SuiteBox woos Kiwi advisers

A Kiwi software provider that has had success catering for international financial advisers is making in-roads in the New Zealand market, too.

Wednesday, May 18th 2016, 5:59AM

by Susan Edmunds

SuiteBox says its product makes it easier for advisers to comply with their regulations.

It is an online meeting room that allows advisers to upload documents such as disclosure statements, scope of engagement and statements of advice, and have them signed by the client in the presence of the adviser.

They can then be stored and uploaded to a CRM system or emailed.

The company has been holding meetings with a range of industry players in this country, including the Solutions group of financial advisers and ANZ.

It is already active in the Australian and European markets – SuiteBox has partnered with Midwinter in Australia to provide a new solution to help advisers deal with “opt-in” requirements, introduced as part of the Future of Financial Advice reforms, which requires advisers to regularly renew their clients’ agreement to ongoing fees.

SuiteBox has appointed industry consultant David Whyte as its chairman.

He said there was potential for the demand for the product to grow in New Zealand as more advisers had more regulatory requirements.

“As the New Zealand regulatory regime matures, the ability of the adviser to display a history of client communications, documentation, and process will be crucial.”

He said any future dispute about who said what during the advice process could be dealt with if advisers had used SuiteBox, because there would be a full record available to refer to.

He said the online aspect made sense for advisers who were under time pressure. They would not have to travel to clients to have their documents signed.

“Technology is always a bit challenging when it is new but once [advisers] get to grips with it they will understand how it works in their favour.”

Tags: David Whyte financial advisers technology