Proposal Generation

Core Concepts

Proposal Workflow Architecture

The investment proposal is the centerpiece of the advisory sales process. It translates a prospect's financial situation and goals into a specific, actionable investment recommendation. The end-to-end workflow proceeds through defined stages:

1. Discovery meeting — the advisor meets with the prospect to understand their financial situation, goals, concerns, and expectations. The advisor collects current account statements, tax returns, and any existing financial plan. The discovery meeting establishes the advisory relationship's tone and sets expectations for the proposal.
2. Data collection and organization — the advisor or operations team enters prospect data into the proposal system: personal information, current holdings (manually or via account aggregation), financial goals, time horizons, income, expenses, tax situation, and any unique circumstances (concentrated positions, restricted stock, estate planning needs).
3. Risk profiling — the prospect completes a risk tolerance questionnaire. The system scores the responses and produces a risk profile that maps to a position on the firm's risk-return spectrum. The risk profile is the bridge between subjective client preferences and objective portfolio construction.
4. Model portfolio selection — the risk profile score maps to a specific model portfolio from the firm's lineup. The advisor reviews the mapping, considers any client-specific factors that might warrant adjustment (tax sensitivity, income needs, ESG preferences, concentrated positions), and confirms the recommended model.
5. Current portfolio analysis — if the prospect has existing investments, the system analyzes their current holdings: asset allocation, risk metrics, expense ratios, tax lots, concentrated positions, overlap, and style drift. This analysis quantifies the gap between the current portfolio and the recommended model.
6. Proposal document generation — the system assembles the proposal document from templates, populating it with client-specific data, the recommended portfolio, fee schedule, projections, and disclaimers. The proposal document is the deliverable that the prospect reviews and uses to make their decision.
7. Compliance review — before the proposal is presented, it undergoes supervisory review to verify suitability documentation, performance presentation compliance, fee disclosure adequacy, and proper disclaimers. For firms subject to the SEC Marketing Rule, proposals that include performance data require additional scrutiny.
8. Presentation and discussion — the advisor presents the proposal to the prospect, walks through the analysis and recommendation, answers questions, and addresses concerns. The presentation meeting is where the advisory value proposition is demonstrated.
9. Revision and finalization — based on the prospect's feedback, the advisor may revise the recommendation (different model, adjusted allocation, modified fee structure) and regenerate the proposal.
10. Acceptance and onboarding — the prospect accepts the proposal by signing the advisory agreement (IMA or similar). The proposal data flows into the onboarding process: account opening, funding, and initial investment in the recommended model.

The workflow is iterative, not strictly linear. Prospects may request multiple revisions, ask for comparisons between different models, or bring additional assets into scope after the initial proposal. The proposal system must support version tracking and efficient regeneration.