Designing a new planning tool for J.P. Morgan advisors that saves time, deepens client relationships, and empowers them to give better advice
Role
Lead product designer responsible for end-to-end design and delivery of a new planning tool, built from scratch.
Users
All JP Morgan advisors, whose clients span the wealth spectrum: from retail through ultra high net worth
Year
2020–Present
Pilot launch in 2022
Full launch in 2023
Business Case
A holistic financial plan is the foundation of the client/advisor relationship; it leads to greater client satisfaction, higher wallet share, and more opportunities for cross-selling of additional products and services (like insurance or estate planning). Clients with plans are more likely to achieve their financial goals, and are more likely to refer friends and family to the bank.
Prior to 2022, J.P. Morgan advisors had been using a vendor tool for planning, which cost millions of dollars a year to license, and all enhancements had to be negotiated and managed externally. Building our own proprietary tool would save money, give us more control, and allow us to anchor on the firm’s point of view on planning. Additionally, we could leverage the data we have on our 60 million clients, and allow clients and advisors to collaborate digitally.
Key features
Enter financial information
Wealth Plan provides flexibility to enter client financial information in multiple ways: the client can link their accounts through aggregation (enter login credentials and see real-time balances), or the advisor can manually add accounts by asset class, positions, or total dollar value. They can even upload a financial statement directly to Wealth Plan.
Choose & articulate goals
Users can choose and articulate any type of goal they can think of: retirement, healthcare, travel, caregiving, education, real estate, major purchase, charitable giving, or a custom goal. Advisors can also group goals that have the same objective or the same investment strategy (e.g. liquidity, lifestyle, or legacy). In 2025, we added an enhancement that allowed advisors to create goals with variable spend amounts over time.
See if you’re on track
Goal funding status is Wealth Plan’s punchline - the answer to the question: “Am I on track?” Wealth Plan’s engine runs thousands of calculations based on different market simulations, and determines how close the client will be to reaching their goals. Based on savings, contributions and investment strategy, we display the estimated amount available to spend when their goals start.
How do we calculate this? I wrote and designed this Monte Carlo methodology explainer !
Create Alternate Scenarios
Perhaps the most valuable feature of Wealth Plan, this is where advisors help their clients discover possible ways to get closer to their goals. They can explore alternate scenarios with changes to timing (including retiring earlier or later, or living longer), changes to their savings and contribution amounts, or investment strategies. Our advisors can demonstrate the impact of changes large and small, explore trade-offs, and develop a recommendation that suits their client’s needs.
Stress Test
The Stress Test feature allows advisors to demonstrate a plan’s resilience in the face of risks beyond our control, such as lower than expected returns, or a market downturn right before the client was planning to retire. Advisors can isolate specific simulations from our 1,000 Monte Carlo trials to reassure their clients that their plan can weather their worst-case scenarios.
Print report
After the client and advisor have explored trade-offs and agreed on a recommendation, advisors provide clients with a printed summary of their plan. The custom report memorializes everything they discussed in a clear, easy-to-understand, attractive design.
Impact
Awards
Banking Tech Awards Best Digital Initiative 2023 and Best Use of Technology in Wealth Management 2023
FinTech Breakthrough Awards, Best Personal Finance Product 2023
Real Simple Smart Money Awards, Award for Financial Literacy 2023
StockBrokers.com #1 New Tool 2024