Archive by Author

Is Scanning to PDF Files Less Secure than TIFFs?

Posted on May 15, 2009 by in Practice Management

pdfI recently received my May issue of Financial Advisor magazine and read David Lawrence’s article on document management titled Worth the Investment (click here to view online). This article describes the benefits of implementing an effective and easy-to-use document management system, a.k.a. electronic content management (ECM) system.

In the article, though, Mr. Lawrence said one thing that grabbed my attention. He wrote (my emphasis added):

A common mistake made by some firms is to use a system that saves documents in a PDF instead of a more secure format such as a TIFF. This means documents can be altered after the fact, and the firm risks potentially violating federal regulations. While some scanner manufacturers have addressed this issue with post-imprint symbols and other coding mechanisms to ensure authenticity, there are still lingering doubts about the security of the original documents.

Now hold on for one minute. TIFF files are “more secure” than PDF files?!?

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CFP® Certificants: How Long Did You Study?

Posted on May 12, 2009 by in Professional Development

There’s a good discussion going on over at the FinancialPlanning.com discussion boards on CFP® Examination review materials. Part of the conversation includes advice on how many hours should be devoted to studying and preparing for the 89 topic exam.

Since many of the subscribers and visitors to FPPad.com are CFP® Certificants, I set up a poll to get a sample of how many hours others have spent preparing for the exam. I spent about 200 hours preparing for the July 2008 exam.

Take our poll below (if vieweing in an RSS reader, click here to submit your answer):

[polldaddy poll=”1614697″]

Related Posts:

Updates to FPPad.com

Posted on May 11, 2009 by in General

I apologize for the delay between posts and the lack of new content. I’m adjusting to life as a new father and just returned from a trip to Dallas where I looked for a new home (and succeeded).

I’ve been keeping up as much as I can in the meantime and usually update on Twitter. Follow my most recent tweets or check out the left hand column on FPPad for my messages.

I’ll be back soon (I swear!) with thoughts on CRM, practice management, and other hot topics.

FPPad.com Gets a Behavior Gap T-shirt!

Posted on April 23, 2009 by in General

Check out this awesome tshirt from Carl Richards over at BehaviorGap.com.

Anti-Fraud Measures Your Practice Needs

Posted on April 20, 2009 by in Practice Management

A story from New York Times personal finance columnist Ron Lieber quickly traveled through the Twitter universe and landed in my inbox.  Lieber is a client of NAPFA-member AFW Wealth Advisors and was informed by the firm that one of their advisers, Matthew Weitzman, is under investigation for “certain irregularities in a limited number of client accounts.”

See the NYTimes article here.

Also, see coverage from Roger at The Passionate Planner and Andrew Gluck at Advisor Blog Central.

Let’s face it. Your clients may very likely see this article. Once they do, they’re going to ask you what you are doing to protect their accounts from this kind of fraud.

How Advisers Can Steal Funds

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Kevin Keller Defends the Integrity of the CFP® Mark

Posted on April 8, 2009 by in General

Interesting developments have occurred over at Financial Advisor magazine’s online extras this week.  First, on April 6, Dr. Somnath Basu wrote an article titled Restoring Trust in the CFP Mark.  I encourage you to read it.

While Dr. Basu is correct that the industry needs to do better in its service to clients, he lumps CFP® practitioners together with all financial service professionals, whether they be regulated or not.

So in response, CFP Board CEO Kevin Keller published a response to Dr. Basu titled In Defense of the CFP Mark.  Keller clarifies several of Dr. Basu’s misconceptions in his original article and stresses how all advisers must operate with “full accountability and transparency” to clients.

Take a few mintues to read these articles and post comments on FA Magazine’s website.

Update: Now read this post by Dr. David Edward Marcinko at the Medical Executive Post. Dr. Marcinko finishes his comments with this:

And so, why do I shake my fist at Somnath Basu? It’s admittedly with congratulations, and a bit of schadenfreude, because he wrote an article more eloquently than I ever could, and will likely receive much more publicity [good or slings-arrows] for doing so. You know, it’s very true that one is never a prophet in his own tribe. Oh well, Mazel Tov anyway for stating the obvious, Somnath. The financial services industry – and more specifically – the CFP® emperor have no clothes! Duh!

Webinar to Discuss Risks of Custody and Client Credentials

Posted on April 7, 2009 by in Practice Management

An increasing number of advisers have asked me about using client login credentials to obtain price, transaction, and balance information for assets held in captive accounts (e.g. a client’s active 401(k) plan that cannot be rolled over until termination from service).

As a benefit to clients, advisers are using client credentials to log in to captive accounts to copy the asset information into portfolio management software (such as PortfolioCenter, Advent, or dbCAMS).

This allows the adviser to generate a consolidated report for the client featuring all of his/her assets.  In addition, advisers can include the captive account assets in fee calculations if management of those assets is included in the asset advisory agreement with the client.

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NBA Fines Mark Cuban $25,000 for Twitter Comments; Will the SEC be Next?

Posted on March 30, 2009 by in Practice Management, Technology

So I woke up early in the hospital room Monday morning and turned on the TV.  What do I see rolling by in the bottom scroll bar?

Apparently over the weekend, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was fined $25,000 by the NBA for comments he posted on Twitter (from USNews.com).

Can the SEC be far behind by issuing fines to registered advisers using Twitter for failing to comply with regulatory law on the publishing of advertisements?  I posted a few weeks ago about my concern of advisers using LinkedIn’s Recommendations feature when it may violate rules against testimonials.

Now that some precedent has been set, albeit by a completely different body (i.e. the NBA), I suspect that the SEC might not be too far behind in stepping up its enforcement efforts by following the tweets of registered advisers.

My advice to registered advisers: Tweet with extreme caution.

Want to Know More?

Andy Gluck at Advisor Products, Inc. is hosting a webinar this Friday, April 3 featuring Brian Hamburger of Market Counsel to address the compliance issues of using social networking technology, including LinkedIn, Twitter, FaceBook and others.

If you’re interested in learning more about this subject, I highly recommend you register now!  This session has the potential to reach the maximum number of participants allowed.

Register for Friday’s Compliance Issues Posed By Linkedin, Twitter, Blogging, & Social Networking at Advisor Products, Inc.