CoMetrix APL
Overview
Management of Approved Product Lists (APL) is a key requirement for managing the compliance of advisers in the group. Whatever process a group adopts for selection of products to include in the APL, managing, maintaining and promulgating the APL in an efficient and effective manner is critical. CoMetrix provides capabilities that allow a dealer group to manage their APL(s) in a flexible and customisable manner:>/
- one or many product lists can be established, allowing for the needs of different business contexts,
- products can be flexibly defined, or imported from various sources including research houses or rating agencies,
- the values assigned for product attributes such as ratings, asset classes and risk ratings can be defined to suit the group, and each product can have multiple values allowing the group to treat products differently to, for example, an external research house while not losing that information,
- information in the APL can be integrated and used in conjunction with other information in CoMetrix, including for example, adviser competencies (qualifications and accreditations) and compliance audits.
Product Lists for All Seasons
Many dealer groups will need the flexibility of multiple product lists to manage in a complex and fast changing environment. For historical and audit trail purposes, groups may need to keep records of their approved product lists as they stood several years in the past.
CoMetrix has a flexible model for defining products and their attributes, and then linking them together in product lists that you can define. External organisations such as research houses can supply product information and their own ratings of these products, and CoMetrix can import this information and maintain it over time.
Each dealer group can set up and apply their own rating values, asset class definitions and risk ratings which may potentially be derived from an external research house, or they can be completely unique.
Additional documents, such as research notes, product brochures and so on can be attached to individual products, adding value and placing information at the fingertips of advisers when they need it.
Your Process for APL Management
The business process that a group adopts for reviewing, selecting and removing products from their approved product lists can vary from simple to complex. CoMetrix supports a variety of processes through flexible product list management and comprehensive security features.
Access can be restricted to different products and product lists so only those people in your organisation with authority to do so can manage what products are seen by advisers when preparing advice.
Centralised storage and management of APL information prevents the proliferation of out of date or unauthorised product information being used inadvertently by advisers, and helps ensure that they comply with the group's chosen product strategies. A fast and responsive process for updating the APL enables the group to stay abreast of fast moving changes in the investment product landscape.
Integrate APL Information and Increase its Power
Managing APLs and giving convenient access to that information to advisers is important, but the power of APLs is increased dramatically when integrated with other information that can be managed by CoMetrix.
Model portfolios and risk profiling can draw upon information maintained in the product lists to provide up to date product options on demand.
Advisers with different qualifications and accreditations who have that information maintained in CoMetrix's competency based training module can be restricted when accessing the APL to only those products that should be relevant to them. This helps to ensure that advisers remain within their authorised boundaries when preparing advice and product options.
Compliance audits can be enhanced when an auditor can determine that advice given in relation to products falls within the scope determined and managed by the licensee.