Archive by Author

Smarsh releases Web Archiving, an automated solution to archive adviser websites

New automated tool will help registered professionals eliminate tedious manual processes to meet FINRA and SEC requirements.

In a press release today, Smarsh, Inc., the Portland, Ore.-based company best known for email archiving, announced a new solution to help satisfy archiving and record-keeping requirements when it comes to adviser websites.

Web Archiving is the new solution, and Smarsh created a short explainer video to describe what it does, embedded below for your convenience.

(click to view on YouTube)

Web Archiving is designed to automatically crawl and capture the contents of an adviser’s website. In addition to archiving the full text of all website pages, Web Archiving also captures embedded media such as video, social media feeds, slideshows, and more.

According to the solution feature list, archived pages are rendered in their original format, preserving the “look and feel” of the website page as it originally appeared on the adviser’s site.

“Today’s Web is not static text, but rather an immersive multi-sensory experience. This complicates the critical need for organizations of all kinds to keep an accurate, uncompromised record of what has been published to the world via the Web,” said Stephen Marsh, Smarsh founder and CEO, in the release.

Without an automated tool, advisers may be forced to print individual website pages to PDF files and save them in a compliance file. This is a tedious, time-consuming process at best, and it doesn’t address media like embedded video or slideshows.

Website archiving is not very crowded with vendors. Alternate solutions can be found within the Advisor Websites platform (though an adviser’s website will need to be hosted with the company), Advisor Products (again, website hosting required), Arkovi, and a few others.

My favorite road warrior accessory for advisers on the go

I travel a lot for business, between all the consulting, speaking, and interviewing I do.

I imagine I’m like most of you when it comes to traveling with electronic devices. My road bag holds an 11″ MacBook Air, new iPad, LG mobile phone, and all the power cords that go along.

One of my favorite road warrior accessories simplifies my problem of how to plug all of these devices in. It’s the portable travel outlet sold by The Container Store, and now through June 24, you can buy the outlet for $11.99, 20% off regular retail price.

Here are my favorite ways to use the outlet.

First, when you’re low on battery but can’t find an open outlet at the airport or coffee shop, kindly introduce yourself to another fellow road warrior who plugged in her device to a power outlet. Show her your outlet and ask, “Mind if we share?” I’ve never been turned down, and occasionally I strike up a conversation and get some networking out of the opportunity.

Second, while most hotel rooms have desks to work on, many offer just one power outlet. Others are entirely across the room, or worse, behind the nightstand that requires a complete furniture redesign to access. With the travel outlet, the one accessible outlet now becomes three, and I can plug in my MacBook, iPad, and phone without moving furniture.

I don’t get paid to recommend $12 travel outlets, but I suspect you’ll find this a slick addition to your own road bag!

 

[Video Spotlight] FutureAdvisor co-founder Bo Lu at FinovateSpring 2012

In my final spotlight interview from FinovateSpring 2012, I asked Bo Lu, co-founder of FutureAdvisor, about his company’s service offering to the retail investor.

Hear how the platform is designed to deliver personalized, actionable advice to all investors and the company’s plans to incorporate financial advisors via recommendation marketplace.

(click to view on YouTube)

[Video Spotlight] Sarah Carter of Actiance at FinovateSpring 2012

Another presenter at FinovateSpring 2012 that should be familiar to FPPad readers is Actiance. The Belmont, Calif.-based company provides compliance solutions for regulated financial professionals in the form of its Socialite Engage platform.

Here’s Sarah Carter from Actiance telling what Socialite Engage can do for advisers and gives a bonus tip on what day and time is best to post social media updates.

(click to view on YouTube)

FPPad Bits and Bytes for May 11

I spent much of the week in San Francisco attending FinovateSpring 2012. Be sure to read my recap of relevant presentations for advisers from Day 1 and Day 2 and watch these videos.

Also, read this month’s Morningstar Advisor column, Client Reports: How Less Can Be More.

Here is this week’s story of interest:

Pinnacle’s Kitces: Virtual firms could leave traditional planners in the dust from InvestmentNews.com

[Two new online companies aiming to deliver financial advice directly to consumers were at Finovate this week: Personal Capital and FutureAdvisor. In his presentation at FPA Retreat 2012 this week, Pinnacle Advisory Group’s Michael Kitces cautioned advisers “should think about eliminating quarterly meetings and written financial plans” and embrace a more dynamic, virtual experience for select clients.] Prepare to dump written financial plans and quarterly meetings, and get ready for a more dynamic world of virtual financial planning, industry commentator Michael Kitces said Monday at the Financial Planning Association retreat in Scottsdale, Ariz.

[Video Spotlight] iQuantifi CEO Tom White at FinovateSpring 2012

iQuantifi is a new company I discovered at FinovateSpring 2012 (see FinovateSpring 2012 highlights for independent financial advisers: Day 1). I met with with founder and CEO Tom White to get more information on the company’s product. iQuantifi was also awarded Best in Show for FinovateSpring 2012, one of 7 out of 64 presenters. Quite the accomplishment!

(click to view on YouTube)

[Video Spotlight] inStream Solutions CEO Alex Murguia at FinovateSpring 2012

Yesterday I covered inStream Solutions’ presentation at FinovateSpring 2012 (see FinovateSpring 2012 highlights for independent financial advisers: Day 2). Below watch a short spotlight video with inStream CEO Alex Murguia about the ways the application can expand beyond the independent RIA marketplace.

(click here to view on YouTube)

Clients dazed by financial planning tomes? Try this one-page diagnostic alternative

Financial planning documents can be long, complicated, and intimidating. With so many assumptions, graphs, and recommendations, do your clients’ eyes glaze over when presented with their final plan?

Perhaps a succinct, one-page diagnostic report might be in order.

In this month’s column for Morningstar Advisor, I reviewed goalgamiPro from Advisor Software, Inc., which may help reduce that dazed and confused look you receive when delivering planning advice to clients.

FinovateSpring 2012 highlights for independent financial advisers: Day 2

 

Today is the second and final day of FinovateSpring 2012. Be sure to read my highlights of Day 1.

Here are today’s best takeaways for financial advisers.

(updated 10:27PM PDT)

Pindrop Securiity uses acoustic forensics to identify fraudulent and spoofed phone calls

[Last month I posted Why financial advisers can’t trust their clients anymore, as hackers are using more sophisticated methods to “spoof” clients’ identity and steal money. Some hackers use Caller ID spoofing to display a victim’s phone number in an attempt to fool an adviser into believing the incoming call is legitimate. Pindrop Security now offers a way to use acoustic forensics to examine over a hundred characteristics of incoming phone calls. They look for call characteristics like transmission over cellular networks versus voice-over-IP (VoIP), geolocation information, and more. While it’s likely targeted to call centers with high call volume, I wouldn’t be surprised if a tool like this trickles down to independent financial advisory firms who need such security capabilities.]

FutureAdvisor Announces its Premium Beta from Finovate.com

[I spoke with FutureAdvisor co-founder Bo Lu and filmed the interview for my YouTube channel. I should post it sometime next week. In the meantime, FutureAdvisor is another direct-to-consumer online advice platform, but is focused on servicing the defined contribution 401(k) market. At Finovate, they changed their business model by offering its Premium subscription tier for free while in beta, which previously cost $149 per year.] Kicking off the final afternoon session, FutureAdvisor showed how its new platform gives actionable investment advice.

(updated 1:35PM PDT)

inStream Shows How it is Changing the Financial Planning Software Industry from Finovate.com

[After opening their product to advisers last year, inStream Solutions, the proactive financial planning software application, now has over 800 firms representing $200 billion in assets under advisement on board. I filmed inStream CEO Alex Murguia here at Finovate and will post the video to YouTube in the next week.] inStream is changing the market standard for what is generally referenced today as “financial planning software” through multiple innovations

(updated 11:14AM PDT)

Would you rather watch football instead of planning for retirement? This app’s for you.

[Here’s an interesting take on financial education and planning tools; combine football concepts with finance. Portfolio Football is a platform that invites users to make a fantasy football “team” (aka portfolio) of 11 “players” (aka stocks, mutual funds, and ETFs). With a fantasy team assembled, Portfolio Football delivers allocation summary and performance graphs to show how this portfolio has performed in the past. It’s interesting, but I didn’t get a feel of how Portfolio Football determines what “players” would be appropriate on a “team” across a variety of investors, and whether or not 11 is a magic number of players. I give them credit for focusing on a very specific niche, though; the fantasy football community!]

(updated 10:02AM PDT)

Transparency Labs Helps Retirees Maximize Savings from Finovate.com

[What Brightscope did for retirement plan ratings, Transparency Labs seeks to do for retirement plan disclosure language. Have you ever read all the fine print about how your 401(k) works? Me neither. While intriguing, clients that engage financial advisers have an edge, as advisers generally counsel clients on the penalties of cashing out 401(k) accounts prior to reaching retirement. But for the rest of America, this can be a useful tool to help plan participants keep more of their money.] Transparency Labs addresses America’s “Cash-Out Crisis” by helping retirement savers understand the penalty, fee and tax implications of cashing-out their retirement savings as they change jobs

(updated 9:42AM PDT)

BehavioSec Uses Behavioral Analytics to Tackle Mobile Security from Finovate.com

[You have client data loaded on computers, phones, and tablets. By and large, sensitive data is protected by a basic username and password login. What BehavioSec does is apply a transparent layer of security protection that samples the behavior of how a user interacts with a device and types passwords into the system. BehavioSec calculates a confidence score in real time, and if the input behavior doesn’t match the user’s behavior, access is denied. Definitely cool software for security.] BehavioSec demonstrated its mobile security solution that uses behavioral analytics.

 

FinovateSpring 2012 highlights for independent financial advisers: Day 1

I’m attending FinovateSpring 2012 today and tomorrow. When I have a chance, I’ll update FPPad with items independent financial advisers will want to add to their radar.

(updated 3:34PM PDT – final update of the day)

Smart Expense™ from Concur simplifies travel expense reporting with TripIt integration from FPPad.com

[Again, here’s another option to facilitate expense report generation, especially if you are an existing TripIt user, Smart Expense from Concur. The disadvantage is there’s a monthly fee for TripIt Pro, but people on Twitter swear by it, so appears worthwhile. SmartExpense from Concur is free.] While you’re traveling, Concur’s mobile travel & expense app helps you stay on the ball. Need to change a flight, book a hotel or rental car, or even hail and pay for a taxi? Concur’s mobile app puts the ability to do all this in the palm of your hand.

(updated 2:41PM PDT)

SaveUp Helps Banks Gamify Consumer Saving from Finovate.com

[Do you have clients that just aren’t meeting their savings goals? Maybe they need to make savings a game. SaveUp takes the basic human desire for positive reward reinforcement by allocating special credits for doing the right things, then those credits can be redeemed for prizes and contest drawings.] First on stage in today’s final session, SaveUp demonstrated how financial institutions can use its platform to instill positive saving habits in members.

(updated 11:34AM PDT)

iQuantifi helps clients optimize and prioritize financial goals in real time from FPPad.com

[Unbeknownst to me prior to today, iQuantifi is an online goal-planning and illustration tool built by Franklin, Tenn.-based financial planner Tom White. Its goal is to “help people identify, prioritize, and achieve their financial goals.” It has a very appealing goals-based interface with an interactive timeline users can use to click and drag goals and see what happens to goal planning in real time. The product is in a private alpha, but you can sign up for their enewsletter to stay informed of product updates. Here’s the Finovate blog entry.]

(updated 11:05AM PDT)

Actiance Helps Financial Institutions and Advisors Track Social Media Activity from Finovate.com

[FPPad readers should be well aware of Actiance and their social media archiving services (among others) for advisers. They presented at FinovateSpring 2012 to gain more exposure in regulated industries. Socialware, Arkovi, Erado, et. al., are you listening?] Wrapping up the first session, Actiance showed how financial institutions can encourage consumer engagement without compromising their brand.

Personal Capital announces iPhone app, Universal Checkbook from tuaw.com

[Personal Capital is known for its free iPad app offered directly to consumers. At FinovateSpring 2012, the company announced the release of an iPhone app and also Universal Checkbook, a way to link a checking account to Personal Capital and use it to send payments to almost anyone. How’s that for integration?] Personal Capital also announced a new feature in the iPhone app that is not part of their iPad app — the Universal Checkbook.

Expensify Trips Aims to Make Travelling Easier from FinovateSpring.com

[Travel a lot to adviser conferences? Expensify might save you tons of time by linking photos of your receipts while traveling with your trip itinerary, generating an expense report in real time.] Expensify showed how its Trips platform makes travelling easier by helping you get a head start on processing travel receipts: