As consumer awareness grows, more and more people will be demanding an investment policy statement from their financial advisor. This important guiding document will enhance their understanding of how their advisor will be managing their assets -- and can help them determine if they are working with a competent, professional advisor.
San Diego, CA, and Miami, FL (PRWeb) April 1, 2007 -- Shareholders Service Group, Inc. and IPS AdvisorPro™ announced a partnership today aimed at bringing leading-edge Investment Policy Statement (IPS) tools to RIAs who use Shareholders Service Group's brokerage and custodial services.
"The goal of our alliance is to increase the use of Investment Policy Statements (IPS). As consumer awareness grows, more and more clients will be demanding an investment policy statement. It's a great way for investors to enhance their understanding of how their advisor will be managing their assets -- and to determine if they are working with a competent, professional advisor," says Linda S. Lubitz, CFP®, co-founder of IPS AdvisorPro™.
"When implemented correctly, an IPS records specific agreements advisors and investors reach together regarding how the investments will be managed," adds co-founder Norman M. Boone, MBA, CFP®. "Many investors don't yet know to ask for an IPS, and therefore don't receive the benefits of increased transparency and communication, which can protect them from surprises. But as the word gets out, especially through the popular media, consumers will come to expect an IPS as a normal part of the planning process."
Lubitz and Boone are founders of IPS AdvisorPro™. Both have consistently been named by Worth magazine as two of the "Best 100 Financial Advisors" in the country, and their research regarding investment policy statements goes back 15 years.
"Every advisor should have an investment policy statement for each client," says Peter Mangan, President and CEO of Shareholders Service Group. "With IPS AdvisorPro™, advisors using our services can now easily access Boone and Lubitz's widely-recognized expertise. IPS AdvisorPro™ organizes and simplifies the investment policy creation and management process. Having an IPS helps advisors meet their fiduciary responsibility and helps build a solid foundation for their relationships with their clients. We recommend it to our advisors."
"An investment policy statement is a great tool for both advisers and investors," Lubitz adds.
Investment policy statements can be as short as two pages or as long as 25, and are most effective when customized to a client's situation. Though investment policy statements have been around for many years, only under recent regulatory and media pressure for heightened transparency have the documents started to become widely adopted. "It can be extremely time consuming to create a high-quality, customized IPS, so many advisers either don't create one, or they resort to using one that is not customized," Boone says. "IPS AdvisorPro™ allows the advisor to do their best work once. Thereafter, they can create a fully-customized IPS in a matter of minutes. The system also eliminates embarrassing errors that might occur if the advisor were using a standard boiler plate."
The partnership between Shareholders Service Group and IPS AdvisorPro™ will involve the delivery of IPS education, a discounted subscription to the web-based software, and consulting services from Boone and Lubitz.
ABOUT SHAREHOLDERS SERVICE GROUP, INC.
Shareholders Service Group (SSG) (http://www.shareholdersgroup.com), a San Diego-based brokerage and custody firm that exclusively serves independent registered investment advisors, was founded in 2002. Today, the firm serves over 300 investment advisors throughout the country. An employee-owned firm, the partners average more than 15 years of experience in providing independent RIAs with back-office, custody and brokerage services.
ABOUT IPS ADVISORPRO™
IPS AdvisorPro™ (http://www.ipsadvisorpro.com) is the acclaimed web-based software that creates fully-customized investment policy statements in only minutes. Named "Software of the Year" by Morningstar's Tech Editor Joel Bruckenstein, IPS AdvisorPro™ sets the standard for developing professional IPS in modern wealth management. Founders, Norm Boone, MBA, CFP® and Linda Lubitz, CFP® are the nations leading experts in investment policy statements, each having regularly been named by Worth magazine as one of the "Best 100 Financial Advisers" in the country. They own their own respective wealth advisory firms, and together wrote "Creating an Investment Policy Statement."
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