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Bill
Briggs is convinced he is developing the right product at the right
time.
Today, as the United States' investment industry rapidly expands
and the rules surrounding stock options and financial planning become
increasingly complex, Briggs leads a team of more than 18 employees
who specialize in developing software for financial planners.
Briggs, president and chairman of the board for Bend-based Net Worth
Strategies, Inc., retired from IBM in 1987, moved to Bend to enjoy
the Central Oregon lifestyle and toyed with the idea of helping
others with their financial planning.
It wasn't until 1995, however, that this former sales and marketing
professional formed Net Worth Strategies and began development of
what would become the company's first product … StockOpter®.
 `In
a sense it's hard to believe, but it's totally affirming because
we thought it could happen,` he said of the company's early success.
Briggs credits that success several factors. There are an estimated
10 million employees in the United States with stock options, up
from just one million in 1991, he said, and that number is expected
to continue its rise.
As the number of stock options offered to employees has grown exponentially,
so too has the need for software capable of handling the complexities
of stock options, Briggs said.
Recent
technological advances have also made it possible for Net Worth
Strategies to target financial planners via the Internet and deliver
the software electronically.
The expansion of online trading has forced financial planners to
add value to their services, Briggs said, and more customers are
seeking out hands-on, personal financial advice.
`I believe our timing is just absolutely perfect,` Briggs said.
The company's vision includes defining what high value is and creating
the programs necessary to provide that value, he said.
`Financial planning and taxation are so complicated,` Briggs said.
Employee stock options require special tax treatment, and most employees
don't have the skill to deal with it, so they turn to their CPAs
and accountants, he added.
Rob Fincham, certified financial planner with Fincham & Company
LLC in Bend, is one of Net Worth Strategies' 500-plus customers.
`It is the most thorough tool in the market that does what it does,`
Fincham said. `I feel very strongly that what Mr. Briggs is doing
is cutting edge for the financial planning industry.`
Fincham said the program allows for increased interaction with clients
and the ability to see how the data is compiled. Unlike typical
programs that take data, crunch numbers and spit out a report of
some kind, Net Worth Strategies' StockOpter® allows the client to
work alongside his or her financial advisor.
Net Worth Strategies has the right approach, Fincham said, because
the whole financial planning process has become more process-oriented
instead of product-oriented. `There is nothing hidden, the client
sees everything laid out,` he said. `All calculations and all numbers
are visible. If used the way it is intended, the client doesn't
just walk out with a product.`
But the company's plans don't end with StockOpter®.
Net Worth Strategies' goal is to grow in Bend and become a leading
provider of personal financial planning software for various tasks,
Briggs said. There is a huge and growing opportunity out there,
and once the customer base is established, Briggs said the company
will introduce additional products. 
MRD-Determinator,
an Excel-based program for estate planners and financial professionals
who are advising clients with assets in IRAs of other qualified
retirement plans, was introduced in October 2000, and StratPlan,
software designed for personal financial planning projects, will
be released commercially in 2001.
The Net Worth Institute, the training arm of the company, began
offering training sessions in November 2000. Last week's one-day
training session in Bend attracted financial planners from across
the country, Briggs said.
Trainer
Bill Dillhoefer, an account executive with Net Worth Strategies,
said the sessions are designed not only to teach financial planners
about the software itself, but also about how to present it creatively
to one's clients.
The hands-on training is offered in Bend and at various locations
around the country. Net Worth Strategies recently formed a partnership
with OppenheimerFunds to provide stock options planning tools and
training to the OppenheimerFunds broker community.
`It's a marvelous opportunity for us to interact with our customers,`
Briggs said of the training sessions.
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