WealthPoint Acquires Interest in Financial Modeling Platform
Published: September 3, 2010
Press Release: 09-03-2010
Media Contact: Marissa Hopkins, marissa.lynn.hopkins@gmail.com
WealthPoint, LLC, a leading provider of succession, legacy, and life insurance planning to high net worth clients throughout the United States, has acquired a one third interest in a comprehensive financial modeling platform. The planning tool was developed over the past several years with the input and experience of certified public accountants, chartered financial analysts and corporate controllers. “We took all of this experience and incorporated it into the most powerful and flexible analytical tool available today,” said WealthPoint design analyst and platform founder, Drew Velasquez.
In today’s competitive and often uncertain economic environment, business succession, estate and personal financial planning have become more important than ever. However, in most cases, planning of this magnitude goes unattended due to the complexity and time required to adequately analyze and execute a plan for the future.
The modeling software is a sophisticated tool to be used by clients and their advisors to make complex planning and decision making easier. “The client will be able to make complex planning decisions with confidence,” said WealthPoint Managing Director Ryan Barradas. “It helps clients navigate through the keep or sell decision making process, decide the right time to transfer equity and/or control in business interest, transfer excess wealth and manage cash flow. It takes a holistic and multidisciplinary approach to planning for both business and personal assets.”
“Throughout my 36 years of practicing law, I have always looked for a tool like this,” said Jim Ryan, an estate and trust law specialist with Frazer, Ryan, Goldberg & Arnold LLP, who was given a demonstration of the software. “Instead of guessing, it uses sophisticated projection technology to show the client likely outcomes. It will be very helpful to me, my clients and anyone who does what I do.”
“I have seen many programs in the past that have attempted to do the same thing, but never one that provides the depth of information and knowledge, along with the flexibility to change assumptions on the fly. It’s built on an excel platform that allows it to be quite nimble and customizable,” Jim Ryan said. “And more importantly, clients understand the results and gain a clear understanding of their options immediately. This software has been carefully designed with detailed attention to the tax, legal, debt, financial and personal issues related to any comprehensive estate, business succession or financial planning process.”
Future plans for the software include an addition of a web platform to allow for efficient communication between the client and advisor team, project management capabilities to assign tasks, a secure place to store important planning documents for review and a private blog for advisors to propose plan designs and changes.
About Drew Velasquez
Velasquez is the head of the WealthPoint design team. He began his career in public accounting in Seattle while specializing in the issues that affect corporate and personal income taxes, ownership transition, value realization, strategic management and tax structures of closely held businesses. He has personally consulted with hundreds of clients regarding strategies ranging from simple estate documents to negotiating on behalf of clients for the sale of a business. This diverse background allowed him to develop a proprietary consulting and planning software tool that has become the cornerstone of making informed strategic decisions for both privately owned companies and their respective shareholders.
