Tag Archives: advent

FPPad Bits and Bytes for June 3

Posted on June 3, 2011 by in Bits & Bytes

This week’s FPA NorCal Conference wrapped up a hectic month of May, involving four separate conferences in four cities across the U.S., combined with two short vacations coupled with the travel.

Still, we’ve managed to keep an eye out for relevant technology articles in the financial planning profession. Here are this week’s stories of interest:

AIG’s Advisor Group to roll out revised platform from InvestmentNews.com

See what an investment in the “healthy seven digits” looks like for representatives under the AIG Advisor Group technology platform.

Commonwealth’s revamp of technology includes subtracting Advent from RIABiz.com

Advent first buys Black Diamond, but then Commonwealth Financial Network breaks its ties with Advent Software citing a lack of value for the cost.

One-Click Calling from CRM at MorningstarAdvisor.com

In Bill’s monthly blog at Morningstar Advisor, he discusses how advisers can simplify making phone calls with web browser extensions. Say goodbye to 10-digit dialing!

FPPad Bits and Bytes for May 20

Posted on May 20, 2011 by in Bits & Bytes

Bill is attending NAPFA National 2011’s final day today after appearing as a panelist for Thursday’s session on adviser technology. As always, look for the live tweets from this conference which can be found under the #NAPFA11 hashtag.

Here are this week’s stories of interest:

Behind the scenes in social media at InvestmentNews.com

As regulators take their own sweet time coming up with guidelines for social media, the marketplace is coming up with its own solutions for financial advisers.

A blessing from Charles Goldman helped seal the Advent-Black Diamond deal from RIABiz.com

It was a big deal for the RIA business. Yet the planned combination of Advent Software and Black Diamond was not so large that investment bankers got called in to finance or advise on the transaction. What sufficed in place of Goldman Sachs, it turns out, was Charles Goldman.

Tweets That Mean Business from Financial Advisor Magazine

Advisors are finding that social media is more helpful than just sharing silly things like what you ate for dinner last night.

 

 

Advent Purchases Black Diamond Performance Reporting for Approximately $73 Million

Posted on May 12, 2011 by in Portfolio Management Software

Black Diamond Performance ReportingJust in to our wires is a press release from Advent Software, Inc., a provider of portfolio and financial management software to advisers. They just announced an agreement to purchase Jacksonville, Fla.-based Black Diamond Performance Reporting for approximately $73 million.

Click here to read the full press release at MarketWire.com

“Together, we believe Advent and Black Diamond can be even better, faster, and stronger, and we’re proud to add this powerful new alternative for advisors to our family of purpose-built solutions,” said Advent President Peter Hess.

We want to congratulate Black Diamond Founder and CEO Reed Colley and his entire team on the acquisition and look forward to continued efficiencies available to advisers as a result of the purchase.

FPPad Bits and Bytes for April 15

Posted on April 15, 2011 by in Bits & Bytes

Did you file your tax return yet? We managed to file a few days before the potential government shutdown.

But if you’re still scrambling to complete those last few client returns (or extension filings), here’s a 60-second breakdown of this week’s top stories in financial planning technology so you can get back to your forms.

The inside story of a giant RIA’s move to Tamarac from Advent from RIABiz.com

The thought process behind $2-billion Signature Estate’s move from Advent to Tamarac for its portfolio management technology.

Mobile Apps 101: 10 Must-Have Applications for Every Advisor from Financial-Planning.com

Whether it’s an iPad, Android, BlackBerry or iPhone, just about everyone these days is walking around with a digital appendage to keep themselves constantly in the know and able to communicate with friends, family and business associates around the clock.

Read this month’s MorningstarAdvisor.com column Avoid E-mail Audit Headaches to determine how technology can prevent last-minute scrambling to assemble e-mail records for examiners.

And finally, read part three of an interview AdvisorWebsites.com conducted with Bill on financial adviser technology:Bill Winterberg Talks Technology: Part 3 (read Part 1 and Part 2)

 

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 December 10

Posted on December 10, 2010 by in Bits & Bytes

Illness has infiltrated FPPad headquarters, preventing us from doing much of anything work-related. Nevertheless, we still gathered some of the best technology-related stories for advisors from around the Internet for you in one, consolidated post.

Here are this week’s stories of interest:

2010’s Best Tech for Advisors at MorningstarAdvisor.com

In an annual tradition at Morningstar Advisor, December’s column reviews the best technology of the past year for financial advisors and recognizes three truly exceptional products or services.

Laserfiche Announces Salesforce.com Integration for Financial Advisors at Laserfiche.com

Laserfiche today announced the availability of a prepackaged integration with salesforce.com designed specifically for Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs). By integrating Laserfiche enterprise content management (ECM) with their CRM systems, RIAs improve client service, enhance employee efficiency and facilitate compliance.

Socialware Named as Top Tech Company to Watch from Marketwire.com

Socialware, the leader in social media compliance, today announced it has been selected by Bank Technology News as one of the Top Ten Technology Companies to Watch. The company was recognized for its technology, which is helping more than 55 financial brands engage in social media through its Socialware Compass solution, which allows companies to tailor and enforce their social media policy, moderate employee posts and tweets, and archive social data, enabling compliant, secure social media usage.

Advent Software is squandering its market leadership by keeping focus on Axys, according to a hedge fund analyst’s report from RIABiz.com

Advent Software is losing its leading position in portfolio management systems in large part because of its strategy of milking an old, cash cow product just as a growing number of competitors pump out web-based solutions that more readily integrate with complementary applications, make conversions and upgrades easier and often cost less, according to a report by a small investment company owned by a former hedge fund analyst.

FPPad Bits and Bytes for November 12

Posted on November 12, 2010 by in Bits & Bytes

We had all-day working sessions with clients from Monday through Wednesday, but that didn’t stop us from collecting this week’s stories of interest:

Eight software vendors give insider accounts of their IMPACT 2010 booth experiences from RIABiz.com

Non-stop booth traffic — including visits from giant RIAs — suggests advisors came to Boston in a code-buying mood

Pershing believes its case for NetX360 as the Apple equivalent for advisors is solid from RIABiz.com

Fifteen months after launching what’s arguably the most ambitious technology platform in the market, Pershing’s NetX360 has lured 96% of the company’s 110,000 users to adopt the new technology.

For Intelligent Integration, X Marks The Spot, this month’s technology column at Morningstar Advisor.

FPPad Bits and Bytes for October 29

Posted on October 29, 2010 by in Bits & Bytes

Happy Halloween! This week’s edition of Bits and Bytes is full of all treats and no tricks.

Here are this week’s feature stories:

At Schwab IMPACT 2010, Charles Schwab Advisor Services selected the first Intelligent Integration partners. Here’s coverage from the web:

Junxure, Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics Are The First Schwab Intelligent Integration Partners from FPPad.com,
Schwab Looks To Integrate Registered Independent Advisers’ Tech Systems from WSJ.com, and
Schwab chooses some giant software partners, apparently with big RIAs in mind from RIABiz.com

Thanks to our sources on the ground (John Stone of Revenue Architects and Tim Welsh of Nexus Strategy) at Schwab IMPACT 2010, we now know the first Intelligent Integration partners announced by the company this morning.

Fidelity arms its RIAs for battle with white-glove brands from RIABiz.com

Fidelity WealthCentral for Family Offices integrates portfolio reporting and trading and allows a view of holdings including alternative assets. Services such as trust, partnership accounting, private foundation services and general ledger export services are included. Most important: it can provide an ultra-affluent client with a dedicated relationship management team and investment analyst/trader.

ByAllAccounts’ Survey Reveals the Top Reasons Financial Advisors Would Consider New Portfolio Management System from Marketwire.com

ByAllAccounts, Inc., the financial advisors’ choice for account aggregation, today announced survey results that show financial advisors are generally loyal to their portfolio management systems of record. Nearly 70 percent of survey respondents are somewhat or extremely unlikely to switch from their current system to a new one in 2011.

And finally, my blog post for October, Convert Business Card Info in a Snap, at MorningstarAdvisor.com

While attending a huge conference such as FPA Denver 2010 has many advantages, one minor drawback of connecting with so many new people is processing the large stack of business cards collected after returning home from the event.

FPPad Bits and Bytes for September 24

Posted on September 24, 2010 by in Bits & Bytes

FPPad goes on vacation today and won’t return until Monday, October 4. So enjoy this week’s Bits and Bytes; it’ll have to tide you over for two weeks!

Ameritas Investment Corp. Selects Smarsh for Email Archiving and Compliance Services from Businesswire.com

Smarsh®, the managed service leader in innovative, secure and reliable email archiving and compliance solutions, announced today that Ameritas Investment Corp. (AIC) has migrated to the Smarsh hosted email archiving and compliance platform

Fidelity® to Integrate Black Diamond Performance Reportingtm within Its Open Technology Platform for Independent Advisors from BusinessWeek.com

Fidelity Investments®, a leading provider of custody and clearing services to registered investment advisors (RIAs), today announced that it has expanded advisors’ access to third-party solutions within Fidelity WealthCentral® by establishing a strategic relationship with Black Diamond Performance Reporting(TM) to integrate its BlueSky portfolio management and reporting platform.

Moxy 7.0 trade order management now available from Advent from InvestmentNews.com

Advent Software Inc. yesterday announced availability of Moxy 7.0, the latest version of the trade order management system that’s so popular with registered investment advisory firms. All told, the software is used by 850 financial services firms around the world.

Advent Adds Client Portals Via LIGHT[PORT] Agreement

Posted on March 17, 2010 by in Portfolio Management Software

Here’s new news over the wires: Advent announced that it now supports web-based client portals for its APX and Axys products through an agreement with LIGHT[PORT]. From the press release:

Through this alliance, LIGHT[PORT]’s solution is available to Advent clients using Advent Portfolio Exchange® (APX), Advent’s integrated portfolio and client relationship management solution, or Axys®, its turnkey portfolio accounting and reporting solution. These clients can easily set-up automated, web-based reporting for their clients via their own custom portal. These portals can be added to an existing website or can be built as standalone sites. LIGHT[PORT] supports integration with locally installed APX and Axys®, or with APX through Advent OnDemandSM, which delivers Advent solutions via the Software-as-a-Service model.

Click here to read the entire press release on Advent’s website.