AIG Financial Advisors, Inc.
Adding value to AIG affiliates without interrupting day-to-day business processes
Industry/Solution
Financial Services
CNG-SAFE adds value to AIG affiliates without interrupting day-to-day business by electronically mimicking business processes and workflows already in place.
Phoenix, AZ-based AIG Financial Advisors, Inc. (AIGFA) is a registered broker-dealer
and SEC registered investment advisor, member FINRA and SIPC,and member company of American International Group, Inc. AIGFA is responsible for $33.9 billion in total account assets and
works with 2,275 affiliated independent financial advisors.
To help its independent financial advisors grow and develop their practices, AIGFA invests in a robust technology platform that supports superior customer service and more efficient business processes. AIGFA chooses user-friendly, intuitive systems that allow their network of independent, affiliated financial advisors to focus on providing sound, unbiased advice and financial strategies for every stage of life.
Independent Affiliated Financial Advisors Choose Cabinet NG
AIGFA’s independent financial advisors are focused on their customers, not technology– so when AIG presented a list of document management vendors, most of its affiliated advisors looked for firms with AIG’s stamp of approval. Betina Wolfe, Director of Advisor Services for Isys Management, LLC, a select network of independent financial advisors nationwide, said “Cabinet NG was ranked very highly and compared to some other companies, was a very affordable option. Later we discovered how user-friendly CNG-SAFE was, which really made Cabinet NG a wise choice.”
Economy and ease of use are huge motivators for any company but, for some AIGFA firms, there were slightly more dramatic forces at work. Stacey Maxted, Client Administrator for Thompson, Diaz, Baxter, Byrne & Associates P.A. said, "Hurricane Katrina demonstrated the importance of going paperless to many businesses on the Mississippi Coast. Cabinet NG helps us help our clients no matter what the circumstance.”
Key to the appeal of Cabinet NG is how seamlessly electronic document management moves into a firm’s business environment. AIGFA independent advisors are very motivated to improve their business processes by making their workflow more efficient and responsive to client and market demands. By being flexible enough to electronically mimic business processes and workflows already in place, CNG-SAFE added value to AIG affiliates without interrupting day-today business or requiring busy independent advisors to completely revamp operations.
Shawn Williams, Office Administrator at Sherrill Bambauer Financial Planning in Redding, CA, noted that Cabinet NG’s ease of use meant she could load the software and master its key features herself – CNG-SAFE was that intuitive.
CNG-SAFE is Cabinet NG’s Shared Access Filing Environment, the preeminent document management system for small to medium businesses. The latest version of CNG-SAFE delivers all the features that support its position as the most affordable and comprehensive document management and workflow platform for small to medium sized businesses (SMBs).
Benefits of Paperless Matched by Cabinet NG’s Compliance-Readiness
Most small to medium businesses go paperless in order to gain the efficiencies and productivity available from a cutting-edge technology solution that cuts down on paper. Independent financial services firms, such as those affiliated with AIG, also share the desire to improve business processes by automating workflows and maximizing office space by eliminating unnecessary physical documents.
As Shawn Williams of Sherrill Bambauer noted, “We experienced a significant reduction in the physical space needed to store paper files and folders, going from 15 file cabinets to just two, thanks to Cabinet NG.” The need for a full time document handling employee was eliminated by Thompson, Diaz, Baxter, Byrne & Associates, whose Supervisor, Cindy Carraway, noted that “Our goal is to go completely paperless.”
Equally important to firms in the financial services industry is the ability of electronic document management software to manage the compliance process. Most AIGFA companies chose Cabinet NG and the CNG-SAFE system on the basis of its compliance-readiness and ability to adhere to FINRA, SEC and a host of other regulatory directives.
One of Cabinet NG’s AIG independent representative customers claimed enthusiastically, “Cabinet NG is better than lock and key!” Client documents, financial and otherwise, are far more secure in Cabinet NG electronic file cabinets than in metal file cabinets.
Stacey Maxted, Client Administrator for Thompson, Diaz, Baxter, Byrne & Assoc., P.A., said that the ability to set security levels at the cabinet level for each user was hugely attractive in terms of data protection. This ensures a high comfort level in extending access to client folders to employees traveling or located in satellite offices. Isys Management’s Betina Wolfe also observed that CNG-SAFE takes compliance responsibility out of the hands of representatives because CNG-SAFE acts as a centralized, secure information repository that assigns each user individual password-protected access parameters.
It’s A Set-Up!
For A Faultless Compliance Visit, That Is
Sherrill Bambauer Financial Planning’s Shawn Williams said she works for an office that “likes to be perfect” and that Cabinet NG helped her business achieve compliance excellence. Sherrill Bambauer has had seven compliance visits from regulatory authorities, passing all with zero deficiencies. Sherrill Bambauer’s Shawn Williams noted that Cabinet NG software set up records and electronically stamped files with dates, customer account numbers, most recent activities and other needed information so that compliance visits only lasted an hour or two – a significant reduction from the 3-4 hours associated with audits in the pre-paperless era. Time saved during the audit process can be attributed to no longer having to search for lost or misplaced files by using a system that easily allows for the search and retrieval of all transactions and provides an irrefutable digital record.
Enabling Anywhere, Anytime Information Access
Isys Management’s Betina Wolfe explained that Cabinet NG helped smoothly transition her firm into a merger that saw the number of financial representatives go from 30 to 60. Client files and other documents were immediately accessible by all representatives, eliminating a few of the significant growing pains associated with service industry mergers. At Isys, three individuals have full access to all files, but all representatives are able to access the parts of the files they need to conduct business. In fact, says Isys Management’s Betina Wolfe, “Cabinet NG has been a huge help in recruitment. We have found younger reps love being paperless – it is a big selling point to offer them anytime, anywhere access.”
CNG-SAFE also enables financial services industry SMBs to tailor document management to their unique needs. Thompson, Diaz, Baxter, Byrne & Associates scans client documents such as wills and marriage certificates as part of their commitment to excellent customer service. In these and countless other ways, Cabinet NG transforms paper trails into an automated electronic document workflow that increases productivity and responsiveness.
"Hurricane Katrina demonstrated the importance of going paperless to many businesses on the Mississippi Coast. Cabinet NG helps us help our clients no matter what the circumstances"
Stacey Maxted, Thompson, Diaz, Baxter, Byrne & Associates
Client Administrator
"Cabinet NG has been a huge help in recruitment– younger reps love being paperless – it is a big selling point for them to offer them anytime, anywhere access."
Betina Wolfe, Isys Management, LLC
Director of Advisory Services
"Cabinet NG listens to their customers."
Stacey Maxted, Thompson, Diaz, Baxter, Byrne & Associates
Client Administrator
AIG Representatives Laud Cabinet NG’s
Customer Service
Thompson, Diaz, Baxter, Byrne & Associate’s Stacey Maxted found the fact that Cabinet NG’s customer service and tech support team knew her name, her company and her interests extremely impressive. “Cabinet NG listens to their customers” she noted, and added that Cabinet NG was always willing to make their software work for her firm’s individual procedures. She looks forward to attending upcoming Cabinet NG User Conferences for new tips and applications.
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