FinTech Behemoth Partners with Docupace to Customize and Streamline Managed Account Proposal and Opening Workflows
Envestnet and Docupace will embark on the next stage of integration for streamlining and digitizing of Envestnet’s account opening process for managed accounts.
Docupace now has the capability of leveraging APIs available through Envestnet. (An API, or application program interface, is integration software that allows different programs, data flows and platforms to interact.)
Through Envestnet’s APIs, Docupace will customize managed account proposal and opening workflows for advisors, clients and the back office. The enhanced integration includes real-time data exchange, elimination of duplicate data entry and the introduction of a single-sign-on (SSO) experience for accessing and managing multiple or single accounts.
Molly Weiss, Chief Product Officer, WealthTech and Solutions at Envestnet said, “A unified portal where advisors can seamlessly perform as much as possible on behalf of clients – using data-driven insights and a holistic view of each client’s financial picture – is essential for making them the heroes who enable clients to make sense of their financial lives, and achieve better outcomes.”
The firms’ strengthened integration also enables clients to launch the Envestnet dashboard from Docupace, create new portfolio proposals and goal modifications in Docupace and transition into those via SSO, fulfill compliance requirements in Docupace, automatically initiate the funding process and authorize a single signing ceremony for multiple advisor accounts.
Overcoming the Complexities of Account Opening
David Knoch, CEO of Docupace, explained that progress towards automating the account opening experience is often slow because of the complexities involved. “With multiple data sources and multiple data destinations, adding other technology partners into the middle of the process makes the work exponentially more challenging to automate.”
Knoch states that this challenge causes many firms to forgo full automation for “human intervention to build proposals in the portfolio management software, open accounts separately (without leveraging the data across platforms), and then manually mark the account as ready to trade when notification is received that the custodial account is open.”
Weiss added that “there will always be differences and nuances in opening any type of account across platforms.”
To help solve the problem, she says that “[t]he focus should be on the common elements across the spectrum with the knowledge that there will be specific variations around firms, registrations, or custodians that will need to be handled.”
Some software solutions contain account opening processes, but according to Knoch, they do not scale to universal platforms that serve multiple different account types in one system, while Docupace’s solution does provide a universal platform for Envestnet clients.
“Together Envestnet and Docupace have taken a giant and important step to truly honoring the self-authoring desires of advisors all around the world who want their technology partners to enable their service model, no matter how it is created,” Knoch said.
Further Integration Projects
The two firms plan further integration projects. According to the press release, “This new digital advisory experience is just the initial innovation for financial advisors, and work has already begun to connect this experience to the Envestnet Insurance Exchange…”
Weiss explained the plan for further integration: “At the end of a proposal is where advisors have the option to include annuities and traditional investment vehicles. A single click will initiate the opening of investment accounts and annuity contracts through Docupace workflows.”
“All documents pertaining to investments and annuities will be sent via Envestnet Open ENV APIs to complete the signing process,” Weiss added.
Michael Madden, Contributing Editor & Research Analyst at Wealth Solutions Report, can be reached at mmadden@wealthsolutionsreport.com
