Financial review report explained

[mary.galloway]

Financial Review Report

Overview

This article is intended to be read in conjunction with the help notes within the Financial Review Report wizard.  Where we believe areas of the wizard are self-explanatory, we haven’t reproduced that here. 

The Financial Review Report serves a dual purpose: 

• Reporting for clients - provides a valuation report with options to include net worth, policy summary and portfolio summary.
• Suitability Review - provides the rationale as to whether the existing holdings are suitable or not along with any recommendations plus the valuation report, if required.

Unlike our other valuation reports, the tables in the Financial Review Report list the client, partner and joint values in columns as opposed to rows, making it easier to view total values per entity.

The report is compiled of three optional sections:

• Net Worth - everything based on active statuses 
• Policy summary - only active statuses 

• Portfolio summary - only portfolio account data

As always, though, we are open to feedback if anything needs to be clarified or included.

What is it?

• Reports on the client’s current position 
• Run for one client at a time
• Dual purpose: can be used for valuation or suitability review
• Reports on a combination of client, partner, joint values
• The styling can reflect your brand (logo / colours / fonts / tables)
• Permanent front and back cover
• Optional:
• Key information (permanent for suitability review)
• Income and expenditure (permanent for suitability review)
• Net worth
• Policy summary
• Portfolio summary
• Asset class breakdown
• Liabilities
• Intended for client facing reporting purposes

Key benefits

• Brings consistency to your valuation reports
• Educate your clients and demonstrate your value by optionally including important information to supplement the client’s valuation/suitability information
• Many branding options only need to be set once to apply across all similar valuation reports
• You can tailor aspects of the report per client if needed
• Reuses data from your client record to avoid re-keying
• Ability to add text templates - Managed Field Content (standard paragraphs)

• No need to enter dates as it reports on current position

Why should I use it?

• Simple & easy to use
• No need to understand complex coding in Xplan (Xmerge)
• Personalised client correspondence
• Consistency of brand

WIZARD

As this report can be used for 2 purposes: Reporting or Suitability Review, the wizard will display the following pages accordingly:

Menu options:

     

• Report content page

Report Content - Reporting for clients

Do you need help completing the wizard?	Yes / No  Yes will display on-screen help text
Report for **	Select any combination of Client, Partner, Joint
Review date	Enter the date format as dd/mm/yyyy or use the calendar icon to select the date Defaults to today’s date
Is this being used for a Suitability Review or Reporting for Clients? **	Select Reporting for Clients from the drop-down

Tip: All fields in the wizard with a double asterisk ( ** ) are mandatory

‘Templatable’ is explained in the Troubleshooting/FAQ section with a link to Managed Field Content.

Report Options - Reporting for clients

Include Cover Letter? **	Yes / No Yes will display a new field ‘Cover Letter’
Cover letter	Enter text.   Templatable
Include Contents page? **	Yes / No Yes will insert a table of contents in the report
Include Key Information? **	Yes / No   Yes will insert a new page in the wizard
Include Income & Expenditure? **	Yes / No Yes will insert a new page in the wizard
Include net worth?  **	Yes / No Yes will insert a new page in the wizard
Include policy summary? **	Yes / No Yes will insert a new page in the wizard
Include portfolio valuation summary? **	Yes / No Yes will insert a new page in the wizard
Include asset class breakdown? **	Yes / No Yes will insert a table and chart in the report

Report Content - Suitability Report

Do you need help completing the wizard?	Yes / No  Yes will display on-screen help text
Report for **	Select any combination of Client, Partner, Joint
Review date	Enter the date format as dd/mm/yyyy or use the calendar icon to select the date Defaults to today’s date
Is this being used for a Suitability Review or Reporting for Clients? **	Select Suitability Review from the drop-down

Tip: All fields in the wizard with a double asterisk ( ** ) are mandatory

‘Templatable’ is explained in the Troubleshooting/FAQ section with a link to Managed Field Content.

Report Options - Suitability Report

Include Cover Letter? **	Yes / No Yes will display a new field ‘Cover Letter’
Cover letter	Enter text.   Templatable
Include Contents page? **	Yes / No Yes will insert a table of contents in the report
Suitability review introduction (only visible for suitability review report)	Insert free text.  If left blank this introductory paragraph will be omitted from the report. If populated it will be titled ‘ Introduction to your Suitability Review’.
Include net worth?  **	Yes / No Yes will insert a new page in the wizard
Include policy summary? **	Yes / No Yes will insert a new page in the wizard
Include portfolio valuation summary? **	Yes / No Yes will insert a new page in the wizard
Include asset class breakdown? **	Yes / No Yes will insert a table and chart in the report

Current Holdings

View current holdings? **

Yes /No Yes will insert a new page in the wizard

This field asks if you would like to view all current policies on the next page allowing for amendments/updates to be made before generating the report.

The new pages will be displayed in the wizard menu once you select Next.

• Key Information page

Any data previously recorded against the client will be pre-populated. 

Any data you enter on this page will also update the fields in Xplan under Client Details and the relative fact finds.

Key Information

Populated data is extracted from the following pages in Client Details:

• Main

• Personal Status

• Client Segmentation

Tip: The following fields are mandatory and you will not be able to proceed to the next page of the wizard if they are blank:

Client classification

Financial knowledge

Has there been any change in your personal circumstances?

Personal circumstances

Populated data is extracted from the wizard and will also update the following page:

• Individual fact find > Financial status

If no change,  alternative text is inserted:  You have confirmed there have been no changes in your personal circumstances.

The following 2 sections are not displayed in the wizard but are included in the report:

• Attitude to risk
• Contact information

Attitude to Risk

Populated data is extracted from the following page in Client Details:

• Advice Process > ATR

The Attitude to Risk (ATR) module (Adviser Process > Attitude to Risk) is not available in the wizard as it’s controlled by access levels and licenses.  However, the results will be available in the report if the ATR has been completed for client, partner or joint.

The risk profile name and description will be displayed in the report immediately after the Key Details section and before the Dependants data.

Contact information

Populated data is extracted from the following page in Client Details:

• Contact & Communication > Contact Details

If no data is available, the section is left blank.

Dependants

Populated data is extracted from the following page in Client Details:

• Dependants

 

Additional Information

Populated data is extracted from the following pages in Client Details:

• Main

• Nationality and Tax

• Employment

• Personal Status

• Estate

• Goals and Objectives page

Any data previously recorded against the client will be pre-populated. 

Any data you enter on this page will also update the fields in Xplan under Client Details > Goals & Objectives and the relative fact finds.

Goals and objectives introduction

Introduction

Insert free text or use the Template button for standard paragraphs. If left blank this introductory paragraph will be omitted from the report.

• Income and Expenditure page

Any data previously recorded against the client will be pre-populated. 

Any data you enter on this page will also update the fields in Xplan under Financial Details > Income and Expenses and the relative fact finds.

Income and expenditure introduction

Introduction

Insert free text or use the Template button for standard paragraphs. If left blank this introductory paragraph will be omitted from the report.

Income

Expenditure

• Net Worth page

Net worth filter	Select the product types to include from the drop-down list: Select all Investment Cash accounts Lifestyle/Other assets Property and land Pensions Platform wraps Protection (Only Protection Policies with an investment value will be included) Liabilities This controls the content of the Net Worth Breakdown in the report.
Net worth summary introduction	Insert free text or use the Template button for standard paragraphs. If left blank this introductory paragraph will be omitted from the report.  This text will be displayed above the Net Worth table summary.
Net worth breakdown introduction text	Insert free text or use the Template button for standard paragraphs. If left blank this introductory paragraph will be omitted from the report.  This text will be displayed above the Net Worth Summary chart and add context to it.

Net worth filter

Net worth summary introduction

Net worth breakdown introduction text

• Policy Summary page

Introduction	Insert free text or use the Template button for standard paragraphs. If left blank this introductory paragraph will be omitted from the report.
Include SIPP wrappers? **	Yes  / No Client and partner can have different options selected
Include SIPP wrapper contribution/withdrawals**	Yes  / No  Yes uses data recorded at SIPP level No uses data recorded in underlying plans
Include total contribution/withdrawals in summary sections? **	Yes  / No
Include contribution/withdrawals history? **	Yes  / No
Include liabilities? **	Yes  / No

SIPP wrappers - you can select to omit or include complex SIPP wrappers, recorded in Xplan as a wrapper with underlying products

Include SIPP Wrapper Contribution / Withdrawals Summary - Best practice for SIPP wrappers is always to add contributions and withdrawals against the SIPP wrapper itself, rather than the underlying products.  You can choose whether to pull out the contribution / withdrawal totals from the wrapper level or by totalling up the contributions / withdrawals recorded against each underlying product.  This affects all SIPP wrappers recorded in the client record (e.g. client and / or partner SIPP wrappers).

Contribution and withdrawal totals  - you can select to include / exclude these values.  They are taken from the Total Contributions and Total Withdrawals fields in the plan / policy record screens within Financial Details.  These fields automatically recalculate when you run a report which includes this information, so if you’ve entered a regular, recurring contribution or withdrawal, it will calculate the value of these as at the start and end dates specified within the plan / policy record.

• Current Holdings page

Any data previously recorded against the client will be pre-populated. 

Any data you enter on this page will also update the fields in Xplan under Financial Details and the relative fact finds.

Assets

Pensions

• Portfolio Valuation Summary page

Any data previously recorded against the client will be pre-populated. 

Any data you enter on this page will also update the fields in Xplan under Portfolios..

Portfolio review

Introduction

Insert free text or use Template button for standard paragraphs. If left blank this introductory paragraph will be omitted from the report.

Holdings overview & analysis

This section is a replica of the Portfolios > Portfolio > Position page.

The holdings are visible per entity (client, partner, joint or view all) by selecting from the Portfolio drop-down list.

It is possible to add new portfolio accounts or holdings, but be aware that datafeeds may be providing this data and any manual updates will impact the correct valuations.

• Recommendation page

Is the recommended investment still suitable? **	Yes / No
Record rationale for reason why (text)	Insert free text or use the Template button for standard paragraphs. If left blank this paragraph will be omitted from the report.
Record Next Steps (text)	Insert free text or use the Template button for standard paragraphs. If left blank this paragraph will be omitted from the report.

• Important Information page

Important Information

Important Information

Insert free text or use the Template button for standard paragraphs. If left blank this paragraph will be omitted from the report.

Confirmation

Confirmation

Insert free text or use the Template button for standard paragraphs.

• Produce Report page

The following options are available:

Generate Report The report will be sent to your Notification icon in Word format (default)

Generate Report + Doc Note The report will be sent to your Notification icon in Word format (default) and 

a copy will be saved against the relative client/s in the Notes area.

REPORT 

The details below are based on answering Yes to every question in the wizard, however, you can exclude many of these sections.

The report is generated in Word, portrait format.

Front cover

Logo Optional

Title Either Suitability Review or Financial Review Report

Prepared for Client name/s

Completed by Adviser name

Date Date generated

Background A colour image can be added up to A4 portrait - optional

Default front cover:

Front cover with background colour image:

Cover Letter (optional)

If you select Yes to include a cover letter, the default text generates as:

Title	Welcome to you Financial Review Report or Suitability Review Report
Dear	Client names as per entities selected in the wizard
Sign off	Kind regards
Sender	Client adviser name
Disclaimer	Please note that my advice is based on my understanding of your current financial position and objectives. It is therefore important that if you disagree with anything I have written here, or you have any questions about any of the information contained within this report, that you contact me as soon as possible.

Default cover letter - no text added:

Cover letter with text inserted

Footer

Each of the following pages contains a footer with the title of the report (Suitability Report or Financial Review Report) and client names/s along with a page number.

Table of contents (optional)

A table of contents lists each section of the report.

Financial Review Report

Suitability Review Report

Suitability Review Introduction (optional)

This section is only displayed in the Suitability Review Report

Any text added to the Suitability Review Introduction field, will be generated in this section, immediately before the Key Information data.

Key Information (optional if Reporting for clients is selected)

The date is always output in this section.  An overview of your key information as of ( review date )

The following fields are displayed for client and/or partner, based on the entities selected in the wizard.  Data is populated from Client Focus > Client Details pages.

For Individuals

Key Information

• Prepopulated text: An overview of your key information as of  Review date
• Name
• Sex, Age, Date of birth
• Client Classification
• Financial Knowledge
• Do ESG and ethical factors influence your investment decisions?
• ESG notes (if Yes to above)
• Attitude to Risk omitted if no data available

Personal Circumstances

• Notes

Contact Information

• Address omitted if no data available
• Email/s omitted if no data available
• Phone number/s omitted if no data available

Dependants omitted if no data available

• Dependant name, age, date of birth, relationship to entity/entities, financial dependence

Additional Information

• Marital status
• UK Taxpayer
• UK Domiciled
• National Insurance number
• Are you in good health?
• Employed by
• Employed status
• Do you have a will? 
• Date of will (if Yes to above)
• Is your will up to date? (if Yes to above)
• Do you have a power of attorney?

For Companies

Key Information

• Prepopulated text: An overview of your key information as of  Review date
• Name
• Trading as…, Company Number
• Client Classification
• Financial Knowledge
• Do ESG and ethical factors influence your investment decisions?
• ESG notes (if Yes to above)
• Attitude to Risk omitted if no data available

Personal Circumstances

• Notes

Contact Information

• Address omitted if no data available
• Email/s omitted if no data available
• Phone number/s omitted if no data available

Additional Information

• Company liability
• Company type
• VAT number
• Incorporation date
• Number of employees
• Nature of business

For Trusts

Key Information

• Prepopulated text: An overview of your key information as of  Review date
• Name
• Trust number
• Client Classification
• Financial Knowledge
• Do ESG and ethical factors influence your investment decisions?
• ESG notes (if Yes to above)
• Attitude to Risk omitted if no data available

Personal Circumstances

• Notes

Contact Information

• Address omitted if no data available
• Email/s omitted if no data available
• Phone number/s omitted if no data available

Additional Information

• Trust type
• Trust objective
• Date of will/deed
• Location of will/deed
• Loan scheme? 
• Discounted gift scheme?
• Expression of wish

Goals and Objectives (Suitability Review only)

Introduction - if text was added in the wizard it will be displayed here, otherwise it will be excluded.

A table of all goals is generated and details:

• Owner
• Advice type
• Description
• Amount
• Target date
• Priority

A table of all objectives is generated and details:

• Owner
• Objective type
• Description
• Timeframe
• Priority
• Target amount

If there are no goals or objectives recorded, and no introduction text, this page will not generate.

Income & Expenditure (optional if Reporting for clients is selected)

Introduction - if text was added in the wizard it will be displayed here, otherwise it will be excluded.

Overview - a table totalling the annual Income and Expenditure is displayed above the list of incomes and expenses as annual amounts.

Net Worth (optional)

What’s included?

Includes a Summary and Breakdown of Net Worth per type (cash, investment, retirement, protection, lifestyle, liabilities) based on the filters selected.

Protection policies with a value (eg. WOL or endowment) display the surrender value not the fund value.

Net Worth

Introduction - if text was added in the wizard it will be displayed here, otherwise it will be excluded.

Overview - a table totalling the net worth for client, partner, joint plus any liabilities (if selected in the wizard Net worth filter) is displayed.

Net Worth Summary

Chart - shows breakdown per product type eg. investments, pensions, property & land etc.

Net Worth Breakdown

Introduction - if text was added in the wizard it will be displayed here, otherwise it will be excluded.

Overview - a table listing current plans/assets per entity (client, partner, joint) as selected in the wizard under Net Worth Filters: 

• Investments
• Cash Accounts
• Lifestyle/Other Assets
• Property and Land
• Pensions
• Platform Wraps
• Protection
• Liabilities

Policy Summary (optional)

What’s included?

Only policies with the following statuses are included in the Policy Summary:

Product	Status	Notes
Assets	Awaiting monies  Existing Paid Up Renewal
Pensions	Active Paid up Premium holiday Left scheme	Individual SIPPs and Pensions, not part of a SIPP Wrapper, will automatically be included in the report.
Annuity	Inforce Paid up
Platform wrap	Awaiting monies  Existing Paid Up Renewal
Protection	Inforce Paid up Premium holiday	Protection policies with a value (eg. WOL or endowment) display the surrender value not the fund value.
Liability	Current Completed	Liabilities, excluding those held in SIPP wrappers, will be displayed in a table. Liabilities held in a SIPP wrapper will be displayed as an underlying product in the Policy Summary if SIPP wrappers are included.

Tip: Any assets or plans with the status not set (ie. set to blank) or those with a non-active status will not appear on the report output.

Policy summary

Introduction - if text was added in the wizard it will be displayed here, otherwise it will be excluded.

Overview -  a table displays the Total Value, Total Contributions, Total Death Benefit and Total Critical Illness per entity (client, partner, joint) 

Policy Breakdown - per entity

A table of plans per entity, listing:

Ordered:

Assets

Pensions

SIPPs

Protection

Liabilities (if selected in the wizard)

Total Contributions and Withdrawals per plan will be included if selected in the wizard.

A list of individual transactions can also be displayed if selected in the wizard.

Portfolio Valuation (optional)

What’s included?

Only data recorded in portfolio accounts will be included in the Portfolio Valuation.

The chart and table only reflect the plans with linked portfolio accounts.  If the client has several plans/assets without portfolio accounts (property, lifestyle assets, memo assets, plans not under advice/agency where you are only recording a total value) then the overall client value, ie. net worth, will not match the portfolio valuation. 

Also, if you have omitted policies (left the status blank), the portfolio data will still be included.

Portfolio Valuation Summary

Introduction - if text was added in the wizard it will be displayed here, otherwise it will be excluded.

Overview -  a table displays the Total Value and Total Contributions per entity (client, partner, joint) 

Portfolio Breakdown - per entity

A table of plans linked to portfolio accounts, per entity, listing:

• Plan name
• Plan number
• Commencement date
• Amount paid in
• Securities held

Ordered: Assets

Pensions

SIPPs

Protection

Asset Class Breakdown (optional)

What’s included?

Only data recorded in portfolio accounts will be included in the Asset Class Breakdown.

The chart and table only reflect the plans with linked portfolio accounts.  If the client has several plans/assets without portfolio accounts (property, lifestyle assets, memo assets, plans not under advice/agency where you are only recording a total value) then the overall client value, ie. net worth, will not match the asset allocation chart and table.

Also, if you have omitted policies (left the status blank), the portfolio data will still be included.

Asset Class Breakdown

Overview -  a table displaying the asset classes of holdings by value and weight per entity (client, partner, joint) plus a combined overall total (labelled ‘All’) based on the entities selected in the wizard.

Chart - a donut chart showing the value per asset class, based on the table above.

Recommendation (Suitability Review only)

This section is only displayed in the Suitability Review wizard if text was added in the wizard, otherwise it will be excluded.

Recommendation - based on whether you selected Yes or No to the question: Is the recommended investment still suitable?, one of the following texts will be displayed:

Yes - The recommended investment is still suitable.

No -  The recommended investment is no longer suitable.

Reasons for recommendation - if added in the wizard will be displayed here.

Next Steps - if added in the wizard will be displayed here.

Important Information (optional)

The section is displayed in both reports: Reporting for Clients and Suitability Review.

If text was added in the wizard it will be displayed here, otherwise it will be omitted.

Confirmation (optional)

The section is displayed in both reports: Reporting for Clients and Suitability Review.

When the Important Information section is omitted from the report, the penultimate page will be titled Confirmation.

If text was added in the wizard it will be displayed here.

If no text was added the Confirmation page will  display the Client Signature section only.

Client Signature

The section is displayed in both reports: Reporting for Clients and Suitability Review.

It consists of a table for client/s to sign and date.

Client names are pre-populated leaving space for signatures and dates.

Back Cover

Logo Optional

Company Name and address - optional

Text Bespoke text - optional

Background A colour image can be added up to A4 portrait - optional

Default back cover

Back cover with colour image and bespoke text

Troubleshooting / FAQs

• How do I exclude specific plans from the report?

Status - only statuses which reflect the plan is current / active are included in the report.  If the status is left as blank in the Financial Details screen, then the plan will not be included in the report output.  Remember, though, that a blank status could affect other reports or widgets.  If the plan is linked to a portfolio account, that account will still show up in the fund details / asset class area.

• How are contributions and withdrawals I’ve recorded in Xplan reflected in this report?

SIPP wrappers - for complex SIPP wrappers, which are linked in Xplan to its underlying products, the question in the wizard (“Include contributions & withdrawals at SIPP wrapper level”) should be set to “Yes” if you have recorded this information at the wrapper level.

Platform wrappers - platform wrappers in Xplan are handled differently, so the contribution and withdrawal information is always totalled up across the underlying plans linked to it.

All other plan types - contributions and withdrawals are taken from the details recorded in the Contributions and Withdrawals tabs within the plan record Financial Details area.

• How do I include my own text?

There are two types of text you can include  - and you can use one of them, both of them or neither.

Introduction text / Cover letter / Important information

Here you have three options: -

• You can add specific text for the client in your own words.
• You can use a templated paragraph (called “Managed Field Content”) which you can have set up for your team for use in the report.  To set up standard wording for this purpose, see here.
• Or, you can have a combination of both - use a templated paragraph as a basis and tweak the wording as you see fit.

Whichever option you choose will only apply to the current client’s valuation report so you can tailor it to suit.

 

Example reports

PDF example reports attached below.