Interest Manager Overview

Version Date: Oct 20, 2026

What is Interest Manager?

Interest Manager (also known as the Flexible Preference Manager, or FPM) is a Salesforce application built with Lightning Web Components (LWCs) that records what your clients and prospects are interested in and how they want to receive information. It gives coverage teams one place to look up a contact, see their interests and communication preferences, update them, and check whether they're entitled to receive research.

Interest Manager can be opened as its own app, from a Contact record, or embedded in other application screens, such as Client Center and Quick Add, using Lightning Out.

Interest Manager is currently in MVP stage as of Oct 2026, focused on core preference management, rule evaluation, research entitlements, approval workflows, and the Preference Search API. The architecture supports future enhancements and integration with existing products. For existing clients, upgrading to Interest Manager will require data migration to transition existing preference data into the new data model.

Who uses it?

Role	What they typically do
Viewer	Looks up contacts and reads their interests and preferences.
Requester	Proposes new or changed interests. These may need approval before they take effect.
Editor	Creates and maintains interests and preferences directly.
Approver	Reviews submitted requests and approves or rejects them.
Administrator	Maintains the taxonomy, themes, research access rules, and app settings, and reviews the audit trail.

What each person sees and can change depends on their role.

Primary Features

1. Contact Search

Enter a few letters of a name to search for a contact or an account associated with a contact. Tick Coverage Only to restrict the results to clients within your coverage. The searchable fields can be configured through the AFR.

2. Client Profile & Research Entitlement Access

Shows a summary of the selected contact and whether they're currently eligible to receive research. If they aren't, it explains why and what to do next, such as getting an approval by entering a justification.

3. Rule Builder (Preference Rules)

The core of the app. In the Rule Builder you create preference rules: statements of what a contact cares about, for example "Sector IN (Energy, Utilities)" or "Region NOT IN (Japan)". A rule can include topics, exclude them, and combine several conditions.

Each rule has one of two purposes:

Research: the contact wants to receive research on these topics. A research rule also records how it should be delivered (delivery method), in which languages, and optionally which report types (if none are chosen, all report types apply). Research rules go through the Research Entitlement check (see 2 and 10).
General interest: records that the contact is interested in a subject, for coverage and targeting, without sending research. These rules skip the entitlement check and never need approval.

How a rule connects to the rest of the app:

Entitlement check. While you build a research rule, the app checks it against the Research Access Rules and shows right away whether the contact is entitled.
Approval. If the rule fails the check, you enter a justification and the rule becomes an Approval Request (see 7). The contact receives research from the rule only once it's approved.
Interests are generated. When a rule is active, Interest Manager automatically creates the contact's Interest records, one for each topic or topic combination the rule covers. The rule's research status (entitled, pending approval, approved or rejected) decides whether those Interests count for research distribution or only as general interest. You never edit Interests directly. You change the rule, and its Interests are updated to match.
Interests are used downstream. These Interests drive the Preference Search API, Interest Manager Search lists, and Topic Subscription Lists (see 13–15).

Rules can be created, viewed, edited, activated, or deactivated. Deactivating a rule expires its Interests. Each rule shows its status and who created and last changed it, and every change is recorded in the Audit Trail (see 11).

4. Quick Add Interest

A shortcut for creating a preference rule. Instead of building conditions step by step, type a plain-English description, for example "US Equities and Energy, not Japan." Quick Add then:

Finds the matching topics and shows them for review. Remove any you don't want.
Lets you set the research details if needed: delivery method, language, and report type.
Shows the Research Entitlement result before you save, using the same check and wording as the Rule Builder.
Creates the preference rule. You can save it directly, or open it in the full Rule Builder to edit it first.

The saved rule is an ordinary preference rule. It goes through the same entitlement check and, if it fails, the same Approval Request, and it generates Interests in the same way. It can be viewed and edited later in the Rule Builder like any other rule.

5. Delivery & Language Preferences

Set a contact's overall defaults for how they receive communications and in which languages. The lists start with the contact's usual options and can be expanded to show every available option. Earlier choices that are no longer valid are pointed out so they can be cleaned up.

How this affects searches: these defaults pre-fill the delivery and language choices on each new research rule (see 3 and 4). The Preference Search API and Interest Manager Search lists then match against the choices saved on each rule, not the contact's defaults:

Delivery method. A research search must name at least one delivery method, and it only returns contacts whose rule has a matching one. A research rule with no delivery method is never found by a research search. A general interest search can filter by delivery method, but a rule with no delivery method is treated as "any".
Language. A search can ask for one or more languages, such as English or French, which cover regional variants like en-US and en-GB. Only rules with a matching language, or with no language restriction, are returned.
The search results show which of the requested delivery methods and languages each contact matched, along with their contact details for those methods (for example, their email address).

Changing a contact's defaults later doesn't change existing rules. To change what a search finds, update the rule.

6. Do Not Contact (DNC)

Records when a contact or account should not be contacted, along with the type and reason. A DNC can also be a temporary pause with a start and end date. You can add, view, edit, or remove DNC entries for the selected client.

7. Approvals

When a preference rule fails the Research Entitlement check (see 3 and 4), it goes to an approver's Pending Approvals list as an Approval Request. The approver reviews the rule and the justification, approves or rejects it with an optional note, and can set how long the approval lasts (for example 30, 60, or 90 days, 1 year, a custom date, or no expiry). Once a rule is approved, its Interests are included in research distribution. A rejected rule is never used for research.

How this affects searches: a research search through the Preference Search API, or an Interest Manager Search list set to research, only returns contacts whose rule is research active. A rule is research active when all of these are true:

The rule is active.
It passed the entitlement check, or it has been approved.
Today falls within the approval period. The duration the approver chooses sets the rule's end date, and when the approval expires the contact drops out of research results automatically.

Rules that are pending approval or rejected are left out of research searches, but their Interests remain available in general interest searches. A pending approval request does not block interest tracking; it only prevents research distribution until the rule is approved. While a rule is pending approval, Salesforce's Approval Process locks the rule against editing. The rule becomes available for editing again once the approver either approves or rejects the request.

8. Taxonomy (Topics & Topic Types)

Administrators maintain the list of subjects that interests are built from:

Topic Types are categories, such as Industry, Region, or Asset Class, with related report types.
Topics are the individual subjects within each category. A topic can have mutliple parent topics, an alias, and a description.
List Association links a topic to one or more Client Center static lists, so anyone interested in that topic is automatically added to those lists (see Topic Subscription Lists, 15b).

9. Themes

Administrators can set up Themes: named groups of topics built from include and exclude rules plus optional keywords. Themes cover subjects that span several categories, such as a market theme or a campaign, for example "Energy Transition" covering selected Energy, Utilities and Materials topics.

A Theme is stored as a topic in its own Theme topic type within the Taxonomy (see 8). Every change to a theme or its member topics is recorded in the Audit Trail (see 11).

How Themes work with the Rule Builder and Interests:

In the Rule Builder (see 3), choose the Theme topic type and pick one or more themes. A rule that contains a theme is a theme-only rule: it cannot be combined with other topic types in the same rule. To capture both a theme and other topics for a contact, create separate rules. Quick Add (see 4) also recognizes theme names in the text you type and keeps them in their own rule.
Like any rule, a rule that includes a theme goes through the Research Entitlement check and, if needed, an Approval Request (see 7).
When the rule is active, the Interests it generates record the theme itself, for example "interested in Energy Transition". They are not broken out into an Interest for each of the theme's member topics.

How Themes work with the Preference Search API and Interest Manager Search:

To find contacts who follow a theme, search for the theme (Theme topic type plus the theme) in the API or in an Interest Manager Search list (see 13–15). The usual delivery, language and research status rules apply (see 5 and 7).
Because Interests aren't broken out by member topic, a search for one of a theme's member topics, such as "Utilities", does not return contacts who only follow the theme. To reach both audiences, include the theme and the topic in the same search as "any of these" topics.

Current status: Themes can be created, maintained and used in rules today. Breaking a theme out into Interests for each member topic is built into the app but switched off. If it's turned on in a future release, theme followers would also be found by searches on the member topics.

10. Research Access Rules

Administrators use a guided form to define the rules that decide who may receive research: which contacts a rule applies to, which topic categories it covers, and the eligibility conditions. Each rule also sets the message shown when a contact isn't eligible and where the approval request goes. No coding is required. After completing the form, the resulting JSON must be manually copied into the corresponding AFR attribute for the changes to take effect.

11. Audit Trail

A searchable history of who changed what, and when, covering interests, approvals, themes, topics, DNC entries, contacts, and more. You can filter by action, record type, contact, user, and date range, compare values before and after each change, and export to Excel.

12. Act on Behalf Of (Delegation)

Authorized users, such as assistants or support staff, can switch to act as another user. The app then shows and edits that person's clients and coverage.

13. Preference Search API

Lets other systems, such as research distribution platforms, ask Interest Manager "which contacts want this?" A search describes the topics to look for and returns the matching contacts. It can:

Match any of several topics, or require all of a set of topics together.
Include related topics automatically, for example a search for a parent topic such as "Energy" also finds contacts interested in its sub-topics.
Filter by delivery method, language, and report type, and leave out contacts marked Do Not Contact.
Search research preferences (for distribution) or general interest tracking.
Return only the contacts added or removed since the last run, so a distribution list can be kept up to date without re-sending everything.

Small searches return results right away. Large or complex searches run in the background, and the calling system collects the results when they're ready. Built-in safety limits stop a very broad search from overloading the system. The results stay within what the integration user is allowed to see.

14. API Search Configuration

A point-and-click screen for building a Preference Search without writing any code. Pick the topics, choose how they combine, and set the delivery, language, and report type filters. The screen then:

Generates the exact request that an external system should send.
Estimates the size of the search and warns if it's close to or over the safety limits, which would make the results incomplete.
Runs the search live so you can check the real results before handing the setup to a vendor.

The same screen is used inside Client Center to set up Interest Manager Search lists (see 15).

15. Client Center List Integration

Interest Manager connects to Client Center contact lists, so lists that coverage teams already use for distribution can be driven by client interests.

15a. Interest Manager Search lists. A new Client Center list type whose members are not maintained by hand. When you create the list, you set up its search with the API Search Configuration screen. Each time the list is opened, Interest Manager runs the search and shows the contacts who currently match. A contact who adds a matching interest appears automatically, and one whose interest ends drops off. Results are cached while you page through a large list, so moving between pages stays fast.

15b. Topic Subscription Lists. Connects Interest Manager topics to existing Client Center static lists, allowing contacts to be added to or removed from lists automatically based on their interests.

The list owner creates a static list with the Topic Subscription type, or requests an administrator to update an existing static list to this type.
An Interest Manager administrator enables List Subscription for a topic and associates it with one or more eligible static lists. Only lists of type Topic Subscription can be selected.
When a contact gains an interest in the subscribed topic, the system automatically adds them to the associated lists. When that interest ends, such as when the preference rule is deactivated or the topic is removed, the contact is automatically removed from the associated lists.

List ownership and control List owners retain control of their lists. Users who record or update a contact's interests do not need permission to edit the associated lists. Entries added automatically by Interest Manager are tagged with their source, allowing them to be distinguished from entries added manually. Additions are currently approved automatically.

Example: When a contact expresses interest in "North America Market Commentary", Interest Manager automatically adds them to the configured "Market Commentary Report Mailing List". If that interest later ends or expires, the contact is automatically removed from the list, provided they no longer have another active Interest in the same topic. No manual list update is required.

16. Error Notification

If a background process fails for the records you're working on, the app shows a warning banner telling you to contact your system administrator. Errors are never silently lost.

Key Benefits

Centralized preference management — Manage contact interests, research preferences, delivery options, and restrictions in one application.
Consistent research eligibility — Apply configured entitlement rules and approval requirements to research preferences.
Controlled changes and approvals — Support review and approval of changes that affect research access.
Full auditability — Maintain a traceable history of preference changes and support audit review and Excel export.
Faster preference entry — Use Quick Add Interest for straightforward updates.
Interest-driven distribution — Support contact searches through the Preference Search API and automate membership in linked Client Center Topic Subscription lists.
Flexible configuration — Use AFR settings to configure supported rules and search behavior without requiring code changes for every adjustment.
Operational efficiency — Access the application as a standalone tool, from Contact or Account records, or through embedded workflows.
Clear separation of interests and research access — Maintain general interest information independently from research entitlement and approval status.