New Mobile Version of Insurance Technologies' VisibleChoice Amps Up Suitability Capabilities

Insurance Technologies, LLC (Colorado Springs, Colo.) a provider of sales and regulatory automation solutions to the insurance industry, has launched VisibleChoice 3.0., the latest version of its annuity sales and suitability solution for broker-dealers and advisors, which the vendor says includes new features to simplify and streamline the annuity sales process.

"We are excited for the launch of VisibleChoice 3.0 and the enhanced features it offers for suitability, management reporting and mobile usage," comments Del Lang, VP, VisibleChoice product management, Insurance Technologies. "Our goal is to provide fresh and innovative solutions that help our clients better serve their customers; and this product fills an important due diligence and suitability need. VisibleChoice 2.0 had five times the adoption rate of the previous version, and we look forward to building on that success."

The new version of VisibleChoice helps to address changing regulatory demands, suggests Chip Kispert, Founder of Beacon Strategies, a broker-dealer focused research firm.

"Customer suitability and 'know your client' demands are not new, but the implementation of FINRA Rules 2090 and 2111 last month have significantly increased the burden of oversight responsibilities on broker-dealers," Kispert says. "These new rules expand upon existing FINRA requirements by mandating the capture and analysis of a multitude of new demographic, economic and investment factors from clients to ensure the suitability of investment choices."

Insurance Technologies describes the new features included in VisibleChoice as follows:

Comprehensive Annuity Sales and Suitability Capabilities: Delivers annuity data access for the entire industry and integrated suitability modules that broker-dealers and advisors can use to reduce compliance risk and increase sales suitability and productivity. It also includes enhanced management reporting, which provides broker-dealer home offices with valuable sales and comparison intelligence such as product usage and business replacement percentages.

- Provides broker-dealers and advisors with the ability to perform direct comparisons for all annuity types, filtering important criteria such as rating, class, and risk tolerance so advisors can recommend the most suitable annuity option for each client. With easy to understand Annuity Summary Reports, advisors can quickly and effectively communicate complex product information to clients, which increases transparency and understanding for the customer.

- Helps advisors meet the home office suitability forms process requirements in an automated manner through VisibleChoice Suitability®, a rules based suitability forms platform. VisibleChoice Suitability provides broker-dealer home offices with a flexible platform that can be integrated into existing business processes and systems to assist advisors in managing compliance with FINRA rules 2090 "Know Your Customer" and 2111 "Suitability".

Mobile Access: Now advisors can access VisibleChoice 3.0 from multiple devices, which helps them to make their practices more portable. Version 3.0 enables e-signatures and paperless suitability reviews and allows firms to create an electronic audit trail on their annuity product comparisons and recommendations. Bringing key functions such as annuity product reviews, completion of the suitability process and electronic signing of documents to a remote format allows advisors to meet with more clients and close business on the spot. This leads to stronger client relationships, more efficient bookkeeping and better management of compliance requirements.

Anthony O'Donnell has covered technology in the insurance industry since 2000, when he joined the editorial staff of Insurance & Technology. As an editor and reporter for I&T and the InformationWeek Financial Services of TechWeb he has written on all areas of information ... View Full Bio