Generating a Statement of Advice (SOA)

This guide outlines the workflow for generating a compliant, high-quality Statement of Advice using Paradino’s Strategy Assist. It covers the necessary preparation, the generation process, and how to refine the final document using AI assistance.

Phase 1: Preparation (Critical for Best Results)

Before initiating the Strategy Assist workflow, specific prep work is required to ensure the AI (Athena) performs optimally and adheres to your practice’s standards.

1. Template Customisation

While Paradino provides a default SOA template, it is highly recommended that you customise it to fit your specific practice requirements before use.

• Fee Disclosures & Disclaimers: Edit the template to reflect your specific fee arrangements (fixed term, ongoing, etc.) and legal disclaimers.
• Section Ordering: Crucial. Ensure all sections in the template are in the exact order you want them to appear in the final document.

2. Practice Knowledge Base (Global)

Upload files relevant to your entire practice. Athena uses these to generate compliant advice documents.

• Risk Profiles: Ensure your firm's risk profiles are uploaded.
• Strategy Wording: If you use standard wording for strategy benefits, risks, and consequences, upload these documents. Alternatively, Athena will use her government knowledge base (Superannuation, Tax Law, etc.) to generate standard text.

3. Client Workspace & Knowledge Base (Specific)

Upload documents specific to the client you are working on.

• Required Documents: Upload product comparisons, insurance quotes, and cash flow projections.
• Consolidation is Key: Avoid uploading excessive raw data (e.g., 15 individual bank statements). instead, upload consolidated comparisons and fact finds.
• Best Practice: Aim for less than 10 documents as input for the SOA. This prevents overloading the AI's context window and ensures higher accuracy.

Phase 2: Generating the SOA

Once preparation is complete, navigate to Strategy Assist in the client's file.

Step 1: Initialise Strategy

1. Click New Strategy.
2. Name the strategy (e.g., "SoA for Client X").
3. Select Strategy Type: Statement of Advice.
4. Select your customised Template.
5. Click Continue to start the chat workflow with Athena.

Step 2: Document Selection

Athena will search for relevant documents to build the advice.

1. Context Documents: Athena will locate File Notes and Strategy Papers. Confirm their usage (e.g., "Yes, use both").
2. Supporting Evidence: Athena will list all documents in the Client Knowledge Base.
   • Action: Select only the documents specific to this SOA (e.g., the specific product comparison and cash flow projection for this advice).
   • Tip: Do not select every document available if they aren't relevant to the specific advice being given.

Step 3: Strategy Review

Athena will analyse the selected documents against your strategy paper and generate a list of Recommended Strategies on the screen.

• Review: Check the strategies (e.g., Super rollover, Concessional contributions, Insurance cover, Estate plan reviews).
• Edit: You can refine, add, or adjust quantities/wording at this stage.
• Confirm: If satisfied, type "Looks good" (or similar) to proceed.

Step 4: Background Processing

Athena performs several automated tasks:

1. Practice Check: Searches your Practice Knowledge Base for your specific risk profiles and strategy text.
2. Compliance Check: If your text is missing, she searches government legislation for benefits/risks.
3. Web Search: Performs live web searches for up-to-date Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) links for recommended products.

Step 5: Template & Preference Analysis

Athena analyses your chosen template and splits it into logical sections for parallel generation. She will also recall User Preferences from your previous interactions.

• Example of Learned Preferences: "Just show net cash flow on charts" or "Show both inflow and outflow."
• You will be asked to confirm these preferences before the final generation begins.

Step 6: Generation

The document generation takes approximately 2 to 7 minutes. Athena assigns specialised agents to generate different sections of the document simultaneously.

Phase 3: Review and Refinement

Once generated, the document will appear in the editor with a Table of Contents.

Interactive Charts

The SOA includes dynamic charts (Pie and Bar) for asset allocation, cash flow or others.

• Linked Data: Charts are linked to data tables. If you update the numbers in the table, the chart updates automatically.

AI-Assisted Edits

You do not need to make manual edits for every change. You can instruct Athena via the chat window to refine the document.

Example Commands:

"Update the client's address to 30 Main St, Sydney."

"Add a total inflow and total outflow series to the cash flow projection chart."

The Update Process:

1. Athena retrieves the latest version.
2. She identifies the specific sections requiring updates.
3. She assigns agents to update those sections in parallel.
4. Time: Updates are fast, typically taking 10 to 30 seconds.

Summary of Best Practices