Financial Planners Nicholas Ryan and David Mills have launched a new practice management software firm called Pilot.

The duo chose to develop their own back-office solution having experienced frustration with ‘clunky, expensive systems that fail to reflect how real advice firms operate’.

Pilot has been in development for three years and was built and hosted in the UK with secure UK-based data storage. It was developed with both sole practitioners and multi-adviser firms in mind.

They claim their solution, launched this month, can streamline onboarding, reduce admin and improve transparency across the advice process.

Mr Ryan is an independent financial adviser at Yellow Bear Financial Consultancy, where he has also been a partner for the past 11 years. He holds a Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning from the Chartered Insurance Institute. He is CEO of the new platform.

Mr Mills is a Chartered Fellow and co-director of Ridgeways (FP) Ltd in Aylesbury Buckinghamshire where he focuses on high net worth clients. He is chairman of Pilot Financial Systems Ltd.

Both remain in their current adviser roles.

Mr Ryan said: “We built Pilot to do what other systems no longer seem to care about - deliver real efficiency, from end to end, at a fair price. We believe it will quickly become the desktop solution of choice for advice professionals who are tired of being tied to bloated, expensive back-office systems that have lost sight of what they actually need to run a great business and serve clients well in a competitive market.”

Pilot offers a ‘digital onboarding experience’ that allows advice professionals to input key information on any device. Its founders claim it simplifies the fact-find process, reduces paperwork, ‘sorts out’ the necessary research and suitability requirements.

Advisers can also access integrated workflows and compliance tools.

Clients also have secure access to their plans, documents and reports, which the duo claim improves transparency and strengthens long-term relationships.