On today’s broadcast, find out who earned the most buzz at the industry’s top technology conference this week. Which custodian just joined the integration arms race? Which partnership will put downward pricing pressure on account aggregation costs? And who launched a new social CRM with an all-out media blitz?
So get ready, FPPad Bits and Bytes begins now!
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Today’s episode is brought to you by Wealthbox CRM. Wealthbox is collaborative, social, and outrageously simple CRM for financial advisors.
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Here are the links to this week’s top stories:
T3 2014: Joel Bruckenstein and David Drucker kick off the 9th annual adviser tech conference from FPPad
[Unless you’ve been buried in snow or covered in ice, you probably know that T3, the industry’s top technology conference for advisors, was held in southern California this week. There are too many new companies and press releases to cover in just one broadcast, so here are the stories I feel are most relevant for you.] T3 2014 is the place to be and be seen for all things financial adviser technology
[First is an update from SEI, the investment outsourcing provider, who just announced a new strategic partnership to bring integrations to its SEI Wealth Platform(SM). By the end of 2014, SEI will integrate an automated workflow solution using Redtail CRM and MoneyGuidePro financial planning software, all powered by workflows customized by ActiFi. While advisors will need to subscribe to Redtail and MoneyGuidePro, workflows will be available to the nearly 6,000 advisors who work with SEI at no additional cost. This partnership will likely boost SEI’s profile among institutional custodians known for their technology integrations that help advisors run more efficient businesses.] SEI announces strategic partnerships and enters the integration arms race dominated by four leading custodians
T3 2014: MoneyGuidePro to integrate Yodlee for account aggregation from FPPad
[Next up is news from MoneyGuidePro, who told a packed house at T3 that the financial planning software program will soon provide account aggregation capabilities through a new integration with Yodlee, the largest data platform provider in financial services. When I mention account aggregation, you probably think of companies like ByAllAccounts, Fiserv’s CashEdge, or perhaps even Intuit, but these solutions are often too expensive for many growing RIAs to implement.
With the new MoneyGuidePro and Yodlee integration, advisors will be able to aggregate data from over 12,000 financial institutions for an introductory price of $365 per year. <That’s right, it’s just a dollar per day!> Expect the Yodlee integration to rollout during the second quarter of 2014.] Popular MoneyGuidePro financial planning software to aggregate held away accounts through a new Yodlee integration
Next Generation CRM: Powered by Social from Morningstar Advisor
[And rounding out my abridged coverage of T3 is the launch of a new platform designed to help advisors embrace social collaboration tools in their business. The platform is Wealthbox CRM, which deployed an all-out media blitz this week, including the sponsorship of this week’s broadcast, to get the product in front of advisors.
There are about a dozen CRM vendors in the marketplace, so financial advisors could stand to benefit from a few more choices among providers. And what makes Wealthbox CRM unique is the embedded realtime collaboration functions, better known under the banner of Social CRM.
Wealthbox CRM lets you tag clients and employees in status updates, just like you would when tagging friends or contacts on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. You can use those tags along with other information displayed in the CRM’s activity stream to find out what you should be doing for clients, what employees are doing for clients, and what clients are saying on their social media profiles.
The Social CRM feature is just one of many in the new product, and Wealthbox CRM’s introductory price of $29 per month per user places it squarely between the affordable CRM from Redtail and premium pricing from CRMs like Junxure Cloud and Salesforce.] CRMs powered by social collaboration and real-time updates could be the next game-changer in the industry.
And here are stories that didn’t make it into this week’s broadcast:
Raymond James Selects HiddenLevers for New Portfolio Stress Testing Offering for Advisors from WSJ.com
Raymond James Financial, Inc. has partnered with HiddenLevers, the portfolio stress testing toolkit, to provide macro research, scenario modeling and predictive risk analytics. Now, any of Raymond James’ 5,400 US-based advisors can subscribe to HiddenLevers to proactively discuss potential economic and market scenarios with clients, and gauge the impact on individual investment portfolios.
Tech Review: Scottrade’s New Platform from Financial Planning Magazine
Scottrade is now addressing shortcomings in its technology with the release of a totally new advisor platform.
Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes for February 14, 2014
