The Forrester Wave™: Financial Planning Software, Q3 2007

Due to popular demand, Forrester has updated its Q2 2005 financial planning software Forrester Wave. We conducted a hands-on evaluation of nine popular Web-based solutions from eight North American vendors across 124 criteria and found that eMoney Advisor, AdviceAmerica, SunGard, EISI, and PIE Technologies lead in the financial planning software market. eMoney Advisor scored highly on most areas and was the easiest software to use; AdviceAmerica, SunGard, and EISI have strong solutions, especially for enterprise customers with multilevel advisors; and PIE Technologies' offering packs a lot of punch for goal-based software. Impact Technologies Group and Financeware are both Strong Performers but need to improve their ease of use. Finally, Money Tree Software's TOTAL Planning System is a strong Contender that focuses more on independent advisors. All the products that Forrester evaluated offer value to end users. As advisory firms will have different needs and planning philosophies, the relative strength of each vendor and product will vary according to these custom requirements — so end users should customize the Forrester Wave tool to find the best fit.