With their unrivaled knowledge of the financial planning technology and Ph.D.- grade survey methodology, the Kitces team has once again delivered fresh, insightful advisor tech benchmarks in the new August 2023 study, “The Technology That Independent Financial Advisors Actually Use And Like.” If you’re a financial advisor looking to refresh your outdated tech stack, this report is a must-read. The full 150+ page PDF is well worth your time (you can download it from the Kitces website), but if you’re actively evaluating new financial planning software, we have the TL;DR for you below:
RightCapital is a noted “standout” in the Financial Planning category with the highest satisfaction rating and a “rapid growth streak”
"The Big 3"—eMoney, MoneyGuidePro, and RightCapital—command almost 80% of the financial planning software market. While MoneyGuide is in second place for market share, its share has been declining (22% in 2023 versus 30.3% in 2021) and its satisfaction ratings have dipped (7.7 in 2023 versus 8.2 in 2021). This survey predicts: “The fact that (RightCapital) still generates both the highest satisfaction and value ratings of these 3 suggests that it will continue to rise, likely surpassing MoneyGuide’s market share among independents in the coming year.”
Here’s the current market share, satisfaction and value rankings comparing eMoney, MoneyGuide and RightCapital:
RightCapital has been the highest rated financial planning software for years, but what’s new is its satisfaction score rose to 9.1 out of 10.
RightCapital received top rankings on 4 attributes: plan methodology (RightCapital can model both goals-based or cash-flow-based plans), Monte Carlo simulations, ongoing advice engagement (highlighted by RightCapital’s recent Blueprint and Snapshot tools), and customer support.
As shown, RightCapital, which ranked highest in overall satisfaction, received average or above average satisfaction ratings in all 13 attributes. No other financial planning software vendor rated so consistently high across every attribute.
A quick note on methodology
You’ll notice that market share data is slightly different between this Kitces Report, “The Technology That Independent Financial Advisors Actually Use And Like,” published in August 2023 and the earlier Kitces Report, “How Financial Planners Actually Do Financial Planning”, published in January 2023 (which we summarized in a separate blog here). That’s because these are two different surveys conducted at different times with a different focus. The January survey is focused on “financial planning process” while this latest advisortech study “highlights trends in how advisors use various technologies within their firms”. It's significant to point out that the both studies maintain strict criteria for respondents through various measures like unique codes, mandatory years in business, required account creation, and no sponsorships to ensure the study's impartiality.
Did The Kitces Report pique your interest about RightCapital? See it for yourself in a 1:1 personalized demo with one of our product specialists by booking a demo below.