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FPPad Bits and Bytes for January 17

Posted on January 17, 2014 by Bill Winterberg in Bits & Bytes

On today’s broadcast, have robo advisers finally cracked the code to asset gathering? A leading document management provider rolls out mobile and social features your business soon can’t live without, and who are the top industry bloggers all financial advisors should be reading? All this and more.

So get ready, FPPad Bits and Bytes begins now!

(Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes on YouTube)

Today’s episode is brought to you by Blu Giant Advisor Studios, a multi-disciplinary creative firm, empowering advisors to engage clients though branding, social media, video and the web; an experience called “hypermedia.”

Experience Blu Giant’s new interactive website and see what’s possible for your business by visiting fppad.com/blugiant

Here are the links to this week’s top stories:

Wealthfront Reaches Over Half a Billion Dollars in 2013 from Wealthfront

[This week’s top story comes from the world of online advice providers, aka “robo advisors,” as Wealthfront announced this week that the company surpassed $500 million dollars in assets under management. While topping $500 million in AUM might seem like celebrating another 1,000 point threshold in the Dow Jones index, Wealthfront is starting to increase the gap over similar competitors like Betterment, which manages a reported $360 million, and Personal Capital, weighing in at a little over $200 million.

Wealthfront claimed over $67 million dollars in new assets for the month of December, which for many RIAs would make up a great year in new assets under management. Still, Wealthfront may not be a profitable business just yet, as Nerd’s Eye View blogger Michael Kitces estimated an optimistic annualized revenue of $1-and-a-quarter million dollars generated to support a team of expensive, full-time software engineers.

But pay careful attention to the types of clients Wealthfront cites in its announcement. Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, and more make up the top ten list of Silicon Valley companies with the most employees that are Wealthfront clients. This group IS next generation of clients for your business, so if you’re interested in attracting them, your technology needs to be up to par, but you must offer something that robo advisors completely lack; a real relationship with a trusted advisor.] Although we began the year with less than $100 million in assets under management, we closed 2013 with over $538 million, growing over 450% to become the largest and fastest-growing software-based financial advisor.

Laserfiche Unveils Product Roadmap at Empower 2014 from BusinessWire.com

[Next up is news from Laserfiche, one of the leading providers of document and electronic content management to financial advisors. Laserfiche held its annual Empower conference for users and resellers in Southern California this week, selling out for the first time in the event’s history.

Laserfiche announced a number of updates, including a complete redesign of its web-based interface called Laserfiche Web Access 10. Users will find the fresh interface easier to navigate and much more user-friendly on tablets and smart phones. And speaking of smartphones, Laserfiche also introduced a brand new app for Android, adding more support for mobile devices since the introduction of the app for iOS back in 2011.

Finally, an interesting development for financial advisors is the addition of new feature in Laserfiche Forms 9.1. Laserfiche posted a form online that anyone could fill out to post a message on Twitter. But before each tweet went global, the message was automatically routed through an approval process built in to Laserfiche.

Tie that in with Laserfiche’s archiving capabilities, and you have a pretty elegant solution anyone in your business can use to stay compliant on social media and also avoid those embarrassing drunk tweets.] Laserfiche today kicked off its sold-out Empower 2014 Conference with a keynote speech from company CTO Karl Chan outlining new and upcoming software releases. The new lineup includes social BPM, expanded mobile offerings and new web products.

The RIABiz top 10 industry blogs — and what bloggers they recommend from RIABiz

[And finally, many of you ask where I get my news and information to produce each episode of FPPad Bits and Bytes. Well several of my favorite sources were just listed among the top 10 industry blogs for financial advisors.

This week, RIABiz published its list of the best industry blogs, and what’s wrong with a little shameless self-promotion since FPPad.com was listed as number three!

So let me thank you for helping make FPPad a part of the top industry blogs, because without your questions, feedback, and loyal viewership, FPPad would not be the resource that it is today.] The RIA business is a land of micro-niches where owner-operated blogs are often the best reading spot for advisors to find the vibe and the level of granularity they seek on a subject

Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes for January 17, 2014

FPPad Bits and Bytes for August 9

Posted on August 9, 2013 by Bill Winterberg in Bits & Bytes

I spent all day Thursday traveling out and back to Minnesota, but I still managed to find time to write and produce this week’s episode of Bits and Bytes (click to watch on YouTube).

First, a word from this week’s sponsor. Without their support, Bits and Bytes wouldn’t be possible!

Today’s Bits and Bytes is brought to you by the 2013 T3 Enterprise Conference, exclusively designed for the technology needs of broker-dealers and financial enterprises. Mark your calendar for November 3rd through 5th in Chicago, and register today at www.t3enterpriseconference.com

Here are this week’s stories of interest:

Find your lost phone with Android Device Manager from the Android official blog

[This week’s lead story is for all of you Android users out there. Now there’s one less reason to be jealous of your fellow iPhone owners. Late last week, Google announced that it will be introducing an app called Android Device Manager later this month for all users of Android version 2.2 and higher, which pretty much means 98% of all the Android devices on the market. Now iPhone and iPad users have been able to track, lock, and even remotely wipe the contents of their devices since 2010 using Apple’s Find My iPhone app, and Windows phone and Blackberry users have also had remote device management apps of their own for some time. Finally, this long-overdue app from Google will especially be useful for those of you using Android devices, because you can now have better remote administration of lost or stolen devices that may contain personal or client information.] Have you ever lost your phone in between the couch cushions or forgot it in a restaurant? Or maybe searching for your phone before you rush out the door is part of your morning routine? Later this month, the new Android Device Manager can help you out. It’s one of a few simple features you can use to keep your device—and the data you store inside—safe and secure.

Mobile Portfolio Management Gets Easier from Morningstar.com

[Speaking of mobile devices, huge numbers of financial advisers are using mobile devices to stay connected and get work done while on the road. But one of the areas with significant room for improvement is the use of mobile devices to check client portfolios, especially for clients with accounts at multiple custodians. All of the major custodians have mobile apps you can use to check on client accounts, but those only work for clients who hold all their assets with one institution. Fortunately, third party portfolio management software providers have their own apps advisors can use to review all of their clients’ holdings, regardless of where they are held. Two and a half years ago, Orion Advisor Services was one of the first to debut a mobile app for advisors, and just last month they updated their app with a cleaner, sleeker version advisers should find more user friendly. And another provider to watch is AssetBook, which launched its own app for advisors, also about a month ago. Details of what you’ll find in each mobile app are in this month’s column for Morningstar Advisor.] One of the first mobile portfolio management apps for advisors gets an update, while an under-the-“radar” provider debuts its own native app.

Laserfiche Announces Integration with DocuSign eSignature Platform from MarketWire.com

[Now for some news in the document management arena. It’s pretty to easy to scan paper documents or save PDF files to a document management system, but applying client signatures to those documents has always been a challenge. Often the easiest thing to do is to just print out a document, have a client sign it, and then rescan it back into the system. It gets the job done, but it’s not really efficient, and that means it costs you money. Fortunately, Laserfiche, the enterprise content management provider, announced this week that their solution now integrates with DocuSign, one of the leading electronic signature providers. And remember, custodians such as TD Ameritrade Institutional, Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services, and Pershing, as well as broker-dealers like Cambridge and LPL accept documents signed using DocuSign, with just a few exceptions. So this development is welcome news for all advisors seeking a true end-to-end paperless solution for processing client forms that require signatures.] Laserfiche today announced an integration with DocuSign, The Global Standard for eSignature®, to further enhance the value of the company’s industry-leading enterprise content management (ECM) solution with secure electronic signature.

Six tech tools that help you improve your writing output here at FPPad.com

[Wrapping up this week’s update is an article from Susan Weiner on six technology tools you can use to boost your writing output. Susan is the author of a brand new book titled Financial Blogging: How to Write Powerful Posts That Attract Clients, and this week she shared her best technology tips on FPPad for all of you looking to build your online profile with effective blog posts.] Writing is a cerebral art, but sometimes technology helps. I’ve found six tools that can boost the quality and productivity of your writing. They play the roles of idea generator, disciplinarian, transcriptionist, enforcer, and mistake revealer.

And if you want to read the best material in financial planning knowledge and information over the weekend, click or tap the button below to head over to Michael Kitces’ Nerd’s Eye View blog and see the latest in Weekend Reading.

FPPad Bits and Bytes for November 30

Posted on November 30, 2012 by Bill Winterberg in Bits & Bytes

Remember, today’s FPPad On Air broadcast is at 4:15pm ET when I’ll connect with Right Size Solutions founder Wes Stillman to talk costs of moving to the cloud, how to protect data in the cloud, and how the latest products from Apple and Microsoft will change the financial planner’s office. Visit my Google+ profile after 4pm ET for the On Air link.

Here are this week’s stories of interest:

LPL Introduces eSignature to Advisor Tech Platform from Financial-Planning.com

[Schwab touted its pending rollout of eSignature tech to its advisers at this month’s IMPACT conference, but then sheepishly admitted advisers won’t receive it until late 2013. Clearly beating Schwab in its go-to-market strategy, LPL announced the introduction of DocuSign to all of its 12,000+ affiliated reps on Tuesday. Schwab teed this one up for LPL and the rest of their competition.] To streamline document processing, LPL Financial has introduced DocuSign’s eSignature solution for all of its advisors. The San Diego-based company said that it expects that the new technology, introduced Tuesday, will increase efficiency, reduce paperwork and improve both the client and advisor experience when signing and submitting forms to LPL.

Personal Capital Launches Android App from PRNewswire

[First came the iPad app, then iPhone, and now one of the leading online RIA firms by registered users is expanding its mobile compatibility to Android phones. So why don’t you have your own app already?] Personal Capital’s breakthrough financial service – named “one of the most important online banking innovations of all time” – is now available for free on the Android Marketplace to the 50 million US users of Android phones.

[VIDEO] Redtail CRM launches new mobile apps and makes them free to advisers

Posted on June 26, 2012 by Bill Winterberg in Video Spotlight

The leading web-based CRM provider overhauls its suite of mobile apps and eliminates its monthly charge for access

UPDATE 07/09/2012: Users can now download Redtail CRM from the Blackberry App World

In an announcement sent to users today, Redtail CRM announced the release of completely new mobile apps for use with iOS, Android, and Blackberry devices. All mobile apps can be downloaded for free and the company has eliminated the monthly access fee it used to charge for use of its mobile apps.

In the spotlight video below, Redtail Technology CEO Brian McLaughlin tells me about how the company developed the new apps in-house, focusing on the security of web streaming but preserving the speed and responsiveness of a native application.

“Redtail first released a mobile application for accessing Redtail CRM in 2009. Since that initial release and through subsequent versions of Redtail Mobile, we have been fortunate enough to receive invaluable feedback from our subscribers as to what we can do to make the mobile experience of Redtail CRM better,” the company said in its statement.

Redtail’s existing mobile apps generally received lukewarm reviews in the various app stores. Most notably, users expressed dissatisfaction that an additional monthly access fee was charged to enable mobile device access to CRM data.

Today you can download Redtail CRM for iPhone/iPad in the App Store, for Android in the Google Play market, or from the Blackberry App World.

(watch Redtail CRM: Announcing new mobile apps for iOS, Android & Blackberry on YouTube)

FPPad Bits and Bytes for April 13

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Bill Winterberg in Bits & Bytes

Wednesday’s post on client spoofing received tremendous response from readers and subscribers. Many of you shared your own stories of attempted client spoofing that was eventually detected, and several asked about practices that can be employed to increase the recognition of spoofing without overburdening back office staff and clients. I’m working on several follow up posts to break down examples and provide more information and resources advisers can use to be vigilant against spoofing.

And with that, let’s move on to this week’s stories of interest:

First up is this month’s Morningstar Advisor column, Laserfiche Offers Cloud Connectivity. This leading provider of on-premises document management software is now extending its product line to include a service delivered exclusively over the cloud. This makes the program, one that traditionally required large up-front costs, a more cost-effective option for advisers.

Advisers and iPads: Signs of a tipping point? from InvestmentNews.com

[You know all-too well that iPads are the tablet of choice among advisers. I have the following slide shown below in my iPad presentation showing how much traffic FPPad.com gets from the device. I get 53% from iPads, 27% from iPhone, 16% from Android and 4% for everything else. The FPPad adviser audience should be more tech-savvy than the broad InvestmentNews audience, and it shows! Thank you!] Roughly 36% of our mobile visits [to InvestmentNews.com] came from the iPad in March, compared with roughly 35% from the iPhone, which came in as No. 2 for mobile traffic sources.

2012 Is on Us: Egnyte Announces Box Buster Buyout Program from MarketWatch.com

[Advisers visit FPPad for information on cloud file storage services like Dropbox, ShareFile, and Box, but one that I haven’t specifically covered (though it’s on my resource radar) is Egnyte. This press release from the company features useful feedback from one Dallas-based RIA, True North Advisors, on how the solution satisfied the firm’s needs for security and easy deployment.] Egnyte, the leading provider of Cloud and HybridCloud File Sharing solutions for Businesses, today announced the Box Buster Buyout program. Aimed at businesses that are paying for Box accounts and found they’ve outgrown their usefulness, the Box Buster program allows paying Box customers to switch to a matching plan on Egnyte, at no cost for the duration of 2012 and free migration.

LogMeIn Prepares To Take On Dropbox & Box With Launch Of Cloud Storage Service Cubby from TechCrunch.com

[Like I said above, cloud file storage services are getting lots of attention from everywhere. Here’s yet another service from the folks at LogMeIn called Cubby to add to your list of potential resources.] LogMeIn, the company known best for its remote access tools, is today launching its own cloud storage service, as an alternative to those from Dropbox or Box, for example.

FPPad Bits and Bytes for November 25

Posted on November 25, 2011 by Bill Winterberg in Bits & Bytes

I hope you and yours had a Happy Thanksgiving!

If you find yourself in a turkey-induced coma or in a daze from midnight doorbuster shopping, you might want to take a moment before you dive into this week’s stories of interest:

Endorsing B.Y.O.D.: Save Money, Gain Productivity from Securities Technology Monitor

[As an adviser, you are probably already using your own personal mobile device in your practice. But this excellent article explores your options for encouraging your employees to bring their own devices into the fray (and what you can do on the technology side to protect and secure device communication).] iPhone 4S sales are off the charts, even with its battery issues. iPad sales are similar. Android now is the most popular operating system for mobile phones. So why aren’t you encouraging your employees to bring their own devices to work?

Impeccable Timing is One Sign of a Mature Firm from Financial-Planning.com

[Here’s a vignette of ARGI Financial Group with some interesting takeaways:

According to the article, they clear about $6 million in revenues. On their Form ADV Part 2, they list assets under management of $207 million. Do the math and the average fee collected across all accounts is 2.9%. Wow. They disclose fees of 2.5% for accounts under $1 million and 2.0% for accounts between $1 and $5 million. There must not be much competition in Kentucky if they can easily charge 2+% on assets.
Next is their change of custodians. Note that under TD Ameritrade, they’ve been fairly successful in growing to the point where they are. Ok, no surprise.
But the third’s the kicker. ARGI uses Interactive Advisory Software, or IAS. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard of firms with revenues of this size who are actively using IAS. Wow.]

Louisville, Ky.-based ARGI Financial Group’s business is running smoothly now. The firm has two other offices in Bowling Green, Ky., and Cincinnati. It serves about 800 families, with an average net worth of about $1 million. But it wasn’t easy to get to this level — the firm had to overcome some operational hurdles before business really took off.

Pershing Brings NetX360™ to the Android Market

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Bill Winterberg in Technology

Pershing LLC continues to expand its mobile offerings to advisers by releasing NetX360™ for the Google Android™ operating system.

We wrote in June 2010 about Pershing’s support of an iPad app for its NetX360 portfolio management platform. The app was finally released to the App Store in December, taking almost six months to complete the final development and review process. Using NetX360 for iPad, advisers can view client portfolio balances, access account statements, submit trades for equities and mutual funds, and more.

This week, Pershing is expanding its support of mobile access to NetX360 with the announcement of an Android-compatible app.

“The availability of NetX360 on mobile devices provides our customers with the ability to utilize all of NetX360’s capabilities no matter where they are, and provides them with the same level of security and encryption as their desktop NetX360 application,” said Suresh Kumar, chief information officer of Pershing, in a company press release.

Click here to read the full press release at PRNewswire.

And click the image below to view NetX360 Mobile in the Android Market

FPPad Bits and Bytes for March 25

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Bill Winterberg 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.

Orion Advisor Services Launches App For Mobile Platforms

Posted on January 3, 2011 by Bill Winterberg in Technology

In a continuation of 2010’s trend towards mobile device adoption, Orion Advisor Services, LLC of Omaha, Neb. announced today that it released applications for the Android and Apple iOS platforms.

Click here to view the press release on PRNewswire.

Both advisers and their clients can download the app to their mobile device of choice, and Orion creates a custom label for the app to match the branding of their advisory firm. That ‘s a nice touch, especially for clients who may not be aware (or care) that their adviser’s portfolio reporting services are completed using Orion.

Check FPPad.com for more info on Orion’s app in the near future as we get our hands on it and test it on the iPad.

FPPad