Tag Archives: HiddenLevers

FPPad Bits and Bytes for May 13, 2016

On today’s broadcast, learn about top advisor technology from the Finovate Spring 2016, two lessons you should learn from a Salesforce database outage, hear top technology tips from industry experts, 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 Riskalyze, the company that invented the Risk Number™ and twice named as one of the world’s 10 most innovative companies in finance by Fast Company Magazine.

Riskalyze

Advisors use Riskalyze to show prospects they’re invested wrong and prove to clients they’re invested right. See how Riskalyze creates fearless investors by visiting riskalyze.com/fppad to book a guided tour.

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

Client Insight for Wealth Management from IBM, and

IBM Watson-infused robo wants to help advisers, not beat them from Financial Planning

Envestnet Advisor Now demo from Finovate Europe 2016

[This week’s top story covers the Finovate Spring 2016 event held earlier this week in San Jose, California. With over 70 demos spread across two days, here are my picks for the most promising solutions for financial advisors.

First is IBM, as the company demoed its Client Insight for Wealth Management solution, designed to deliver better insights about your clients powered by, you guessed it, IBM Analytics. The Client Insight dashboard segments your clients by their behavioral profiles, predicts the likelihood of clients experiencing a significant life event, and automatically generates a list of top actions clients should take to make progress on their financial goals.

The analytics-powered insight is great, but it’s not yet clear to me if the solution is something you can buy today or if it requires an integration with the technology providers that you use, particularly with your CRM software. One third-party example I can think of is the automated investment service from Marstone, which to me, still seems to be evolving and appears to be rolling out at a very measured pace. So, if you want to start seeing some of these cognitive-powered insights in the tools you use, I think you need to prepare to spend a little bit more on your technology to make these benefits a reality.

The second demo of note came from Envestnet, as the company highlighted Advisor Now, which is now being positioned as an online financial planning tool that can be white-labeled by financial institutions or you, the independent financial advisor.

Advisor Now’s capabilities are quite a bit different than this time last year when the solution was first announced, as Envestnet is further leveraging its technology acquisitions of Upside, Yodlee, and Finance Logix.

Next week I’m headed to the Envestnet Advisor Summit in Chicago where I plan to get more details on Advisor New, but in the meantime you can watch a recent Advisor Now demo from Finovate Europe] IBM offers you a whole new level of insight to serve your customers with the most relevant offerings that helps you drive new revenue. It enables you to segment your customers quickly and analyze their behavior to deliver cross sell/ up sell offers which helps increase loyalty, retention and customer satisfaction.

Envestnet thumbnail

Salesforce outage persists across US, CEO wades in from ZDNet, and

The Burning Irony of Salesforce’s #NA14 Social Media Nightmare from Medium

[Next up is news on Salesforce, as the company unfortunately suffered a failure in one of its critical databases this week affecting several thousand of its customers in North America. The outage of the NA14 database lasted for about a day and a half, causing many users to publicly vent their frustrations on Twitter.

Closer to home, I didn’t hear from any advisors who were affected by the downtime, which is good, but there are still two lessons I want you to take away from this incident.

First, when you use any cloud-based system, especially a CRM, be absolutely certain that you have an offline backup of the critical information you need to take care of clients. Make it part of your process now to export data like names, phone numbers, and email addresses so you can stay in touch with clients if and when your online systems have extended downtime.

And second, make plans now for what you’re going to do when your firm experiences a crisis. How will you contact clients? Will you post information on your website, or provide updates on Twitter? Whatever you do, identify your process in your disaster recovery and business continuity plan, and if it’s been a while since you tested your communication in a crisis, well, you might want to do something about that.] A Salesforce database failure has left some clients unable to access their services across the United States, prompting the firm’s chief executive to step in.

2016 SSG Conference Technology Panel from YouTube

[And finally, wrapping up this week’s broadcast is news from Shareholders Service Group, as I attended their annual conference in San Diego a few weeks ago. One of the general sessions I attended was a panel discussion on technology opportunities that lie ahead for independent financial advisors, so I caught up with each of the panelists,

Greg Friedman of Private Ocean, Dave Welling of SS&C Advisory Market Group, Tim Welsh of Nexus Strategy, and Joel Bruckenstein of Technology Tools for Today, to get their main takeaways from the session and hear best advice for advisors from a technology perspective.

The full video from the event is embedded over on website along with a few additional stories that didn’t make this week’s broadcast.]

Here are stories that didn’t make this week’s broadcast:

Docupace Closes on Management Buyback Transaction from BusinessWire

Docupace Technologies LLC, a premier digital compliance and cyber security company in the financial services industry, completed its planned repurchase of the majority interest in the company previously held by RCS Capital Corporation.

New Marketing Materials from Hidden Levers

HiddenLevers now provides pre-made marketing materials that can be used with clients. These include printable brochures, embeddable videos, website and signature plugins.

 

Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes for May 13, 2016

Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes for May 13, 2016

Reactions as the 2016 TD Ameritrade Institutional National LINC Conference closes

Several integrated solution providers in the Veo® Village share the technology themes that emerged during their conversations with advisors at the 2016 TD Ameritrade Institutional National LINC Conference.

Our coverage from TD Ameritrade Institutional National LINC is brought to you by Wealthbox CRM. Sign up for a free trial today at wealthbox.com

wealthbox logo 620

Click here to watch the video on YouTube

FPPad Bits and Bytes for February 14

On today’s broadcast, find out who earned the most buzz at the industry’s top technology conference this week. Which custodian just joined the integration arms race? Which partnership will put downward pricing pressure on account aggregation costs? And who launched a new social CRM with an all-out media blitz?

So get ready, FPPad Bits and Bytes begins now!

(Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes on YouTube)

Today’s episode is brought to you by Wealthbox CRM. Wealthbox is collaborative, social, and outrageously simple CRM for financial advisors.

Wealthbox CRM

Sign up for a free trial today by visiting fppad.com/wealthbox

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

T3 2014: Joel Bruckenstein and David Drucker kick off the 9th annual adviser tech conference from FPPad

[Unless you’ve been buried in snow or covered in ice, you probably know that T3, the industry’s top technology conference for advisors, was held in southern California this week. There are too many new companies and press releases to cover in just one broadcast, so here are the stories I feel are most relevant for you.] T3 2014 is the place to be and be seen for all things financial adviser technology

T3 2014: SEI enters the integration arms race through strategic partnerships with Redtail Technology, MoneyGuidePro, and ActiFi from FPPad

[First is an update from SEI, the investment outsourcing provider, who just announced a new strategic partnership to bring integrations to its SEI Wealth Platform(SM). By the end of 2014, SEI will integrate an automated workflow solution using Redtail CRM and MoneyGuidePro financial planning software, all powered by workflows customized by ActiFi. While advisors will need to subscribe to Redtail and MoneyGuidePro, workflows will be available to the nearly 6,000 advisors who work with SEI at no additional cost. This partnership will likely boost SEI’s profile among institutional custodians known for their technology integrations that help advisors run more efficient businesses.] SEI announces strategic partnerships and enters the integration arms race dominated by four leading custodians

T3 2014: MoneyGuidePro to integrate Yodlee for account aggregation from FPPad

[Next up is news from MoneyGuidePro, who told a packed house at T3 that the financial planning software program will soon provide account aggregation capabilities through a new integration with Yodlee, the largest data platform provider in financial services. When I mention account aggregation, you probably think of companies like ByAllAccounts, Fiserv’s CashEdge, or perhaps even Intuit, but these solutions are often too expensive for many growing RIAs to implement.

With the new MoneyGuidePro and Yodlee integration, advisors will be able to aggregate data from over 12,000 financial institutions for an introductory price of $365 per year. <That’s right, it’s just a dollar per day!> Expect the Yodlee integration to rollout during the second quarter of 2014.] Popular MoneyGuidePro financial planning software to aggregate held away accounts through a new Yodlee integration

Next Generation CRM: Powered by Social from Morningstar Advisor

[And rounding out my abridged coverage of T3 is the launch of a new platform designed to help advisors embrace social collaboration tools in their business. The platform is Wealthbox CRM, which deployed an all-out media blitz this week, including the sponsorship of this week’s broadcast, to get the product in front of advisors.

There are about a dozen CRM vendors in the marketplace, so financial advisors could stand to benefit from a few more choices among providers. And what makes Wealthbox CRM unique is the embedded realtime collaboration functions, better known under the banner of Social CRM.

Wealthbox CRM lets you tag clients and employees in status updates, just like you would when tagging friends or contacts on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. You can use those tags along with other information displayed in the CRM’s activity stream to find out what you should be doing for clients, what employees are doing for clients, and what clients are saying on their social media profiles.

The Social CRM feature is just one of many in the new product, and Wealthbox CRM’s introductory price of $29 per month per user places it squarely between the affordable CRM from Redtail and premium pricing from CRMs like Junxure Cloud and Salesforce.] CRMs powered by social collaboration and real-time updates could be the next game-changer in the industry.

And here are stories that didn’t make it into this week’s broadcast:

Raymond James Selects HiddenLevers for New Portfolio Stress Testing Offering for Advisors from WSJ.com

Raymond James Financial, Inc. has partnered with HiddenLevers, the portfolio stress testing toolkit, to provide macro research, scenario modeling and predictive risk analytics. Now, any of Raymond James’ 5,400 US-based advisors can subscribe to HiddenLevers to proactively discuss potential economic and market scenarios with clients, and gauge the impact on individual investment portfolios.

Tech Review: Scottrade’s New Platform from Financial Planning Magazine

Scottrade is now addressing shortcomings in its technology with the release of a totally new advisor platform.

 

Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes for February 14, 2014

Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes for February 14, 2014

 

FPPad Bits and Bytes for February 7

On today’s broadcast, TD Ameritrade Institutional unveils a new interface designed to be “mission control” for advisors, how you can customize videos for hundreds clients with the push of a button, and a new provider delivers technology to simulate portfolio crash testing before the next crash occurs.

So get ready, FPPad Bits and Bytes begins now!

(Watch this episode on YouTube)

Today’s episode is brought to you by Mimic Technologies, providers of complete outsourced technology support, security, infrastructure and IT solutions exclusively for RIAs.

Mimic Technologies

To learn how you can keep your data safe from attackers, download a free copy of their latest white paper on social engineering attacks by visiting fppad.com/mimic.

Here are this week’s stories of interest:

A Smart Start at National Conference: TD Ameritrade Institutional Reveals Plans to Launch New Intelligent Technology Platform for Advisors from TD Ameritrade Institutional

[Leading off this week is a recap of the first institutional custodian conference of 2014, as TD Ameritrade Institutional held its annual event in Orlando last week. In the past, TD Ameritrade Institutional announced a number of new innovations in technology, including the release of Veo Open Access platform and a free web-based version of iRebal for its advisors. This year’s technology announcements were a bit more subdued, but most relevant to advisors is the introduction of the new Veo Open Access Dashboard.

The Veo Dashboard is designed to be “mission control” for advisors, enabling access to dozens of integrated solution providers from one consolidated web-based screen. Early integrations include Redtail CRM, Orion Advisor Services portfolio management, MoneyGuidePro financial planning, and TD Ameritrade Institutional’s own iRebal software.

Tom Nally, president of TD Ameritrade Institutional, said that the first iteration of the Veo Dashboard is expected to come this summer.] Building on the success of its Veo® open access effort, TD Ameritrade Institutional will give advisors the ability to harness the collective power of more than 60 leading advisor technology providers integrated with its Veo trading platform.

New Orion App Revolutionizes Client Reports from PRNewswire

[Another cool innovation announced at last week’s TD Ameritrade Institutional conference comes from Orion Advisor Services, who debuted a new client communication platform called Engage. Many of you might already be using mobile apps and video market commentary from Orion to enhance your communication with clients.

But what Engage allows you to do is further customize videos you make for clients. With Engage, you can retrieve things like performance data from Orion, the confidence meter from MoneyGuidePro, or calendar scheduling from Redtail CRM and embed that information using graphics right in your video. While you still can’t say client names or announce specific performance numbers, your clients receive a compelling video that contains personal details to help them not only hear about, but actually see the progress they’re making towards their wealth management goals.

Once again, if you’re not thinking about how you should be using video to enhance client relationships, I think it’s time you start creating a strategy new, and Engage from Orion gives you a pretty clever way to get started. Clients of Orion can use Engage for no additional charge, and pricing details for non-Orion customers will be coming soon.] Orion Advisor Services, LLC, a premier portfolio accounting service bureau, announces the release of a new web-based app, Orion Engage, which helps advisors communicate more effectively with clients by creating interactive videos that can present portfolio performance and other unique details specific to individual clients.

Don’t Be A Crash Test Dummy from Financial Advisor

[And finally, one hot technology trend right now involves applications that perform macro economic analysis and portfolio stress-test simulations. By now you’ve likely heard of startups like HiddenLevers and MacroRisk Analytics, but a new provider in this space making waves is RiXtrema. In a recent Financial Advisor column, Joel Bruckenstein reviewed the company’s Riskostat product, which offers patent-pending technology to assess stock market behavior in times of crisis.

Bruckenstein offered a favorable review of Riskostat, and with a list price of $300 per months, feels it is competitively priced in a market that’s a small, but growing segment, of advisor technology.] Now a third firm, RiXtrema, is launching a software product called Riskostat that is designed to help advisors analyze the vulnerability of their clients’ portfolios to various macroeconomic risk factors as well as help advisors explore opportunities to hedge away some of those risks.

Stories that didn’t make the cut for this week’s broadcast:

Advisor Software, Inc. And Orion Advisor Services, LLC Integrate Apps For Financial Advisors from PRNewswire

Advisor Software, Inc. (“ASI”), a provider of wealth management solutions for the financial advisor market, announced today a partnership with Orion Advisor Services, LLC (“Orion”) to integrate the two companies’ software applications for financial advisors.

Junxure Announces Limited Release of Junxure Cloud CRM for Financial Advisors from Junxure

Junxure announced the limited release of Junxure Cloud™, its comprehensive, cloud-based CRM solution for financial advisors.

Road Warrior Advisors–Keep Your Data Private from Morningstar Advisor

Protect your client and business information by hiding it from wandering eyes.

 

Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes for February 7, 2014

Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes for February 7, 2014

FPPad Bits and Bytes for August 30

On this week’s broadcast, Laser App unveils new integrations to speed up your form processing, LPL Financial rolls out new technology to its representatives, how one-page websites might be your answer to stand out in today’s crowded marketplace, and more. So get ready, Bits and Bytes begins now.

(Watch on YouTube) This week’s edition of Bits and Bytes is brought to you by Redtail Technology, providers of cloud-based CRM for financial professionals since 2003.

Redtail Technology

Check out their popular advisor solutions and sign up for a 30-day free trial. Visit fppad.com/redtail for more information.

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

Filling Out Forms No Longer a Pain in the App for Busy Advisors from Laser App and TDAmeritrade

[Leading off is an update on Laser App, the form-filling software provider, who held its annual broker-dealer conference last week in San Diego.At last year’s conference, Laser App unveiled Laser App Anywhere, a cloud-based version of its software that can create account forms in the cloud and on a variety of mobile devices. But Laser App Anywhere was only made available to broker-dealers and their affiliated representatives. That is, until now.

At the conference last week, Laser App announced that TD Ameritrade Institutional will be the first custodian to offer Laser App Anywhere to advisors through the Veo advisor platform. This means that independent advisors who custody with TD Ameritrade Institutional will be able to leverage Laser App Anywhere to simplify their form creation and account opening processes.

In addition, TD Ameritrade Institutional also announced it will integrate Laser App Anywhere with electronic signature capabilities from DocuSign, giving independent advisers one of the first officially-supported straight-through-processing solutions for account-related forms.] TD Ameritrade Institutional Announces Integration of Laser App® Anywhere: a New Cloud-Based Tool to Help Advisors Complete Forms Faster and on Mobile Devices

LPL Financial Unveils Enhancements to Technology Platform at Annual Financial Advisor Conference from MarketWatch.com

[Now Laser App wasn’t the only company holding a conference in San Diego last week. LPL Financial hosted the LPL Financial Focus Conference and announced a number of technology initiatives and updates for its representatives. LPL is the largest independent broker-dealer in the country in terms of both total representatives and assets, so whatever they do, expect the industry to follow suit.

Notable announcements include a new Enhanced Trading and Rebalancing platform being rolled out to representatives over the next 12 months. LPL is offering the rebalancing platform for free through June of 2014, then for $150/month thereafter. Couple that with TD Ameritrade Institutional’s announcement earlier this year that iRebal will be offered for free through the Veo platform, and you can bet this will put considerable pricing pressure on third-party rebalancing software providers.

LPL also released the LPL Financial Mobile app for iOS and Android, giving advisers the ability to monitor client portfolios and send secure messages to clients, all from inside the app.

And finally, LPL continues to expand its support of electronic signatures with none other than DocuSign, as over 80% of LPL’s documents and forms are eligible for electronic signature processing.] LPL Financial LLC, the nation’s largest independent broker-dealer, a leading RIA custodian and a wholly owned subsidiary of LPL Financial Holdings Inc., today announced a set of enhanced technology offerings and new mobile capabilities for financial advisors and their clients, designed to simplify account management; improve practice efficiency and scalability; and enhance the client experience.

Envestnet Completes Integration Of HiddenLevers Application Into Envestnet’s Next Generation Platform from PRNewswire.com

[In other integration news, Envestnet, the unified wealth management technology provider, announced that it completed the integration of Hidden Levers into its platform. The integration was originally announced back in May at the company’s Advisor Summit and was anticipated to be in production by June. Despite the delay, this is another big win for Hidden Levers, the New York-based startup that continues to attract significant attention with its scenario-based portfolio stress testing capabilities.] Envestnet, a leading provider of unified wealth management technology and services to investment advisors, announced today the integration of the HiddenLevers application into its unified wealth management platform.

Quickview: Strikingly Simple Advisor Websites from Morningstar.com

[And finally, if you’re looking for new ways to stand out among a crowded field of financial advisors, consider how your website might be able to differentiate your business from all the rest. Tons of advisor websites use similar templates with navigation menus, photos, and a few columns of text. But a trend in website design gaining momentum is the sinle-page layout.

In my Morningstar Advisor Quickview update this month, I wrote about one service called Strikingly that you can use to quickly set up your own single page website and use it to differentiate yourself from everyone else.] A single-page website might just set your business apart in a sea of advisor website monotony.

Lead generation for advisers: how to grow a prospect list and increase website ROI

Lead generation means rolling out the welcome mat for website visitors

Lead generation means rolling out the welcome mat for website visitors

Mention lead generation at a financial adviser conference, and you’ll likely be greeted with blank stares.

Since the inception of the financial planning profession, adviser growth has been dominated by referral-based practices.

The problem is that today more and more consumers (and future clients) are visiting websites and social media sites first to learn what they can about financial advisers.

These website visitors may or may not receive specific referrals from friends and colleagues, but they’re still going online to learn as much as possible about advisers and services before they reach out to schedule an initial appointment.

Lead Generation 101

Advisers can spend considerable time and money building an attractive and informative site, but if visitors only read information and never return, the investment fails to pay off.

Lead generation is the mechanism advisers can implement to cultivate a stronger relationship with website visitors by capturing names and email addresses to use for future correspondence.

This month’s column for Morningstar Advisor discusses lead generation techniques financial advisers can follow to realize a higher ROI on their website development.

Follow this link to read Increase Your Website ROI at Morningstar.com.

FPPad Bits and Bytes for February 22

The Mobile Adviser, debuting at FPA Business Solutions 2013, March 7-9, Chicago

The Mobile Adviser, debuting at FPA Business Solutions 2013, March 7-9, Chicago

My latest slide deck is finally complete. It’s titled The Mobile Adviser: Everything financial advisers need to know to be safe, connected, and productive in the Mobile Age.

I’m debuting The Mobile Adviser at FPA Business Solutions 2013 in Chicago on March 7-9, so register for the conference here to be among the first to see it.

Here are this week’s stories of interest:

HiddenLevers Launches Portfolio Stress Testing App to Help Advisors Generate Leads from MarketWire.com

[Highlighted in my update from T3 (see: T3 2013: Top technology to put on your radar), HiddenLevers officially announced their lead generation add-on component to portfolio stress testing. Check out http://rca-online.com/ and click the button on the right-hand column to see this in action. I think it’s a great feature.] HiddenLevers, the portfolio stress testing toolkit of choice for RIAs, Private Wealth and Family Offices, launches a lead-gen application to help Advisors promote their portfolio stress testing capabilities.

Which Portfolio Rebalancing Software is Right for You? from WMToday

[Craig Iskowitz, Managing Director and founder of Ezra Group, has been a part of the financial planning technology blogosphere since February 2009, but I only just encountered his content. If you’re not following Craig (@CraigIskowitz on Twitter) or subscribing to his content, consider doing so. Craig also attended T3 last week and provides a great two-part recap of the rebalancing software panel discussion. If you’re in the market for rebalancing software or want to see how yours compares with new entrants in the market, Craig’s coverage is a must read.] This is a summary of panel discussion from the Tools and Technology Today (T3) Conference that took place February 11-13, 2013 in Miami, FL.

Your Tweets Are More Important Than Your Résumé from BusinessInsider.com

[I’m branching out a bit here with an interesting take on the résumé of the future. Here’s a company that isn’t taking traditional résumés for a job opening (granted, they’re hiring a “six-figure senior social media position”), but rather considering social metrics like Klout score, active Twitter followers, and more. If you’re hiring, do you take social influence into account? And what if your top candidate has significant social influence, do you think that’s actually a risk to your organization?] By now, many employers think that who you are online is more revealing of your character than a résumé. Some companies have decided to stop accepting paper résumés altogether.

Portfolio Pathway and Redtail Technology announce integration from PortfolioPathway.com

[Portfolio Pathway is now in my watch list as another web-based portfolio reporting solution. Their straightforward pricing on top of the typical account aggregation, client portal, and custom report features should be attractive to up-and-coming RIAs as well as breakaway brokers looking for a light footprint when they start out on their own. This announcement of a Redtail CRM integration is also a good sign of collaboration with the industry’s leading software providers.] Portfolio Pathway, the web-based portfolio management system, announced today they have completed integration development with Redtail Technology’s innovative web-based Client Relationship Management (CRM) solution. Advisors using Redtail will be able to view all account data from Portfolio Pathway.

RedBlack Integration with Scottrade® Advisor Services from RedBlackSoftware.com

[Increasing integrations is the best way for any financial services technology provider to gain wider adoption. Here, growing rebalancing software provider RedBlack now connects with Scottrade to retrieve account information from the no-minimum-assets-required custodian. According to RedBlack Chief Software Architect Roel Vlemmings, this marks the company’s 22nd integration with a 3rd party provider.] RedBlack Software today announced the successful integration with Scottrade® Advisor Services. Registered Investment Advisors that custody with Scottrade® Advisory Services can now seamlessly import their portfolio data into RedBlack, use the RedBlack platform to rebalance and trade client accounts and households, and submit trades to Scottrade® for execution.

1st Global Announces New Partnership with AppCrown LLC from 1stGlobal.com

[Very interesting! Having lived in Dallas for three years, 1st Global had a good footprint with regional (and national, too) CPAs and wealth management firms seeking technology solutions from an affinity partner. Now, AppCrown’s Salesforce ISV platform (see: Salesforce for financial advisers solicits bipolar reactions; AppCrown attempts to resolve disjointed CRM) will be rolled out to all of 1st Global’s 400 affiliated firms by the end of the year.] 1st Global, a research and consulting partner of select CPA and wealth management firms, and AppCrown LLC announce a strategic partnership to deploy a cloud-based solution that delivers client relationship management, straight-through processing and business cycle management for wealth management clients.

Preview files in Google Drive from GoogleDrive

[You have dozens of choices among cloud file storage services, including Google Drive. Subtle features differentiate the services, and since you’re trying to be as efficient and productive as possible, you shouldn’t waste time trying to preview documents stored in the cloud. In a race to match file preview features present in other services, Google Drive now offers preview for roughly 30 file types.] It may sound obvious, but sometimes the best way to find something is to start looking. Beginning today, Google Drive will let you quickly preview more than 30 file types and quickly flip between files until you find the one you want.

T3 2013: Top technology to put on your radar

t3 2013 conferenceAt over 600 attendees, T3 2013 packs downtown Miami with the best in adviser technology

This year’s Technology Tools for Today conference (T3) packed over 600 attendees in the Hilton Miami Downtown hotel, including roughly 300 financial advisers according to conference co-founder David Drucker.

A conference like this is covered by all the major media outlets, so you can check out coverage from InvestmentNews, Financial Planning, WealthMangement, and more.

I’m taking a short break (and giving my feet a rest!) to share some of the most intriguing vendors with which I’ve had the chance to connect with today. In addition to updates on FPPad and elsewhere, be sure to follow #T32013 on Twitter.

HiddenLevers

Raj Udeshi, head of business development for HiddenLevers

Raj Udeshi, head of business development for HiddenLevers

 

No longer T3 newbies, HiddenLevers is back again this year with a novel feature that I feel significantly improves the lead generation process for advisers.

The new feature is a portfolio stress test call to action advisers can embed in their website. When prospects land on an adviser’s page, they see a button that offers a free portfolio stress test to see what happens as a result of a specific macro event.

Prospects get a very useful illustration provided by HiddenLevers, and advisers get lead contact information (including basic portfolio details) volunteered by the prospect to use for follow up contact.

Find more information at https://www.hiddenlevers.com/.

CloudRIA

Cloud RIA Ryan Terwedo

CloudRIA founder & CEO Ryan Terwedo

A company launching out of stealth mode is cloudRIA, founded roughly 5 years ago by Ryan Terwedo. Terwedo brings experience running back office operations for a variety of financial services firms in the Seattle, WA area, and is now leveraging his expertise into the RIA market.

cloudRIA’s tag line is the “RIA OS,” with the premise of being the operating system, or the glue, if you will, of major advisor software tools. Partners today include Redtail CRM, MoneyGuidePro, TD Ameritrade Institutional, and many more soon to come.

I see a lot of potential with cloudRIA, but this market is going to be tough. After spending 15 minutes with Terwedo, I think he’s fearless enough to take on the challenge.

For more information, visit http://cloudria.com/

kwanti

kwanti, a new player in portfolio analytics

kwanti, a new player in portfolio analytics

kwanti is portfolio analytics software that imports client portfolio holdings and offers quick reports to a variety of benchmarks and metrics. The company recently secured a connection with TD Ameritrade Institutional Veo® Open Access, so advisers with client accounts at the third-largest (by assets) custodian can easily import holdings for analysis.

As kwanti matures and adds more portfolio connections, look for it to offer intelligent analytics at a very attractive price point. Pricing starts around $50 per user per month.

For more information, visit http://kwanti.com/

FPPad Bits and Bytes for April 1

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