With more financial advisors and RIAs than ever still operating remotely in 2021, Docupace helped a growing number of advisors and clients navigate paperless transactions with agility and security. And with two major acquisitions driving forward advisor- and client-facing tools, the Docuplace Platform continues to evolve. Here’s what happened in the last year, and where we’re headed in 2022.

Docupace Acquires Compliance and Compensation System jaccomo
In May 2021, Docupace announced its acquisition of jaccomo, a premier accounting system specializing in compliance, data integration, financial reporting and advisor compensation. The cloud-based tools developed by jaccomo also offer real-time integration of disparate data sources, normalizing them across platforms for better advisor and client access.

“The financial services clients both our firms are honored to serve, both now and in the future, deserve technology that simplifies and automates all of their back office, not just a part of it, which is a vision that shines brightly at Docupace,” said Docupace CEO David Knoch. “By combining the proven, enterprise and flexible capabilities of the Docupace and jaccomo platforms we take a meaningful step forward in achieving that vision, creating data-rich, highly-integrated operating experiences across a wider segment of back office processing.”

The operations-centered portal offered by the Docupace and jaccomo partnership allows wealth management firms to reclaim time and focus from back office processes, and redirect it back where it belongs — on the client relationships at the heart of the business.

Docupace Advances Onboarding Tech with PreciseFP Acquisition
In September, Docupace took the next step in its 2021 transformation by acquiring PreciseFP, a client-facing platform for gathering data and onboarding. Because client onboarding consistently ranks as one of the most painful and time-consuming tasks facing financial advisors, simplifying the process will have huge implications for their productivity. But there’s a massive opportunity to meet — and exceed — client expectations, too.

“We’re more than a decade into the digital era, yet paper-based processes still have a stranglehold on new account opening and too many financial advisors say the process for opening accounts is the most cumbersome portion of client interactions,” Knoch said.  “As a result, wealth management firms and their financial advisors today increasingly are at risk of raising prospective client hopes, only to disappoint expectations when it comes to how account opening, and the rest of the client service experience, is operationalized.”

With a seamless, end-to-end wealth management ecosystem for both clients and advisors, wealth management firms can adopt a truly digital-first approach — and reap all the benefits that come with it. Research suggests that firms using PreciseFP have 47% larger average account size, and have grown firm AUM at a 5% faster rate than other RIAs. Advisors using Docupace for onboarding in 2022 can expect to attract more clients, and more HNW clients, with the enhancements brought by PreciseFP.

Docupace Opened Almost 2 Million New Accounts in 2021
Acquisitions weren’t the only big news at Docupace in 2021. Usage of the platform outperformed better than ever, wielding automated processes and secure storage to help wealth management firms operate more efficiently. Docupace also grew substantially, with a whopping 89% more new client accounts opened in 2021 than in 2020.

Here’s a look at the year’s biggest metrics:

• 1.9 million new accounts opened (89% increase from 2020)
• 402 million documents stored (13% increase from 2020)
• 78,897 disclosures delivered (50% increase from 2020)
• 594,550 e-sign transactions (6% increase from 2020)
• $231,019 estimated client savings on digital disclosure delivery
• 292 million hours (or 7 billion minutes) of time saved on digital paperwork

Looking ahead to 2022, Docupace aims to continue the “back office revolution,” solving more operational issues for wealth management firms and investors through innovation and automation. And with jaccomo and PreciseFP on board, Docupace clients can expect a more agile platform than ever before.