Archive | December, 2009

Twas the Night Before Christmas: Adviser Technology Edition

Posted on December 23, 2009 by in General

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the firm,
Not a loss was un-harvested, not even long-term.
Reports were uploaded to portals with care,
Right next to newsletters with good news to share.

The clients were pleased with their tax assessments,
With visions of goals and model investments.
My partner and I, after giving a greeting,
Had just settled in to a new client meeting.

When out in the hall there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my chair to see what was the matter.
Away to my netbook I flew like a flash,
Double-clicked on Google Chrome, fearing a crash.

Read More…

Twas the Night Before Christmas: Adviser Technology Edition

Posted on December 23, 2009 by in General

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the firm,
Not a loss was un-harvested, not even long-term.
Reports were uploaded to portals with care,
Right next to newsletters with good news to share.

The clients were pleased with their tax assessments,
With visions of goals and model investments.
My partner and I, after giving a greeting,
Had just settled in to a new client meeting.

When out in the hall there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my chair to see what was the matter.
Away to my netbook I flew like a flash,
Double-clicked on Google Chrome, fearing a crash.

Read More…

November 2009 CFP® Certification Examination Results Update

Posted on December 21, 2009 by in General

Quite a few searches are being made right now for the results from the November 2009 CFP® Certification Examination.

Remember that CFP Board posts regular status updates to its website to inform examinees of the scoring process. Today, CFP Board released the following update:

Still curious on exactly how long it takes between taking the exam and receiving official certificaton? This post on FPPad, How Long Does it Take to Complete the CFP® Certification Process?, should clear up many questions.

In addition, CFP Board recorded their webinar on July 30, 2009 discussing the post CFP® Exam process and what examinees can expect while waiting for results. I’m including the YouTube video below for your convenience.

Surprise Audit Provision Dropped From New SEC Custody Regulations

Posted on December 17, 2009 by in Compliance

secAbout six months ago in response to the uproar over the Bernie Madoff fraud, the SEC proposed updates to the custody rule that would require RIAs who debit fees from client accounts to be subject to surprise audits.

Needless to say, this proposal did not go over well, especially when costs for surprise audits were estimated to be north of $8,000.

See previous posts on FPPad: Proposed SEC Custody Rules Could Cost Advisers Extra $8,100 and SEC Surprise Audit Proposal Likely to be Dropped According to FPA.

Yesterday the SEC passed new custody regulations, and the surprise audit provision for RIAs who only debit fees was dropped. In addition, the SEC published a custody matrix, if you will, defining the different adviser arrangements along with their respective duties and responsibilities.

The folks over at RIABiz posted more about the custody provisions, plus they included the custody matrix chart for reference.

Click here to view the custody matrix on the RIABiz website.

Proposed IRS Regulations on Cost Basis Reporting Open for Comments

Posted on December 16, 2009 by in Compliance

Back in October 2008 I wrote about a passage in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act signed into law that requires cost basis reporting by securities brokers (see the original FPPad post).

Today I learned from this AICPA Journal of Accountancy tweet that the IRS has posted proposed regulations titled “Basis Reporting by Securities Brokers and Basis Determination for Stock” available for viewing on the Federal Register website.

Click here to view the PDF in all its 141 pages of glory.

I don’t quite have the time to browse the proposal right now, but thankfully the folks over at the AICPA JofA just posted a good summary of the proposal.

Click here to read the AICPA’s JofA Regulations Proposed on Basis Reporting by Brokers.

Update 12/21/2009: Also read this article Brokerages face 2011 start date for reporting cost-basis info from InvestmentNews.

However, there’s no real insight as to what exactly the proposal means for independent financial advisers. Hint: It probably doesn’t change much of anything, as custodians are likely to bear the brunt of the regulatory changes. If anything, that means custodial fees likely will go up.

The comment period for this proposal is open until February 8, 2010 and a public hearing is scheduled for February 17, 2010. That will be a barn-burner of a hearing!

Your Next New Hire: By Providence or Planning?

Posted on December 16, 2009 by in Practice Management

Looking ahead to 2010, I’m seeing more and more articles indicating that wealth management and financial planning firms plan to hire staff in the next 12 months (see InvestmentNews and Investment Advisor for examples).

But when the time arrives to hire for your firm, will you rely on providence or planning to find the right employee?

When I say rely on providence, I’m referring to firms that cast a wide net by posting want ads across the Internet and wade through the deluge of résumés that pour in. Yes, posting a job description on industry related sites is more likely to generate qualified candidates, but  firms are hoping that ideal candidates are constantly watching the job postings for new positions. Hence the reference to providence.

So instead of relying on chance to find the right employee, advisors should turn to organizations that specialize in matching talented individuals with open positions.

Read More…

Efficient Internet Reading: Get More Content, Get Less Junk

Posted on December 12, 2009 by in Efficiency, Software

August 22, 2017 update: Readability is no longer active; perhaps try using Mercury Reader for Chrome.

Thanks to Andrew Tobias for pointing me towards a bookmarklet called Readability (had I kept up on my Lifehacker RSS reading, I would have seen Readability back in March).

I could spend a few paragraphs explaining how to install the bookmarklet and how it makes reading stuff on the Internet easier, but allow me to let the pictures tell the story.

So, out of the two identical articles below, which one do you want to read?

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Forbes Advisor iConference Offers Compelling Look Into Future of Content Delivery

Posted on December 11, 2009 by in Professional Development, Technology

Update 12/22/2009: I uploaded a PDF of tweets containing the #FAiC09 hashtag, as they’re no longer available on the Twitter search site. Paragraphs below were updated.

Update 12/21/2009: Here’s an article from Davis Janowski at InvestmentNews discussing online conferences; No fuss, no muss, but forget about freebies. He highlights the Forbes iConference series among other events.

I attended the Forbes Advisor iConference Building a Rebound-Ready Game Plan on Wednesday of this week. I believe this is the second 100% web-based conference put on by Forbes. Note that InvestmentNews also recently held a 100% online event covering ETFs, but I don’t currently manage investments, so I skipped the event.

If you missed the event, replays are available for 90 days after the iConference. This FPPad post has details on how FPA members can attend for free.

Here’s my feedback on the Forbes event.

Format

Attending the iConference was easy; fire up an approved web browser (Internet Explorer 6 or higher or Firefox versions prior to 3.5), log in, and the iConference was underway. There were three main areas of the iConference:

  • Presentation Area
  • Networking Lounge
  • Exhibit Hall

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Harsh Reviews for One Popular Paperless Office Solution

Posted on December 7, 2009 by in Software

I try my best to keep up to date on the popular paperless office solutions on the market, particularly on those that are popular in the independent financial services industry. Every once in a while I run across reviews of solutions that are polar opposites of one another.

Here’s one recent example.

December’s Financial Advisor magazine features a write-up of PaperPort Professional v12.0, reviewed by Joel Bruckenstein. In the review he says:

…its ease of use, low cost and robust features make it an attractive option for smaller advisory firms with limited technology and training budgets.

and…

For the price, PaperPort provides a great deal of functionality.

Sounds fairly promising. For $199, advisers can get an entry-level document management and scanning solution that provides some of the basic functionality needed to implement a paperless office. What’s not to like?

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