Financial Services Archive

Smitten in the Mitten State

Michigan’s Rehmann Financial loves Laserfiche for minimizing their workflow woes

January 27th, 2009

Think of the paperwork challenges of a typical registered investment advisory (RIA) firm—new account forms, quarterly and annual statements, client agreements, and floods of general correspondence, all of which must be maintained in compliance with a host of regulations. Now imagine an RIA that’s also registered with a broker-dealer. And that offers retirement planning. And, for good measure, that sells insurance. Finally, picture this company’s paperwork spread out across 13 regional offices in two states.

Have a headache yet? If not, you probably at least have some sympathy for Rehmann Financial. With 60 associates located throughout Michigan and Florida, the rapidly growing wealth management firm faced a formidable information management challenge. But with Laserfiche document and business process management at the heart of its technology platform, Rehmann Financial has standardized business processes, enabled effortless information exchange and, within just a few months, achieved significant cost savings over their former paper-based business model.
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Divided They Stand

At Professional Planning Service of New Hampshire, Laserfiche separates two businesses under one roof

December 23rd, 2008

For many businesses, the vision of a paperless office is often the driving force behind implementing digital document management. For Professional Planning Service of New Hampshire (PPS), going paperless while maintaining the separation between two distinct business interests was giving staff double vision. But by implementing a Laserfiche document management system, PPS has avoided mixing their two business’ documents during their transition to a paperless environment—and improved efficiency and service quality along the way. Full story »

Higher Expectations

Stage 2 Planning Partners get more than they expected from their Laserfiche system

November 18th, 2008 by Melissa Henley Melissa Henley is a Laserfiche staff member

When it comes to their firm’s infrastructure, many financial advisors rely on the same paper files they’ve been using since they joined the industry. For some advisors, letting go of their paper is an unfathomable hurdle.

But other advisors—and their firms—recognize the benefits of document management. From immediately eliminating clutter to long-term benefits such as saving time, space and money, the return on investment with document management is quite impressive.

Stage 2 Planning Partners is one of those innovative firms achieving their goals thanks to document management. Founded by Principal Josh Patrick in 1997, the firm offers wealth management services for owners of closely held businesses, individuals and groups, focusing on a variety of strategic and financial issues.
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A Class Act

Bond and Devick Financial Network simplifies work processes by integrating ACT! and Laserfiche

October 21st, 2008 by Melissa Henley Melissa Henley is a Laserfiche staff member

For financial advisors at Bond and Devick Financial Network, over twenty years of industry experience had given them a heightened awareness of the problems of a paper-based filing system. File cabinets took up almost 50 square feet of office space, and staff wasted time and money making multiple copies of the same document so advisors could have simultaneous access to information.

“We were dealing with an enormous amount of paper,” remembers Teresa Devick. “And the paper files concerned us greatly, mainly because if our office were ever damaged, our information would be completely unrecoverable.”

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NFP Securities, Austin, TX

September 19th, 2008

Laserfiche became a hot topic at the home offices of NFP Securities in Austin, TX, a major national broker/dealer, when its compliance officer returned from a visit to Bingham and Hensley of Kingsport, TN, one of its 300 member firms.
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Bingham and Hensley

September 19th, 2008

Bingham and Hensley, Inc., a certified financial planning organization in Kingsport, TN, had serious problems with its existing document management system and needed a solution.

“We are in our files on a daily basis, and there was no way to easily see the individual files for any given client, and no way to easily separate non-qualified and qualified life insurance files, as dictated by regulations,” says Jeff Bingham. “We were and are solely dedicated to going paperless, but our system was not living up to expectations and was not giving us the solution that we needed.”
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Quick on the Draw

Berger Financial Group, Inc., automates data capture and processing to propel success

September 15th, 2008 by Melissa Henley Melissa Henley is a Laserfiche staff member
Principal Mark Berger

Principal Mark Berger

Advisors at Berger Financial Group, Inc., (BFG) have always taken pride in providing sound advice and stellar client service, but when it came to their filing system, they knew that improvement was crucial.

“We had file cabinets that were using up valuable space,” says Principal Mark Berger, “not to mention the substantial administrative time required to keep each physical file up-to-date. We knew we needed to improve our filing to improve our efficiency.”

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Farmers and Merchants Bank invests wisely in Laserfiche

“It’s pretty obvious that we’ll realize both cost savings and customer service improvements in the long run.”

August 19th, 2008

farmers and merchants bankFounded in 1907, Farmers and Merchants Bank (F&M) has grown to be one of the strongest financial institutions in the country by preserving its traditions of honesty, integrity and dedication to the community. One hundred years later, F&M has started a new tradition of technological innovation, positioning itself for another century of success. By implementing an enterprise content management system from Laserfiche, F&M is getting the best of both worlds—good old-fashioned quality service, accelerated to the speed of today’s technology. Full story »

Full Speed Ahead

Simplifying compliance with automated e-mail archival and digital order processing

July 22nd, 2008 by Melissa Henley Melissa Henley is a Laserfiche staff member

Established in 1993 as a full service broker-dealer, Workman Securities provides comprehensive services to registered representatives and their clients. But paper-based processes were impeding staff’s ability to provide quality services in a compliant manner.

“We used to print out e-mails to conduct surveillance,” remembers Operations Manager Kelly Buda. “And when you consider we have over 260 representatives and home office staff, that was a lot of paper.” Full story »

Bloss & Dillard, Inc.

Laserfiche Insures Immediate Results

May 27th, 2008 by Melissa Henley Melissa Henley is a Laserfiche staff member

In 1954, Frank Bloss and Earle Dillard founded a small insurance agency, working alone out of a one-room office. Since then, Bloss & Dillard, Inc., (BDI) has grown into a successful managing general agency (MGA) with 1,500 agents and thousands of clients in West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and Pennsylvania.

But success has its price, and for BDI, it came in the form of proliferating paperwork. As an MGA, BDI provides a broad range of insurance products to independent insurance agents. A staff of underwriters supports these agents by quoting and binding both commercial and personal insurance coverage, from simple property policies to highly sophisticated excess and umbrella coverage. Full story »

Halifax/Bank of Scotland

U.K. Bank of the Year dramatically upgrades global customer service

May 27th, 2008

The Halifax/Bank of Scotland (HBOS) Group, just honored by widely-read financial publication The Banker as “U.K. Bank of the Year”, has dramatically upgraded its ability to serve global customers with an Internet-based enterprise paperless office solution from Laserfiche. Full story »

Bank of China

May 27th, 2008

Laserfiche’s 20,000th installation linked the New York City operations of the Bank of China, the nation’s largest foreign exchange financial institution and second largest bank in the world. Bank officials selected the system to share records between its New York Midtown and Chinatown offices after recently completing a successful installation at its Los Angeles office. Full story »

Commonwealth Financial Network

May 27th, 2008

When Commonwealth Financial Network of Waltham, MA, the nation’s third-largest privately-held broker-dealer, decided to adopt a standardized document management system for its 1,000 financial planners from coast-to-coast, it put its reputation as a technology leader on the line.

But after a 12 month review of 32 software packages, Michael Sundberg, Commonwealth’s Due Diligence Officer, recommended Laserfiche to CIO Ed Bell, and the solution has been working well ever since. Full story »