How Absolute Logic Gives Comprehensive Planning Associates a Full IT and Compliance Team, Without the Overhead
Financial Planning & Management | Single Office, New York | 5 Employees | Client Since 2017
Executive Summary
A financial planning firm operating under strict state and industry regulation cannot treat a cybersecurity lapse or a shaky audit as a mere inconvenience: Comprehensive Planning Associates needed an IT partner it could trust completely. Since partnering with Absolute Logic around 2017, the firm has passed its regulatory examinations without a single finding and handed its entire IT operation to a team it never has to second-guess.
Today, Comprehensive Planning Associates relies on Absolute Logic to manage its cybersecurity and compliance, run its full IT environment, protect client data, and stay ahead of the requirements its regulators and broker-dealer impose.
Meet Comprehensive Planning Associates
Comprehensive Planning Associates is a planning-first financial firm, handling both financial planning and ongoing financial management for its clients. It operates from a single office with a team of five, and its advisors rely on secure VPN access to protect client privacy when they are working outside the office. Matthew Brunner, CEO Advisor at the firm, has led its relationship with Absolute Logic from the start.
As a financial firm, Comprehensive Planning Associates works under strict regulatory requirements, answering to New York State, its own internal audits, and the standards of the broker-dealer it partners with. In that environment, technology is not a back-office concern, because a compliance failure or a cybersecurity lapse can jeopardize the licenses and relationships the business depends on.
A Painless Handoff and Office Move
When the independent contractor who had handled the firm's IT began planning his retirement, he gave Comprehensive Planning Associates ample notice and suggested it find a local IT services provider. Matthew Brunner, CEO and Advisor at the firm, put proposals out and turned to a trusted professional in his network for advice, who pointed him firmly toward Absolute Logic.
Al Alper, Absolute Logic's founder, came out to meet Matthew and the firm's team, and Absolute Logic soon took over management of the IT environment with almost none of the friction such a transition usually brings. Not long after, the firm bought a new building and relocated, and Absolute Logic handled that move just as smoothly.
Al came out and lived up to everything the guy said. They took it over pretty seamlessly, and the experience was almost entirely painless. We even bought a new building and moved, and they made that painless as well."
A change of IT providers, with a physical office move on top of it, is exactly the kind of disruption a small firm dreads. Managing both undertakings seamlessly meant Comprehensive Planning Associates never lost momentum, and the experience established the level of trust that would come to define the relationship.
Matthew Brunner
CEO and Advisor of Compass
Taking The Stress Out of Audits
udits are a recurring source of anxiety for any regulated financial firm. The state comes in, internal reviews are conducted on their own schedule, and there is little time to respond. Absolute Logic has entirely taken the usual anxiety out of the process for Comprehensive Planning Associates.
Since partnering with Absolute Logic, the firm has never been unsure about how to deal with any part of an audit. Absolute Logic maintains detailed asset inventories, carefully prepares the documentation each review requires, and quickly turns around the resources the firm needs. The results have consistently satisfied the cybersecurity requirements to which they are subject while exceeding the standards of the firm's broker-dealer, allowing its reviews to be completed without issue.
When we're under the gun for an audit, you only have so much time to respond, and Absolute Logic gets everything back to us so quickly.
Knowing that there will be no unanswered questions in the process is the greatest stress reliever in my life.
Passing a state cyber examination cleanly is not a given in this industry. This stellar track record with Absolute Logic lets Matthew and his team approach each audit with confidence rather than uncertainty.
A Full IT Department, Without the Salaries
Beyond compliance, Absolute Logic runs the firm's entire technology operation. Where Comprehensive Planning Associates once leaned on a family member and an in-person contractor to keep things working, it now hands everything to Absolute Logic: security solutions, phone systems, and an encrypted email solution configured to protect sensitive client communications beyond standard hosted email.
Of course, Comprehensive Planning Associates relies on Absolute Logic for fast and effective support too. Getting help is effortless, and Matthew keeps Absolute Logic as the first number on his work phone.
They handle all our IT, our firewall, our phones, our encrypted email, all of it. If anything goes wrong, it's the quickest dial I have on my phone. I hit two buttons, I call Absolute, and they take care of everything.
The alternative would be managing an expensive and time-consuming in-house IT team that the firm has no need for. As Matthew describes it, replicating what Absolute Logic does consistently would require an entire IT department and a dedicated desk in the office, an overhead a five-person firm like his simply can't afford.
The Results
Since partnering with Absolute Logic, Comprehensive Planning Associates has:
A Decade of Audits Without an Issue
Passed stringent state cybersecurity examinations and internal audits without a single finding since partnering with Absolute Logic, eliminating uncertainty and last-minute scrambles.
A Full IT Department Without the Overhead
Receives the coverage of a full IT department, from firewalls and phones to encrypted email, without hiring a single in-house technician or dedicating office space.
Security That Exceeds Partner Requirements
Meets standards that exceed what its brokerdealer partner requires, so the firm clears those reviews routinely and keeps that key relationship on solid footing.
Secure Client Communications From Anywhere
Communicates with clients securely through encrypted email and protects client privacy on the road via VPN, both set up and maintained by Absolute Logic.
Compliance Without the Administrative Burden
Absolute Logic maintains asset inventories, audit documentation, and other compliance requirements, freeing the firm's fiveperson team to focus on clients rather than regulatory administration.
Cyber Incident, No Problem
Has never had a cybersecurity incident rise to the level of a real problem since the partnership began, protecting client data and the firm's reputation.
Risks Identified Before They Become Problems
Benefits from proactive penetration testing and third-party vendor assessments designed to identify and address security risks before they affect the firm.
Why Comprehensive Planning Associates Recommends Absolute Logic
Part of what earns that trust is how far ahead Absolute Logic tends to be, day in and day out, year after year. When Matthew raises what he thinks is the next thing the firm will need, the answer is often that it is already handled, or already under way. That track record has made Matthew an outspoken advocate, to the point that he recommends Absolute Logic at industry trade meetings whenever the subject of cybersecurity comes up.
The best thing I can say about them is my absolute, undying trust in them. Their people are great. In a business where you have unlimited choices, I would never even take a quote from somebody else until Al says we're done over here. I'm never going to entertain going anywhere else.
In a field where a firm could solicit endless competing quotes, choosing not to is a strong statement. The combination of simple compliance, complete IT coverage, and a team the firm trusts without reservation is reason enough for Comprehensive Planning Associates to stay with Absolute Logic.
How Absolute Logic Can Help
Whether you're preparing for regulatory audits, strengthening cybersecurity, modernizing critical systems, or looking for a technology partner you can trust, Absolute Logic helps organizations reduce risk, improve resilience, and focus on what they do best.
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