Allenbridge Client Valuations
"The best looking client reports in the investment industry" - Wayne Smith, Operations Director, Allenbridge Group plc.
Allenbridge Group, based in Mayfair in London, is a leading Independent Financial Adviser and investment consultancy firm. When they needed an effective solution for reporting on their clients' financial holdings, they turned to ReportLab, working together with 2M Print.
Allenbridge wanted to replace a system to deliver valuations and portfolio analysis to around 15,000 clients, four times a year, as soon as possible after the end of each financial quarter.
Most financial advisers provide their clients with reports on a regular basis. But the logistical challenges of delivering attractive, accurate, personalised valuations are considerable. Existing solutions usually combine output - often crude in appearance - from several different systems. So preprinted factsheets, application forms and product literature are bundled together into unattractive and unfriendly packs of paper, with plenty of potential for errors in printing and collation.
The ReportLab solution is simple and effective. Allenbridge upload data to our servers, where the brochures are generated in a matter of hours. A single PDF brochure is produced for each client, which combines valuations, fund analysis, forms and other matters of interest in a single, attractive booklet. The PDFs go straight to 2M Print's HP Indigo digital press, before being mailed out to clients.
Allenbridge have saved countless man-hours and now give their clients what they are calling "The best looking reports in the Investment Industry"...
Technical details (hide...)
The new system offers many advantages:
* Attractive and useful: the booklets have integrity of design, yet can vary by client according to business rules. A single document covers everything a client needs to know, including a cover letter, valuation, a half-page performance analysis on each fund they hold. You can download a copy below.
* Accurate: Prior to the valuation date, dry runs are carried out using older client data with the latest content (such as advertisements and news), and PDFs are generated for review. If there are changes to any content or rules, Allenbridge can verify that the brochures are exactly as they want before the production run starts. The single PDF per client, with the client's address on the back for use with a windowed envelope, also eliminates many kinds of error which could occur in printing and posting with an older system.
* Email-friendly: a significant number of clients ask for valuations by email. The system emails these out concurrently with the print run; there is no need for a separate system to manually generate (possibly different) valuations.
* Easy to audit: after the run, Allenbridge has a full digital archive of each file sent to a client, making it very easy to answer queries or send out a replacement (electronic or printed) to anyone who asks for one.
* Fast: after valuation is completed and data is transferred to ReportLab, initial samples PDFs are available for checking within minutes. They are generated in the order needed for printing (supporting Royal Mail's mailsort sytem, to optimize the postage costs), allowing the printer to get to work immediately. Although it still takes time to print and post 15,000 documents, it is now possible to go to print the day after pricing.
* Green: the system is good for the environment in several ways. First of all, many clients are electing to receive valuations by email, cutting down on print and shipment. Secondly, the system uses rules to ensure each client only receives the content they need to, keeping page count to a minimum. Third, modern digital presses such as the HP Indigo production press are highly efficient with consumables. All inks used are completely recycled within the printing operation, eliminating any wastage, and with the use of FSC approved paper this is a truly environmentally friendly production process.
* Cost-effective: each brochure contains only the pages needed for that client, some clients are increasingly choosing to receive the PDF reports via email instead, and the print process is optimised for efficient printing and cost effective mailing. Allenbridge have considerably cut their printing costs.
Sample output...
Allenbridge ISA Valuation pack sample
REIS property market analysis
Fidelity - Financial Statements and Valuations
Hilton Hotels