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FPPad Bits and Bytes for September 3

Posted on September 3, 2010 by in Bits & Bytes

With a hat tip to Doug Cornelius and his Compliance Building blog, we want to provide a short summary of interesting stories (mostly) in the financial planning technology arena, but the links don’t necessarily warrant a post on their own.

We hope Bits and Bytes will become a regular fixture on FPPad. If you find the information useful, or you’re tired of this kind of junk in your RSS reader and/or inbox, please leave a comment or contact me.

So here are this week’s stories of interest:

Gmail Priority Inbox Finds & Sorts Important Messages Automatically from Lifehacker.com

Google’s new Priority Inbox feature not only sorts your inbox, but it also figures out what’s important based on what messages you reply to and read.

LIMRA And Smarsh Join Forces to Provide Members Email, Text And IM Archiving from BusinessWire.com

Smarsh®, the managed service leader in innovative, secure and reliable email archiving and compliance solutions, and LIMRA, which provides research, consulting, and other services to insurance and financial services companies worldwide, today announced a strategic partnership. The companies will work together to help LIMRA member firms meet their electronic message archiving and compliance needs.

Fidelity wins converts to WealthCentral, but most of its advisors have yet to make the switch from RIABiz.com

After getting off to a slow start in the market, Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services’ technology platform is beginning to catch on with advisory firms.

Introducing the free Fidelity Mobile App for iPad(TM) from Fidelity.com

Fidelity Mobile – our mobile platform to your iPhone®, BlackBerry®, web-enabled phone or other PDA – keeps you in the market and in full control of your trading day. Now available for iPad(TM).

Legent Clearing Selects Black Diamond as Portfolio Management and Performance Reporting Platform from PRNewswire.com

Black Diamond Performance Reporting™ and Legent Clearing announced today a joint program to provide Black Diamond’s industry leading, web-based portfolio management and reporting platform to Legent’s growing list of institutional and retail brokerage firms.

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Virgin Mobile’s MiFi Goes Unlimited

Posted on September 1, 2010 by in Technology

Astute followers of my Twitter feed know that a few weeks ago I purchased the MiFi® 2200 mobile hotspot card from Virgin Mobile. (Alas, it’s still in the box waiting to be activated.)

When I bought the MiFi card, Virgin Mobile had four different price points for its data plans. Plans were along the lines of:

  • $10 for 100MB which expired in 10 days
  • $20 for 250MB, 30 day expiration
  • $40 for 600MB, 30 day expiration
  • $60 for 1GB, 30 day expiration

But as of August 26, Virgin Mobile cut two of its plans and now offers two simple options:

  • The same $10, 100MB, 10 day expiration
  • A new, $40 unlimited data plan with a 30 day expiration

The unlimited data plan is a huge deal. But don’t take my word for it. David Pogue, technology columnist for the New York Times provided his review of the MiFi device and its unlimited data plan.

Also, if you’d like feedback on the MiFi device from a practicing financial advisor, read this blog post from Curtis A. Smith, CFP® on Morningstar Advisor.

And yes, soon I will break the package open and activate my MiFi…

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Gmail Prioritizes Your Email Based On Your Habits

Posted on August 30, 2010 by in Efficiency

I’ve been waiting for something like this to come along to email. Sorting email by timestamps is sooo 20th century…

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Should FPPad Distribute a Monthly E-newsletter?

Posted on August 28, 2010 by in General

Engaging our subscribers and audience is important. So we want to make the effort to deliver content in ways that suit your preferences.

This post from Susan Weiner got us thinking. Today you can subscribe to the FPPad RSS feed or receive updates via email. But we currently do not produce a monthly e-newsletter.

So let’s ask the readers. Please use the simple poll below to say whether or not you want to see an e-newsletter for FPPad in the near future. (Click this link if you can’t see the poll in your RSS feed or email)

[polldaddy poll=”3686443″]

Thank you for your feedback!

3 Comments

Junxure’s AdWords Campaign Fixed

Posted on August 23, 2010 by in General

Almost a year ago we wrote that Junxure’s Google AdWords campaign referenced version 7 of the software when version 8 was on the market. Today the current version of the popular CRM software for financial advisers is up to 8.7.

I spotted the following AdWords entry while purging my inbox.

Finally somebody got the version number updated. Now I have to offer some unsolicited feedback: is the version number even necessary? I think the ad can say “Get the latest version now!”

And now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

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More Monitors Equals More Productivity? Not Necessarily

Posted on August 19, 2010 by in Efficiency

We’ve written before how adding a second (or third) monitor to an advisor’s workspace can unlock additional productivity (Increase Adviser Productivity At Least 10%).

Now there’s a discussion developing on the Lifehacker website over whether the gain in productivity is actually true or not.

Click here to read Is the Multiple-Monitor Productivity Boost a Myth? at Lifehacker.com

The debate circles around the overall screen real estate available (e.g. pixels) when working with multiple programs and talks about settings for screen resolution and monitor size. I believe that one can be just as efficient when working on one large monitor with suitable dimensions compared to two monitors that feature an equivalent resolution.

Still, the argument that multiple monitors does not add to one’s productivity is not absolute. It depends on several factors that vary significantly from user to user.

So my takeaway for advisors considering multiple monitors is as follows:

  • 20″ widescreen monitors should be sufficient to display large records side-by-side.
  • Choose one monitor for your active workspace and one for your reference materials. Try not to switch back and forth between monitors to display active programs. Choose one and stick with it.
  • Finally, don’t leave any email program active on any monitor at any time!
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An End-to-End Account Processing Integration To Watch

Posted on August 16, 2010 by in Practice Management

Last week I came across a press release highlighting the integration of four different pieces of software. The integration features the following companies and tools:

  • SIGNiX, an online digital signature provider
  • LaserApp, a electronic form-filling application
  • Redtail Technology, a provider of web-based CRM, document management, and email archiving solutions
  • Arius Software, a provider of account opening and document management solutions

Click here to read the full press release Alliance of Leading Enablers Provide “Best-Of-Breed” Cloud-Based Solution for the Wealth Management and Securities Industry at PRWeb.

Read More…

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Get Prepared For FPA Denver 2010, The Annual Conference of the Financial Planning Community

Posted on August 14, 2010 by in Professional Development

FPA Denver 2010, “The Annual Conference of the Financial Planning Community” is less than two months away!

FPA Denver 2010 will be held at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver from October 9 through 12. Register before August 27 to secure your spot and receive early-bird pricing, a $200 savings.

I will attend FPA Denver 2010 and will be presenting a session on Sunday, October 10 at 8:15AM. Bring your second cup of coffee and take in my session titled Emerging Trends in Financial Services Technology. My expectation is that advisors will take at least 3 ideas away on emerging technology to implement in their practice and enhance the way they engage clients.

Also, this past Friday the Financial Planning Association announced in a tweet that it will be using the hashtag #fpa2010 for information related to the annual conference in Denver.

So broadcast your impressions of sessions you attend during the conference and remember to tag them with the #fpa2010 hashtag.

FPA also created a group on LinkedIn that anyone can join to stay up to date on conference activities. Click here to join the FPA Denver 2010 LinkedIn Group.

I look forward to seeing you in Denver!

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New at Morningstar Advisor: Rescue Your Imperiled Productivity

Posted on August 12, 2010 by in Efficiency

My August column for Morningstar Advisor is now available!

This month I find out just how productive I spend my time each day using a convenient time management utility. If advisors aren’t measuring time spent on daily tasks, how can they identify changes to make to enhance their productivity?

Click here to read “Rescue Your Imperiled Productivity” at Morningstar Advisor.

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WSJ: When Student Loans Live On After Death

Posted on August 6, 2010 by in General

An article getting lots of syndication today from financial advisers on Twitter is When Student Loans Live On After Death in the Weekend Journal of the Wall Street Journal.

Click here to read the article on WSJ.com.

So here’s the procedure-related question from our perspective:

Does your client intake interview process inquire about any loans for which a client has co-signed? If so, do you gather the outstanding amount of the co-signed loan? Then do you consider the loan payment options in the event of the borrower’s death?

This situation is one of those rare occurrences, but when it does strike, the consequences can be significant. This is a perfect example how advisors can add value for clients.

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