We have liftoff! Genovo v2 is now officially live.

Ed Evans

Never having been ones to ‘let the grass grow under our feet’, a while back, we set ourselves a mission to be the best at what we do.

In short, we wanted to realise a comprehensive and fully-integrated solution that would allow our users to create highly personalised, reader-friendly and compliant reports in a fraction of the time it takes when using more traditional methods like Word templates. We knew from the feedback we frequently receive that we were well on the way to realising our ambition and lots of users thought Genovo was great, but we also knew it could be better!

Fast forward two years and we’re very excited to officially announce the launch of Genovo v2.

We still haven’t fully realised our mission – Rome wasn’t built in two years! But Genovo v2 represents a significant investment in the future, for both us and for you, our users; as well as an important milestone on this journey. In summary, we have:

• Completely re-architected the technology that underpins Genovo to ensure we can continue to provide all our users with a highly performant, scalable, and secure platform for many years to come.
• Given the user interface a ‘visual refresh’ in line with modern UI and UX trend, whilst remaining instantly recognisable and very familiar to navigate for existing users.
• Added a truckload of new features and enhanced functionality to aid productivity, enhance the look and feel of your reports, and fix the less intuitive aspects of some of the v1 workflows.

An overview of all the new features you’ll find in v2 is provided below (Spoiler Alert – there’s a lot!). We’ve also got a pipeline of further new features waiting in the wings which will be released over the coming months as we continue to drive forward and realise our ambition in full. Please watch this space for further details….

Dashboard

• A pop-out sidebar has been added to enable users to quickly navigate around the Genovo app. You can pin the sidebar, so it remains collapsed, using the arrow key towards the top.
• The query that drives the ‘Recent Activity’ panel has been enhanced and extended to accurately display the last twenty reports the logged in user has created or edited.

Integrations

• Set up integrations with multiple back-office systems within one account.
• Unlink a client / plan from one back-office integration and link it to another.
• The plug icon has been replaced by a favicon of the back-office system from which the client / plan data has been pulled.
• Add multiple plans into a review or recommendation section in one go.

Want to find out more? Watch the video tutorial >>

Account admin

Your company details

• Add a statement regarding your company’s regulatory status (or something similar) at the bottom of your report title page.

Two-factor authentication / Manage users

• Option to set up two-factor authentication via an authenticator app (or via existing email method).
• New layout, with Writer and Reader users separated out, to help you view and manage your users more easily.
• Account admins can elect to mandate 2FA for all their company’s users.
• Option to bulk re-assign a deleted user’s clients and reports to another user.

Libraries

Client & report library

• New layout to help you view and manage your clients and their reports more easily.
• Option to toggle between a list / tile view.
• New fields provide greater transparency to see who did what and when.
• Filter and sort clients and reports by any of the column headings.

Want to find out more? Watch the video tutorial >>

Investment library

• New fields provide greater transparency to see who did what and when.
• Filter and sort investments by any of the column headings.
• New one-way share functionality.
• New functionality to bulk delete investments.

Want to find out more? Watch the video tutorial >>

Provider library

• New fields provide greater transparency to see who did what and when.
• Filter and sort providers by any of the column headings.
• New one-way share functionality.
• Create a new custom provider by cloning an existing provider.
• New specialist equity release providers added.

Want to find out more? Watch the video tutorial >>

Report template library

• New tabs layout makes it easier to view and manage your report templates.
• New fields provide greater transparency to see who did what and when.
• Filter and sort templates by any of the column headings.
• New one-way share functionality.

Want to find out more? Watch the video tutorial >>

Customisation

Advice options & reasons library

• Categories have been added to certain steps to help you identify and locate all relevant options more quickly.
• Add custom options to a category.
• New one-way share functionality.

Want to find out more? Watch the video tutorial >>

Report content manager

• New fields provide greater transparency to see who did what and when. New info text helps identify when a particular snippet will be triggered in a report.
• Create your own standalone custom snippets and configure where they come out in your reports using simple drag & drop handles.
• A new ‘snippet view’ to help you easily view and manage your custom snippets.

Want to find out more? Watch the video tutorial >>

Report section manager

• A brand new feature that allows account admins to create custom ‘non-wizard’ sections and configure which sections show in the Report Builder for each Report Type.
• Available to Company Plan Midis and above at no additional cost, and as a chargeable bolt-on for all other plans.

Want to find out more? Watch the video tutorial >>

Attitude to risk profiles

• Create multiple custom ATR profile sets.
• Hide ATR profile sets to tailor the options that show in the ATR field in the 2x ATR steps in the new Client Risk Profile section.

Report theme

• Customise the colour of the thin line that separates the footer from the main body of the report via the new ‘Page footer line’ style in a Report Theme.

Report title page image

• A brand new feature that allows account admins to add a background image to the title page of their reports to make them even more eye-catching.
• Select a pre-loaded image or upload your own.
• Available to Company Plan Minis and above at no additional cost, and as a chargeable bolt-on for all other plans.

Want to find out more? Watch the video tutorial >>

Report Builder

• Additional useful report information included in the left hand panel.
• Easily reorder sections using drag and drop handles.
• Add custom sections or remove standard sections via the Report Section Manager.

Want to find out more? Watch the video tutorial >>

Section wizards

General

• Anchored breadcrumbs and previous / next buttons enhances the user experience and facilitates faster navigation.
• Auto inserted currency / monetary symbols and numerical comma separators (we know this has been a bugbear for a number of our users!)
• Consistent numerical formats: Percentages and monetary values always display to 3 and 2 decimal places respectively.

Introduction

• Option to ‘add objectives as freetext’ in the Review of Client Objectives step, just as you can in the the Client Objectives step.
• Given there is no specific FCA directive to include the date a Client Agreement was signed in a suitability report, the Regulatory Dates step has been removed.

Want to find out more? Watch the video tutorial >>

Client risk profile

• Brand new section automatically included in all reports, containing all risk profile-related steps.
• Attitude to Investment Risk step has been moved into this section from the Recommended Investment Strategy section.
• Review of Attitude to Investment Risk step has been moved into this section from the Introduction section.
• Capacity for Loss step has been moved into this section from the Recommended Investment Strategy section.
• Knowledge & Experience step has been moved into this section from the Introduction section.
• Brand new Investment Preferences & Other Considerations step.

Want to find out more? Watch the video tutorial >>

Review sections

Plan Summary step

• Easily change the order plans show in the section using drag and drop handles.
• Add multiple plans from a back office system at once using enhanced ‘add plans from CRM’ functionality.
• The ‘Top-up Amount’ field has been moved from this step into the Recommended Contribution step (see below).
• Auto-generated Current Investment Strategy name on creation.

Current Plan Charges step

• Revamped step with charges split into four categories.
• Charges can be entered as percentage or monetary value.
• Auto-calculated monetary charges which can be overwritten if required.
• Updated and enhanced formulas used to calculate monetary charges.
• Include any further information regarding plan charges in a new text box added at the bottom of the step.

Recommended Action step

• Select multiple ‘recommended actions’ for a plan.
• As a result, nested ‘recommended actions’ e.g. “top up and switch the underling investments of” have been archived, and will only show where they have been selected for a plan in reports / report templates created in v1.

Recommended Withdrawal step

• Include the new or revised withdrawal being taken from a plan in this new conditional step.

Recommended Contribution step

• Include the new or revised contribution being made to a plan in this new conditional step.
• A ‘Top-up Amount’ entered for a plan in the Plan Summary step in v1 will now show in this step.

Revised Plan Charges step

• New step introduced to assist with the ‘consumer understanding’ and ‘price and value’ outcomes of Consumer Duty.
• Clearly demonstrates the impact a new ‘recommended action’ will have on the plan’s charges moving forward.
• Option to also include ‘Initial one-off charges’ when a top-up or revised contribution is being recommended.
• Time-saving option to copy across the plan’s charges from the Current Plan Charges step.
• Auto-calculated monetary charges which can be overwritten if required.

Plan Comparison: Investment Strategy Charges step

• A comparison of a plan’s charges following a change of investment strategy can now be covered off comprehensively within the new Revised Plan Charges step, and hence this step has been removed.

Plan Comparison: Reduction in Yield

• User feedback suggested the 2x ‘Required Growth %’ fields were confusing and rarely completed, and hence they have been removed.

Want to find out more about how to complete a review section? Watch the video tutorial >>

Investment and pension-related recommendation sections

Plan Summary step

• Easily change the order plans show in the section using drag and drop handles.
• Add multiple plans from a back office system at once using enhanced ‘add plans from CRM’ functionality.

Plan Charges step

• Revamped step with charges split into four categories.
• Charges can be entered as percentage or monetary value.
• Auto-calculated monetary charges which can be overwritten if required.
• Updated and enhanced formulas used to calculate monetary charges.
• Include any further information regarding charges in a new text box added at the bottom of the step.

Want to find out more about how to complete a recommendation section? Watch the video tutorial >>

Mortgage Recommendation section

• Extended to include equity release recommendations. As a result, the Equity Release Static Template section has been removed from the Report Builder.
• Lifetime Mortgage and Home Reversion Plan have been added to the ‘Mortgage Type’ field.
• New Why Home Reversion Plan step.
• New Why Lifetime Mortgage step.
• New Why Loan Amount step.
• New Equity Release – Other Solutions step.

Recommended Investment Strategy section

• The option to include information about ‘Investment Themes’ has been moved into its own new Recommended Investment Strategy Supplementary Information step. As a result, you can now hide any options that are not relevant to the advice service you provide.

Want to find out more about how to complete this section? Watch the video tutorial >>

Important Information

• The Costs & Charges Disclosure step has been renamed Ex-post Costs & Charges Disclosure and only includes one field now relating to how ex-post charges disclosure should be dealt with in the report. Ex-ante charges (current and revised) now come out in the review sections for all Report Types as standard.
• You can now customise the options that show in the Client Classification step via the Advice Options & Reasons Library.

Want to find out more about how to complete this section? Watch the video tutorial >>

Summary of Wizard Section Steps Matrix

The Summary of Wizard Section Steps Matrix has been updated to reflect the changes outlined above. It provides an overview of the steps included in each wizard section for each Report Type in v2.

Consolidated Plan Charges *Standalone Alternative* section

This is a brand new section that you can add into the Report Builder to provide a consolidated view of all plan charges related content in one dedicated section in your report.

Report output

A number of changes have been made to the report output to facilitate the new features highlighted above, and a detailed summary of all snippet changes is included at the bottom of this post. Some of the more notable changes are:

• An updated Executive Summary section;
• A new Client Risk Profile section;
• New tables that clearly highlight any new or revised contributions being made to, or withdrawals being taken from an existing plan; and
• New and revamped Plan Charges tables in the review and recommendation sections.
• The automatic inclusion of the existing plan’s charges in the Impact of recommended alternative plan – Recurring annual charges table in the Plan Comparison section.

Executive Summary section

The Executive Summary section has been remodelled to provide an overview of the pertinent information that the client really needs to know, including:

• Key information about the plans being reviewed and recommended.
• A high-level summary of the investment strategy(s) being recommended.
• A summary of the cost of the advice and service provided.

Client Risk Profile section

All content relating to a client’s attitude to risk, capacity for loss and knowledge & experience will now be included in a dedicated standalone section.

New or revised contribution / withdrawal tables

A recommendation for a new or revised contribution to be made to an existing plan, or a new or revised withdrawal to be taken from an existing plan will be summarised within a table in the review section.

Plan charges tables

The plan charges tables have been remodelled to provide the client with a more granular view of the charges affecting a plan, in a format they can easily understand.

Impact of recommended alternative plan – Recurring annual charges table

To provide context and aid comparison, the total annual recurring charge of the existing plan(s) being replaced will be automatically included in the table inserted into the Plan Comparison section.

Steps / Advice Options & Reasons

A summary of all the steps that have been updated is provided below.

Where categories have been added to a step, we would recommend that you pop into the Advice Options & Reasons Library and assign a category to any custom options you’ve previously added to the step.

We would also recommend you step through all the sections of the active report templates saved in your Report Template Library. You will need to review and potentially update the content in any existing steps that have been updated, and add content into any new steps that are triggered.

Section	Step	Update
Introduction	Client Objectives Review of Client Objectives	Categories have been added to these steps.
Client Risk Profile	Capacity for Loss	This step has been moved from the Recommended Investment Strategy section.
Client Risk Profile	Knowledge & Experience	This step has been moved from the Introduction section.
Client Risk Profile	Investment Preferences & Other Considerations	This is a new step.
Review of Your Existing Pension Plans Review of Your Existing Retirement Income Plans Review of Your Existing Investments	Recommended Action	Nested recommended actions have been archived.
Review of Your Existing Pension Plans Review of Your Existing Retirement Income Plans Review of Your Existing Investments	Key Disadvantages & Tax Implications	Categories have been added to these steps.
Mortgage Recommendation	Why Lifetime Mortgage Why Home Reversion Plan Why Loan Amount Equity Release - Other Solutions	These are new steps
Mortgage Recommendation	Why Remortgage Why Mortgage Product Transfer Why Further Advice Why Second Charge Mortgage Why Repayment Method Why Mortgage Product Why Lender Key Disadvantages	Categories have been added to these steps.
New Pension Recommendation Drawing Benefits from Your Pension Fund New Investment Recommendation	Why Product Type Why Provider / Plan Key Disadvantages & Tax Implications	Categories have been added to these steps.
New Pension Recommendation	Why Contribution	Categories have been added to this step.
Drawing Benefits from Your Pension Fund	Why Withdrawal	Categories have been added to this step.
New Protection Recommendation	Why Provider / Plan Why Cover Level Why Term Key Disadvantages	Categories have been added to these steps.
Recommended Investment Strategy	Recommended Investment Strategy Reasons	Categories have been added to this step.
Recommended Investment Strategy	Recommended Investment Strategy Supplementary Information	This is a new step.
Important Information	Service Proposition and Reviews	This step uses an HTML Editor which means you can now add fully formatted content into this step.
Important Information	Client Classification	This is now a standard Advice Option step.
Important Information	Cash Contingency Fund & Affordability Next Steps Next Steps and Action required	Categories have been added to these steps.

Snippets

A summary of all the snippets that have been updated is provided below.

Please remember the changes we have made to these snippets will only take effect in your reports if the Genovo version of the snippet is selected as ‘active’ (it is by default). We’ve added new functionality to the Report Content Manager to help you view and manage your custom snippets. It will also help you identify those snippets you will want to review and potentially update.

Report Type(s)	Section(s)	Snippet Name	Update
All	Report Title Page	Title Page	The {ReportTitleFooter} tag has been inserted.
Suitability Report	Executive Summary	Title & Opening	The {Sum_InvStratTables} has been inserted.
Suitability Report	Executive Summary	Cost of Advice	This is a new snippet.
Suitability Report	Executive Summary	Recurring Remuneration	This is a new snippet.
Suitability Report	Introduction	Title & Opening	The paragraph relating to the dates of regulatory documents has been removed.
Suitability Report	Introduction	ATR & CFL Alternative Placeholder	This snippet has been deactivated and will be archived.
Review Report 2.0 Continued Suitability Report Fund Switch Report Top-up / Bed & ISA Report	Introduction	Review of ATR	This snippet has been deactivated and will be archived.
Review Report 2.0	Introduction	Review of Objectives	The content of this snippet has been updated.
All	Client Risk Profile	Section Page Break Title	These are new snippets.
Suitability Report	Client Risk Profile	ATR & Capacity for Loss	This snippet has been moved from the Recommended Investment Strategy section.
Review Report 2.0 Continued Suitability Report Fund Switch Report Top-up / Bed & ISA Report	Client Risk Profile	Review Risk Profile Title	This is a new snippet.
Review Report 2.0 Continued Suitability Report Fund Switch Report Top-up / Bed & ISA Report	Client Risk Profile	Review ATR - Tool Used Review ATR - No Tool Used Review ATR - Description	These snippets have been moved from the Introduction section.
Review Report 2.0 Top-up / Bed & ISA Report	Client Risk Profile	Review Capacity for Loss	This is a new snippet.
Suitability Report Review Report 2.0	Client Risk Profile	Knowledge & Experience	This snippet has been moved from the Introduction section.
Suitability Report Review Report 2.0	Client Risk Profile	Investment Preferences & Other Considerations	This is a new snippet.
All	Review of Your Existing Investments	Current Plan Charges Plan Charges Assumptions Recommended Action	The content of these snippets has been updated.
Suitability Report Review Report 2.0 Top-up / Bed & ISA Report	Review of Your Existing Investments	Recommended Withdrawal Recommended Contribution	These are new snippets.
Suitability Report Review Report 2.0 Fund Switch Report Top-up / Bed & ISA Report	Review of Your Existing Investments	Revised Plan Charges	This is a new snippet.
Suitability Report Review Report 2.0 Top-up / Bed & ISA Report	Review of Your Existing Investments	Cumulative Effect of Charges	The sort order of this snippet has been updated.
All	Review of Your Existing Pension Plans	Current Plan Charges Plan Charges Assumptions Recommended Action	The content of these snippets has been updated.
Suitability Report Review Report 2.0 Top-up / Bed & ISA Report	Review of Your Existing Pension Plans	Recommended Contribution Carry Forward	These are new snippets.
Suitability Report Review Report 2.0 Fund Switch Report Top-up / Bed & ISA Report	Review of Your Existing Pension Plans	Revised Plan Charges	This is a new snippet.
Suitability Report Review Report 2.0 Top-up / Bed & ISA Report	Review of Your Existing Pension Plans	Cumulative Effect of Charges	The sort order of this snippet has been updated.
All	Review of Your Existing Retirement Income Plans	Current Plan Charges Plan Charges Assumptions Recommended Action	The content of these snippets have been updated.
Suitability Report Review Report 2.0 Top-up / Bed & ISA Report	Review of Your Existing Retirement Income Plans	Recommended Contribution Carry Forward	These are new snippets.
Suitability Report Review Report 2.0 Fund Switch Report Top-up / Bed & ISA Report	Review of Your Existing Retirement Income Plans	Revised Plan Charges	This is a new snippet.
Suitability Report Review Report 2.0 Top-up / Bed & ISA Report	Review of Your Existing Retirement Income Plans	Cumulative Effect of Charges	The sort order of this snippet has been updated.
Suitability Report Review Report 2.0	New Pension Recommendation	Plan Charges	The {RPRC_ChargesTextBox} tag has been inserted.
Suitability Report Review Report 2.0	New Pension Recommendation	Plan Charges Assumptions	This is a new snippet.
Suitability Report Review Report 2.0	New Pension Recommendation	Aggregated Total Charge - lump sum and regular contributions Aggregated Total Charge - just lump sum	These snippets have been deactivated and will be archived.
Suitability Report Review Report 2.0	Drawing Benefits from Your Pension Fund	Plan Charges	The {PBRC_ChargesTextBox} tag has been inserted.
Suitability Report Review Report 2.0	Drawing Benefits from Your Pension Fund	Plan Charges Assumptions	This is a new snippet.
Suitability Report Review Report 2.0	Drawing Benefits from Your Pension Fund	Aggregated Total Charge	This snippet has been deactivated and will be archived.
Suitability Report Review Report 2.0	New Investment Recommendation	Plan Charges	The {IRC_ChargesTextBox} tag has been inserted.
Suitability Report Review Report 2.0	New Investment Recommendation	Plan Charges Assumptions	This is a new snippet.
Suitability Report Review Report 2.0	New Investment Recommendation	Aggregated Total Charge - lump sum and regular contributions Aggregated Total Charge - just lump sum	These snippets have been deactivated and will be archived.
All	Consolidated Plan Charges	All	These are new snippets for a new section.
Suitability Report	Mortgage Recommendation	Why Lifetime Mortgage Why Home Reversion Plan Why Loan Amount Mortgage Offer (Equity Release) Important Information (Equity Release) Alternative Solutions (Equity Release)	These are new snippets.
Suitability Report	Recommended Investment Strategy	Section Title	The content of this snippet has been updated.
Suitability Report	Recommended Investment Strategy	Your Risk Profile Title	This snippet has been deactivated and will be archived.
Review Report 2.0 Fund Switch Report Top-up / Bed & ISA Report	Recommended Investment Strategy	Section Title	The content of this snippet has been updated.
Suitability Report	Recommended Investment Strategy	Recommended Investment Strategy Table & Reasons Why	The content of this snippet has been updated.
Suitability Report Review Report 2.0 Fund Switch Report Top-up / Bed & ISA Report	Recommended Investment Strategy	Charges Comparison	This snippet has been deactivated and will be archived.
Suitability Report Review Report 2.0 Fund Switch Report Top-up / Bed & ISA Report	Important Information	Cost of Advice and Service	The content of this snippet has been updated.
Suitability Report Review Report 2.0 Fund Switch Report Top-up / Bed & ISA Report	Important Information	Recurring Remuneration	This is a new snippet.
Review Report 2.0 Continued Suitability Report	Important Information	Summary of Charges Title Ex-ante Signpost to Charges Statement Ex-ante Plan Charges (investments) Ex-ante Plan Charges (pensions)	These snippets have been deactivated and will be archived.
Suitability Report	Risk Warnings	Equity release	This snippet has been deactivated and will be archived.
Suitability Report	Risk Warnings	Lifetime mortgage Home Reversion Plan	These are new snippets.
Suitability Report Review Report 2.0	Appendix - Plan Comparison	Impact of Recommended Alternative Plan – Annual Charges	The content of this snippet has been updated.
Suitability Report Review Report 2.0	Appendix - Plan Comparison	Impact of Recommended Alternative Investment Strategy Required Growth Text	These snippets have been deactivated and will be archived.

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