Background
Biograph Wealth Advisors Limited is a leading wealth advisory firm based in Dublin, Ireland. The team works closely with clients to tailor financial plans, investment portfolios and mortgage solutions to meet their diverse range of needs and requirements.
The Challenge and Opportunity
When Biograph was established in 2009, the process of onboarding new clients was manual. Clients met with advisors, briefed in their financial requirements and a plan was created. However, because advisers were only privy to specific goals, the planning process became limited and reactionary. Also, the cumbersome process and the excel plans it produced weren't scalable. CEO Paddy Mahony recalls the text-heavy reports "felt like writing a time-intensive novel."
To reach Biograph's ambitious growth plan, Paddy recognized the need to streamline the onboarding process, approach planning from a holistic perspective and implement a system that would facilitate growth.
Leveraging Voyant to Build a Scalable Planning Process and Connect with Clients
When Voyant became available to the Irish market in 2013, Paddy took the opportunity to move a few key clients onto the platform. After discovering how easy it was to use, Biograph advisors agreed to create all future financial plans within the platform. "Once you get your process set up right, it is so scalable and simple. We are advisor-led, and have a no portfolio without a plan policy. That means all clients get a comprehensive financial plan prior to implementing any product recommendations. I strongly believe every advisor should create their own plans instead of relying on a paraplanner," he said.
In the nearly ten years of using Voyant, Biograph has found that what the platform does best is help advisors to connect with clients and clarify life's "what-ifs." During one particular annual review, the client expressed how unhappy he was in his job. He said, "I know we're going to spend a certain amount in retirement, but how would it look if I spent a bit less? Because if I don't retire soon, I won?t make it to 65." His plan was adjusted in real-time and he was able to visualize the trade-off of retiring three years early with confidence.
As customized financial plans became the norm at Biograph, advisors began further personalizing and exceeding expectations. Whether helping clients retire earlier, leave a larger legacy to children, sell a business or change a career, the team could clearly demonstrate how goals that previously seemed unattainable were now a possibility.
Learning and Results
Voyant is so easy to use that advisors now build first draft base plans in under 20 minutes and display them in real-time during onboarding meetings. Clients are engaging faster and the prospect-to-client ratio has increased dramatically.
"The Voyant output is very user-friendly. The easy-to-understand visuals give clients a good sense of their overall financial situation while also showing them the impact of various actions," said Paddy.
In approximately nine years of using the Voyant platform, Biograph has grown its turnover from €500,000 to just under €2M. During that same period of nearly 4x growth, the demand for staff only increased by 2x. Paddy attributes part of this success to a streamlined process enabled by Voyant solutions.
With Voyant, Biograph connects and builds trust with clients faster. The team can now respond to "what-if" questions in real-time and demonstrate the true value of their advice. As Paddy explains, "The Voyant platform changes the conversation from just money to what the money can do. It's a privileged position to be an advisor - we build a true partnership with our clients, where we start with the life they want and build a plan that helps them achieve it. With Voyant, I can give targeted advice that makes a difference."
