Summary
Onboarding new clients is often a complicated process with a lot of manual work.
Timeline’s integration with Pension Lab simplifies and automates the Letters of Authority (LoA) process.
The streamlined process includes client data input, automatic LoA generation, digital signature collection, send to provider, and dynamic provider chasing.
Benefits include less paperwork, greater accuracy, quicker LoAs, and a better overall experience for you and your clients.
Introduction
Bringing on new clients can be one of the most challenging parts of a financial adviser’s job, mainly because of the cumbersome Letters of Authority (LoA) process. These documents are essential for accessing client information from various financial institutions but can involve a lot of manual work and delays. This article walks you through how Timeline’s integration with Pension Lab makes this process much smoother and more efficient, ensuring a better experience for both advisors and clients.
Description
Here’s a step-by-step look at how the automated LoA process works:
Data input:
As a financial advisor, you start by entering some basic information about your client and your firm.
This data is only added once, and if you are using our fact find or any other part of the ecosystem, the data will be automatically prefilled.
You can add as many providers as you want, as many policies per provider as needed, and pick between the three different policy types.
Make sure you enter the legal name and address of your client.
Add additional information:
The information you enter here will be automatically included in the email we send to providers, ensuring that any specific details you require are communicated. This feature allows you to request additional information from providers without needing to draft separate requests.
Automatic LoA Generation and Dispatch:
We automatically generate the LoA based on the provider's requirements.
We include in the LoA all the data you have entered in Step 1.
Client's signature gathering:
The client receives an email to sign the LoA, customised with the client's name and your firm's name. The email looks like this:
The client can then review the LoA document by clicking on the purple link and enabling the Pension Lab to manage the LoA process. The text will show the name of your firm rather than 'Timeline.co'.
The client can sign the LoA. Pension Lab’s technology transforms this wet digital signature into a physical one, meaning no physical sending is required.
LoA tracker:
As the adviser, you can track the LoA's progress by provider name, estimated completed date, and status.
The estimated completion date gives you a time horizon on how long, on average, the LoA will take tailored to each provider.
Our technology conducts automatic chasing specific per provider.
In the status column, you can see the following statuses:
Waiting for the client's signature: Awaiting the client's signature to proceed.
Sent to provider: The request has been sent to the provider.
1st chase: First automatic follow-up sent to the provider.
2nd chase: Second automatic reminder sent to the provider.
3rd chase: Final automatic follow-up sent to the provider.
Completed: The request has been fulfilled.
Provider cannot locate: Provider unable to find the requested information.
LoA not accepted: The Letter of Authority was not accepted by the provider.
You will also receive real-time status updates for each LoA via email.
When you click on Details, you'll see a timeline of events for each policy, along with the provider's contact details in case a manual follow-up is needed. You will be able to download the LoA, delete, resend, and download the policy information when available.
Benefits of the Automated LoA Process:
Less Paperwork:
Automation reduces the need for manual paperwork and time spent chasing, giving you more time to focus on valuable tasks like client engagement and strategy planning.
Greater Accuracy:
Automated data retrieval minimises errors from manual data entry, ensuring your client’s information is accurate and up-to-date.
Better Client Experience:
Clients enjoy a smoother onboarding process with clear timelines and automated updates, reducing their mental load and uncertainty.
Compliance and Security:
The automated process ensures compliance with regulatory requirements and protects client privacy through secure digital signatures and encrypted data transfers.
Example
Let’s look at a real-world example with Jane, a financial advisor, and her new client, Mark. Here’s how the automated LoA process works for them:
Jane enters Mark’s basic details into Timeline and starts the LoA process.
Mark receives an email and digitally signs the LoA.
The LoA is automatically sent to Mark’s financial institutions via Pension Lab.
Pension Lab chases providers and retrieves Mark’s financial information, verifies it, and sends it to Timeline.
That simple!
Conclusion
Timeline’s integration with Pension Lab for automating the Letters of Authority (LoA) process transforms the client onboarding experience for financial advisors. By reducing paperwork, increasing accuracy, and enhancing the client experience, this automated process addresses the common and long-standing challenges associated with traditional LoA handling.