March 2012
6 posts
We've moved
We’ve updated the Moneyscope website and, as part of this, have integrated the blog into the new site. So if you want to read the latest from Moneyscope come on over to the new site as we’ll no longer post updates to this blog.
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'Moneyscope Too' coming soon. Very soon, in fact.
Back in January we told you about some changes to Moneyscope we were working on. Well the time has come and we’ll be putting the first stage - which we’ve nicknamed Moneyscope Too - live on Monday 19 March.
What’s changing?
Firstly, don’t worry. We’re not playing with Moneyscope just for the sake of it, and this isn’t the first in an inexhaustible list of...
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February 2012
4 posts
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Cashflow planning - bringing money to life
Richard presented at today’s IFP Financial Planning Day 2012 and we thought we’d share the slides for those who couldn’t make it or just want to take another look.
At the IFP Conference last October, Richard focussed on the role of cashflow forecasts in assessing risk. Building on this, Richard’s talk today illustrated the ways in which cashflow planning can be used to...
threesixty Paraplanning Forum
Richard was on stage for the London threesixty Paraplanning Forum today and will be presenting again at the second event on 29 February in Coventry. We’ll be publishing Richard’s slides here following the event on the 29th.
For those of you at a loose end next Thursday, Richard will also be speaking at the IFP Financial Planning Day; sharing his thoughts on the role of cashflow...
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January 2012
4 posts
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Michael Kitces: Is our financial planning software... →
We really enjoyed reading this post by US financial planner, Michael Kitces, in which he asks whether increasingly complex financial planning software is:
Consuming more of a financial adviser’s time than is desirable en route to the generation of a client’s financial plan?; and
Deterring clients, who would like to work on the creation of their financial plan with their adviser,...
Out and about in February
Richard Allum of Moneyscope will be taking to the road for a few dates in February. He’ll be spreading the word about cashflow forecasting.
Richard will be speaking at the threesixty Paraplanning Masterclasses taking place on 17 and 29 February, and the IFP Financial Planning day on 23 February, and will talk about the role of cashflow forecasting in helping to bring clients’ financial...
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“Love it! Made a big difference during early meetings when we are working through...”
– Andrew Moore of Goodmans Financial Planning commenting at our support site.
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December 2011
3 posts
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Watch
Problem-solving and other things
Recently we’ve been considering the problem of problem-solving with Moneyscope.
By problem-solving, we mean those occasions where a client’s forecast kicks up a cash-flow dilemma somewhere down the line - where cash runs out, for instance.
At the moment, you might have to turn to your own Excel spreadsheet - or a heavy-duty piece of financial planning software -...
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Are you Apple Mac or Windows PC?
In a moment, we’re going to invite you to help us satisfy our curiosity.
We’re interested to discover the extent to which financial advice professionals use Apple Macs versus Windows PCs for work – and which they would prefer to use.
But, first, the back story. (Although, if you really can’t wait, we’ll be inviting you to complete a very quick three-question survey which you can visit...
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November 2011
4 posts
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“I use Moneyscope after having either been a user of or trialled Truth, Voyant,...”
– Independent financial adviser, David Hopkinson, in FT Adviser
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22 November 2011 - FT Adviser / Cashflow modelling... →
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“It works well on Galaxy tab 10.1 on Android 3.1. Screen size good, could be used...”
– Despite being enthusiasts for all of their products, we try to remember that there is life beyond Apple. So with that in mind, we asked people to let us know if they were using Moneyscope on tablets other than the iPad.
We already know that it works well on the iPad and even iPhone.
However,...
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“Rewarding client meeting using Moneyscope - nice to see clients interact with a...”
– Tweeted by David Gibson of Gibson Financial Planning
October 2011
9 posts
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“Just done a cash flow plan on myself with Moneyscope - superb, simple, just the...”
– Plymouth-based Goodmans Financial Planning via @GoodmansFP on Twitter
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Citywire: How to pick the right cashflow modelling... →
Richard’s comments about the UK’s Institute of Financial Planning (IFP) chief, Nick Cann’s recent remarks about the use of cashflow modelling tools, have just been published at Citywire (click the headline above to see the story).
At the IFP’s annual conference a couple of weeks ago, Nick announced that, for a financial planning practice to achieve IFP accreditation,...
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20 October 2011 - Citywire / How to pick the right... →
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20 October 2011 - Citywire / Cashflow modelling... →
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“Built a client file from scratch, adjusted, and planned scenarios live with...”
– Pete Matthew of Jacksons Financial Services
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“Finally got round to looking at Moneyscope yesterday. Hugely impressed with how...”
– Tweeted by Darren Lowry of Nucleus Financial
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Assessing risk and the role of cashflows
Post by Richard: I delivered a presentation at the IFP Conference yesterday which is featured in a story at Citywire/New Model Adviser.
In fact, there have been a couple of comments posted drawing attention to the apparent absence of assessing a client’s capacity for loss and risk, the other risk factors involved and how an adviser needs to find a way to simplify the explanation of...
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5 October 2011 - Citywire / Risk profiling: Six... →
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User experience: Moneyscope's rising star in the...
In a guest post by Moneyscope’s first registered user in the United States, John Gay (pictured right) of Frisco Financial Planning in Frisco, Texas, tells us how Moneyscope fits in with his financial planning and investment advice practice.
There are plenty of “heavy-weight” financial planning tools out there. Many use sophisticated statistical methods such as Monte Carlo...
September 2011
2 posts
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We're one year old today and are proud to have...
It’s Moneyscope’s first birthday today and, while an award would have been a nice gift, for the second time this year, we haven’t quite cut it as far as official gongs and plaudits are concerned.
In last night’s Aberdeen UK Platform Awards, we spectacularly failed to scoop a gong (although we were chuffed to bits to hear - in this morning’s article at IFA Online -...
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29 Sept 2011: IFA Online / Aberdeen Platform... →
August 2011
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Dear diary...
We were really pleased that Moneyscope featured in the latest entry of Ian Thomas’s Diary of a (Brand) New Model Adviser column for Citywire.
Ian, a former Fidelity, Skandia and AXA marketer, is in the throes of establishing his own financial planning practice, Pilot Financial Planning, and his regular column charts the peaks and pitfalls of starting his own business.
Last week, he tackled...
July 2011
9 posts
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28 July 2011 - Citywire / Diary of a (Brand) New... →
Anonymous asked: Any plans to launch MoneyScope App for Ipad??
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“We’ve been trialling Moneyscope for the last few weeks. V impressed....”
– Tweeted by Steve Clark of 44 Financial
Who is financial services technology for?
Even though it was billed as a report about financial advisers’ satisfaction with investment platforms in the UK, we think that last week’s Defaqto report delivers a very clear message to any business which makes a living building technology services for financial advice professionals: usability matters more than features.
As Money Marketing is reporting today - and AT8’s Mark...
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Four ways in which advisers are using Moneyscope
Last month, we added a new feature to Moneyscope which allows you to test more than one lifetime cash-flow scenario for each client, without having to add financial information over and over again.
We’ve enjoyed receiving positive comments about the new feature and - and this is the bit that really interests us - we’ve talked to a few Moneyscope users about how they’re using...
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“Had a quick look at the new version of @moneyscope - the addition of scenarios...”
– Tweeted by AT8 Group
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“Just playing with @moneyscope new scenario planning function - I like it! Very...”
– Tweeted by Cathi Harrison
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“If you haven’t seen @moneyscope’s planning tool yet I suggest you...”
– Tweeted by time4advice
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6 July 2011 - Citywire / Life in the fast lane →
June 2011
4 posts
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16 June 2011 - Citywire / ‘What-if’ tool allows... →
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WatchRichard’s two-minute video shows you how to use the new scenario planning feature which has gone live today at http://moneyscopehq.com. (Tip: To view the video in full screen, just click the icon to the left of the screenr logo in the video frame.)
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New scenario planning step-by-step
When you view the all clients page, it lists all of your existing clients, just as it does now, but with one important addition: it includes a new column showing the number of scenarios for each client.
When you click on the scenarios link, you’ll arrive at this screen
From here, you can see all the scenarios that you’ve created for a client and you have the ability to generate a...
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New scenario planning feature's just days away
Ever since we launched Moneyscope back in January this year, users have been able to easily add clients’ financial details, to make and model some straightforward assumptions about inflation, income and outgoings, and then settle on the most likely scenario that would inform a client’s financial plan.
What about Plan B?
Despite our obvious pleasure at the reaction to what we’d...
May 2011
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“Just had brilliant meeting with clients using MoneyScope - they were speechless...”
– Tweeted today by Philippa Gee.
April 2011
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“I want to show the [IFP] membership that you don’t have to be frightened of...”
– Adrian Quick, a MoneyScope user, of HLS Financial Management in New Model Adviser talking about using simple financial planning tools.
March 2011
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