translating their dedication into more powerful portfolio solutions and a more comprehensive fiduciary process."

Other key features of the Envestnet platform include:

• Portfolio Analysis:  The platform empowers an advisor to conduct deep portfolio diagnostics on a portfolio for greater transparency, perform "what-if" scenarios to help assess the probable success of a strategy's ability to meet client goals, and view side-by-side comparisons of a proposed investment vs. a target allocation.  

• Filter and Comparison Tools:  The platform provides access to objective investment research on a broad list of asset managers, including access to 90% of the Cerulli top 100 managers of separately managed accounts, and more than 35 strategists under three broad categories:  strategic, tactical and dynamic.  Filter tools allow advisors to drill down and identify only those investment products that meet their specified criteria.  Comparison tools allow advisors to see comparisons of products either graphically - by performance, risk-return, product sector, holdings, or asset allocation - or by investment profile.

• Advanced Proposal Generation: The platform offers capabilities to build more comprehensive investment proposals that incorporate UMH capabilities and mechanisms for fiduciary oversight, and allow advisors to perform advanced portfolio analysis on current and proposed investment strategies.

• New Investment Solutions:  The platform now offers the PMC Singer Partners Edge Portfolio, an alternative investment strategy provided via a relationship with Singer Partners, and a solution with eCD Market to offer the ability to use CDs for client's cash equivalent needs.

"In the most difficult environment that many have ever faced, investors above all else want their advisors to deliver support, counsel and guidance that specifically addresses their personal challenges for the long term," Crager said.  "Objective, transparent advice that encompasses the client's entire financial and investment situation – delivered with consistent concern for the client's best interest – goes to the heart of the new relationship advisors need to build with clients.

"The Envestnet platform provides our industry's most robust offering of analytical tools, investment access, and reporting support for this new kind of relationship," he said.

Envestnet continuously works to improve upon the services they offer to advisors and their clients and each quarter, the firm launches a new set of enhancements to their advisory platform.  In February, Envestnet plans to unveil a new professional proposal document, an integrated overlay strategy for market risk management and additional insight into industry benchmarking data.

Note to Editors:  For a demo of the new Envestnet platform, advisors can visit www.envestnet.com/newstandard.

ABOUT ENVESTNET (NYSE: ENV)

Envestnet, Inc. is a leading provider of technology-enabled investment and practice management solutions to financial advisors. Envestnet's technology is focused on addressing financial advisors' front-, middle- and back-office needs. Envestnet is headquartered in Chicago with offices in Boston, Denver, New York, Silicon Valley and Trivandrum, India.  The firm has over $126 billion in total assets served and more than 860,000 investor accounts.* For more information on Envestnet, Inc. please go to www.envestnet.com.

* Data includes assets under management and administration and licensing agreements as of 9/30/2010.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

Forward-looking statements made in this press release, such as statements regarding Envestnet's new wealth management advisory platform and any effects its introduction may have on Envestnet's results of operations reflect Envestnet's current views with respect to future events and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in these statements. For example, Envestnet's forward-looking statements about its new wealth management advisory platform are subject to market acceptance of the new platform and any technological or implementation issues.  Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the dates on which they are made. Envestnet undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

The opinions and guidance expressed herein reflect our judgment as of the date of writing and are subject to change at any time without notice. They are provided for general informational purposes only and are not intended to constitute legal, tax, securities or investment advice or a recommended course of action in any given situation. Information obtained from third party resources are believed to be reliable but not guaranteed. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

© 2010 Envestnet. All rights reserved.

SOURCE Envestnet, Inc.