New ‘Stress Test’ for Retirement Plans Helps Address Coronavirus Concerns

Stress test

New suite of cloud-based financial planning tools features a cashflow stress test.

401k plan participant worries about retirement are skyrocketing due to higher volatility and the stock market crash brought on by the coronavirus. To help financial advisors tackle these worries head on, HiddenLevers, an Atlanta-based tech provider in the wealth management space, has launched a new suite of financial planning features, including cashflows stress testing.

“In this next phase of humanity, retirement planning conversations won’t be dominated by unicorn equity or that big boat purchase,” said Raj Udeshi, HiddenLevers Founder. “Advisors need to illustrate how coronavirus and the induced recession could impact cashflows, and then showcase how they can help prevent such retirement shortfalls. Marrying risk and planning—that’s where HiddenLevers shines.”

The new feature set, which is already live, includes a goals builder, estate planning, income + liabilities, and a cashflows sandbox with adjustable assumptions. But the killer feature, the company says, is stress testing of cashflows. Advisors can show the impact of good, bad, and ugly versions of scenarios like coronavirus pandemic, global recession, and a low rates environment.

“Stress testing is not just lobbing scenario bombs to gauge financial plan fragility,” said Audrey Satre, who works on HiddenLevers’ product team. “It’s also about explaining how the recovery plays out in future cashflows. Advisors can properly answer both sides of the relentless client question—what will the impact of coronavirus fallout be on my retirement?”

“HiddenLevers has a good representation of upside and downside future possibilities to stress test cashflows. This is something other financial planning platforms just can’t do,” said Glen Jones of Sierra Pacific Financial Advisors LLC, a Bay Area RIA. “We use several scenarios, but the coronavirus is a once-in-a-lifetime thing that we have to address.”

Full investment process

With deep roots in risk tech, HiddenLevers says it has now become the first platform to offer the full investment process in one solution—risk assessment, holdings gathering including alts, financial planning, recommendation construction, and proposal generation. Users can also deliver investment proposals as an interactive presentation with e-signature, well-suited to the work-from-home paradigm shift underway.

“Since the independent financial planning platforms are now history, the functionality void could only be filled by a disruptor like us,” said Carlos Rodriguez, a full-stack developer at HiddenLevers. “They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.”

Janet Wan, president of Sierra Pacific Financial Advisors, says the cloud-based financial planning platform’s interactivity is a key. “Clients want to see the results immediately. These people actually implement our suggestions when they see the impact of changing assumptions and investing strategy to their retirement lives,” Wan said.

“As large financial institutions re-think their tech stack, they want one cohesive workflow and elegant client experience for the advisor investment process, not a clunky patched-together Frankenstein,” said Praveen Ghanta, HiddenLevers Founder and CEO. “We are proud to say we made that happen, and it is enterprise ready.”

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