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FPPad Bits and Bytes for April 8

Posted on April 8, 2011 by in Bits & Bytes

Last week we were finalizing preparation for FPA Retreat 2011. This week’s focus has been preparations for FPA NorCal 2011. As such, the pace of new posts to FPPad has slowed somewhat, but expect them to pick up in the weeks to come.

Here are this week’s stories of interest:

Keep Calm and Carry On from Financial-Planning.com

Coral Gables, Fla.-based Evensky & Katz Wealth Management survived a three-week long audit from the SEC. Here’s what the Chief Compliance Officer would tell other advisory firms that are preparing for when the auditors come knocking.

Social-media archiving, compliance solutions in focus from InvestmentNews.com

Financial advisers and broker-dealers apparently aren’t sitting on the sidelines waiting for Finra and the SEC to figure out how the financial advisory industry should use social networking.

Choosing Software That Works for Your Advisory Firm-Part 3: Envision from AdvisorOne.com

The third update in a six-part series by Spenser Segal of ActiFi designed to present best practices to advisors on how to choose, implement and monitor new technology for an advisory firm.

Where’s the Beef? from Financial-Planning.com

Inside Information’s Bob Veres solicits advisers on their most and least valuable activities when it comes to the use of portfolio management software.

And part two of an interview AdvisorWebsites.com conducted with Bill on financial adviser technology: Bill Winterberg Talks Technology: Part 2

FPPad Bits and Bytes for April 1

Posted on April 1, 2011 by in Bits & Bytes

We delivered our presentation materials to the FPA Retreat 2011 task force this week and are taking today off to attend the FPA DFW Ballpark event and satisfy the CFP® certification ethics CE requirement.

Without further ado, here are this week’s stories of interest:

T3 Technology Conference Reports Record Attendance at 2011 Event, Announces Dates and Location for T3 2012 from PRNewswire.com

David Drucker and Joel Bruckenstein, producers of the T3 Technology Tools for Today™ newsletter and annual conference, today released additional statistics and comments about the sixth annual T3 conference, held at the Grand Hyatt Weston in Florida February 16–19th, 2011. In addition, the conference organizers have now announced the dates and location for T3 2012.

Technology helps advisers tap insight on global scale from InvestmentNews.com

A new web-based charting platform called HiddenLevers helps investors and advisers understand the potential portfolio impact of macroeconomic changes.

And read a portion of an interview AdvisorWebsites.com conducted with Bill on financial adviser technology: Bill Winterberg Talks Technology: Part 1

FPPad Bits and Bytes for March 25

Posted on March 25, 2011 by in Bits & Bytes

This is the final week to prepare our Cultivating Clients in a Connected World presentation for FPA Retreat 2011. We’ve been busy refining slides and notes to deliver a message we feel advisers need to hear about how technology is changing the way they work with clients.

In the meantime, we’ve collected the best technology-oriented articles from around the financial planning community. Here are this week’s stories of interest:

Fidelity slips in ahead of Pershing on Google phones with WealthCentral for Android from RIABiz.com

Fidelity announced yesterday that it has released WealthCentral Mobile for the Android platform, making it the first custodian to hit the Android Market with an RIA-centric app

Junxure moving to the cloud amid market pressures from RIABiz.com

Greg Friedman, president of San Rafael, Calif.,-based CRM Software, is announcing that his company’s industry-leading customer relationship management product, Junxure, will have a cloud-based version of its software come January 2012.

Choosing Software That Works for Your Advisory Firm-Part 2: Assess from AdvisorOne.com

The second update in a six-part series by Spenser Segal of ActiFi designed to present best practices to advisors on how to choose, implement and monitor new technology for an advisory firm.

And finally, this week’s blog post at MorningstarAdvisor.com, Create an iPad Icon for Your Website.

BeamYourScreen Releases Mikogo 4.0 Beta, Adds New Features

Posted on March 24, 2011 by in Software

A new version of a popular desktop screen-sharing software called Mikogo was released today by Germany-based BeamYourScreen.

Click here to learn the details on Mikogo Version 4.0 from the Mikogo blog.

Bill recognized Mikogo as the Best Client-Facing Technology for 2010 in his column for MorningstarAdvisor.com. Mikogo is a free application advisers can use to conduct desktop screen-sharing sessions with clients when face-to-face meetings are inconvenient or impractical.

Version 4.0 is being released as an open beta, meaning the software is robust enough to be used by a large community, but periodically there may be minor issues that affect performance or usability. We invite you to download and try the latest version to see how you can engage more and more of your distant clients using simple screen-sharing meetings.

Do you have other screen-sharing applications you prefer, such as GoToMeeting, WebEx, Adobe Connect, or even Skype? Let us know by dropping a comment below and tell us how well it works (or doesn’t) in your practice.

FPA Retreat 2011 Early Bird Deadline is Friday, March 25

Posted on March 21, 2011 by in Professional Development

As we’ve said before, May is a busy month for conferences and events. Leading off the month is FPA Retreat 2011 held May 3-6 in Bonita Springs, Fla.

If you register for Retreat by Friday, March 25, you’ll save $100 off the regular conference registration.

Bill will be involved in two sessions at the event. First, he will moderate a session on Wednesday titled Social Media – It Isn’t About Where You Ate Last Night featuring panelists Rick Kahler, CFP®, Tim Maurer, CFP®, and Carl Richards, CFP®.

Then on Thursday, he’ll be introducing a new presentation titled Cultivating Clients in a Connected World where he will address the changes advisers must make to their financial planning services in response to today’s connected world. Here’s the description of his new presentation, for which 1.5 CFP® CE credits have been applied:

Your clients and prospects are communicating and connecting in new ways. Are you ready to engage them? The Information Age is evolving into an era where smart phones, cloud computing and social networks are transforming the way we live and work. But these new technologies can also reveal planning opportunities for your clients if you know where to look. Gain insight on cultivating client relationships in ways that never existed before.

Consider adding FPA Retreat 2011 to your schedule and plan to benefit from this one-of-a-kind advanced financial planning conference.

What Advisers Can Expect on Examination Requests from the SEC

Posted on March 18, 2011 by in Compliance

Steelbridge Compliance, a compliance consulting firm to investment advisers based in Dallas, Tex. (located just a mile from FPPad world headquarters), yesterday released a copy of a recent examination request list from the SEC.

The request document is 28 pages and covers much of the standard areas for inspection including trading history, itemized lists of all client accounts, and two years of all email history.

Notably absent from the February 2011 document is a request for the adviser’s use of social media, including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Click here to visit the Steelbridge Compliance blog and download the notice.

FPPad Bits and Bytes for March 18

Posted on March 18, 2011 by in Bits & Bytes

Here are this week’s stories of interest:

Pershing keeps ahead in the mobile space with an Android app and mobile trading from RIABiz.com

Pershing is launching an Android version of NetX360 in late April that includes mobile trading capability, adding to its lead in the mobile space over other custodians.

Choosing Software That Works for Your Advisory Firm-Part 1 from AdvisorOne.com

The first in a six-part series by Spenser Segal of ActiFi designed to present best practices to advisors on how to choose, implement and monitor new technology for an advisory firm.

Latest MarketCounsel Acquisition Overlays Operational Expertise with its Leading Compliance Platform from MarketCounsel.com

[Bill’s note: Last week it was FamilyOfficeNetwork that merged with The Efficient Practice, this week the east coast version happened.] MarketCounsel, the leading business and regulatory compliance consulting firm to the country’s preeminent entrepreneurial investment advisors is pleased to announce the acquisition of Beneficial Concepts Group, LLC.

ByAllAccounts’ Survey Reveals Financial Advisors Are Missing Opportunity to Attract HNW Clients from Marketwire.com

ByAllAccounts, Inc., the financial advisors’ choice for account aggregation, today released results from a nationwide survey of financial advisors on fiduciary responsibility.

And if you missed our update earlier this week, be sure to download the “FPA-ActiFi Adviser Technology Reports: Portfolio Management Edition”, free for FPA members (and at $495 for non-members, it’s well worth the price to join FPA)

Get the Latest FPA-ActiFi Technology Report on Portfolio Management Software

Posted on March 15, 2011 by in Portfolio Management Software

Next to Client Relationship Management (CRM) software, portfolio management software is one of the tools most used by financial advisers. Such software is the lifeblood of any asset manager, where all the details of asset allocation, tax lot detail, and performance history are contained.

In its latest edition of its reports, FPA and ActiFi today released the “FPA-ActiFi Adviser Technology Reports: Portfolio Management Edition” highlighting 10 different software solutions in use by advisers. Soltuions reviewed include the following:

  • Advent Portfolio Exchange (APX)
  • Advisors Assistant (Client Marketing Systems Inc.)
  • Albridge Portfolio Management (Albridge – Pershing)
  • AssetBook (Major Technology)
  • BlueSky (Black Diamond)
  • FinFolio Workstation 2010 (FinFolio)
  • Morningstar Office (Morningstar)
  • Orion Advisor Services (Orion Advisor Services)
  • PortfolioCenter (Charles Schwab)
  • Solution 360° (Interactive Advisory Software)

Like previous FPA-ActiFi reports, FPA members have free access to the comprehensive research. The report is also available for purchase by non-members for $495 through the FPA Research Center.

Click here to view the report (FPA member login required).

FPPad Bits and Bytes for March 11

Posted on March 11, 2011 by in Bits & Bytes

Bill’s recovery from last week’s illness has been slow, so progress on projects at FPPad headquarters has been incremental this week. Nevertheless, we’ve made sure to scour the industry’s top sources of technology related articles for the financial planning community.

Here are this week’s top stories:

Socialware Joins with LinkedIn to Unlock Social Media for Financial Services from Socialware.com

Socialware, the leader in social media compliance and engagement, today announced an exciting relationship with LinkedIn that will enable financial services organizations and professionals to access the extensive networking, marketing and research capabilities available on LinkedIn while remaining compliant with SEC, FINRA, IROC, FSA and state regulations on electronic communication.

Eavesdropping on the FPA Business Solutions conference: Mobile apps, web-based marketing — and how you can make the most of the connected world from RIABiz.com

Fittingly located near MIT, the FPA Business Solutions 2011 conference had a technology bent in an agenda jam-packed with business and practice management content.

Best Minds Converge in Boston from ByrnesConsulting.com

Mike Byrnes of Byrnes Consulting published six articles and photo reviews of last week’s FPA Business Solutions 2011 Conference. Our favorites are Six Technology Tips From The FPA Conference and Social Media Compliance Is A Gray Area

Giant of the broker-dealer tech world takes aim at Advent at RIABiz.com

(Bill’s note: If you’re a big (>$500m AUM) firm that seeks an elite portfolio management platform, here’s one worth considering.) Vestmark, which provides the technology behind big name companies like LPL Financial and UBS, is taking its time-tested platform directly to RIAs.

And finally, this month’s technology column from Morningstar Advisor, New Trends in Tech at T3.

 

 

FamilyOfficeNetwork, David Lawrence Form New Practice Network

Posted on March 7, 2011 by in General

We received an email message this morning announcing a new partnership between FamilyOfficeNetwork, a client document vault provider and David Lawrence, owner of the Efficient Practice consulting firm, both based in San Diego, Calif.

Both entities have now formed a new company called Global Practice Network.

Here’s a brief description of the new network’s objectives from their email message:

Together we are providing a resource-rich platform to increase the efficiency and profitability of your firm. Backed by a team of experts, we can enhance your operational efficiency, your support systems, and your people, helping you fit the pieces of your practice together seamlessly.

For more information on the new company, you can visit either website linked above.

We want to congratulate Peter Wheeler, Aaron Pickett, David Lawrence, and the rest of the GPN team on their new endeavor and look forward to seeing them soon at upcoming events!