Tag Archives: Invesco

FPPad Bits and Bytes for January 15

Posted on January 15, 2016 by in Bits & Bytes

On today’s broadcast, Jemstep gets acquired by Invesco, rumors fly about a Snapchat robo advisor, FutureAdvisor links up with its first bank, and more.

So get ready, FPPad Bits and Bytes begins now!

(WatchFPPad Bits and Bytes on YouTube)

Invesco acquires Jemstep, a market-leading provider of advisor-focused digital solutions from PRNewswire

[This week’s top story comes from Jemstep, as the B2B online investment platform was acquired by Invesco, the $800 billion dollar asset manager based a stone’s throw away from my studio right here in Atlanta.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, Jemstep’s leadership will stay onboard to run the Invesco subsidiary, and for now, the company says there won’t be any changes to existing partnerships, custodians, or asset availability in model portfolios.

Ignoring B2C acquisitions of FutureAdvisor and LearnVest, the last twelve months have seen John Hancock acquire Guide Financial and Envestnet acquire Upside.

So who are the independent B2B providers left? I see Autopilot, Trizic, Oranj, Vanare, Betterment Institutional, Motif Investing, and to some extent, the roll-your-own open source platform from Wealthbot.] Invesco Ltd. has acquired Jemstep, a market-leading provider of advisor-focused digital solutions.

Social media firms make ETF push from Reuters

[But hold on! Sending shockwaves in the retail robo space is Snapchat, as rumors were flying this week that the ephemeral chat app might introduce it’s own investment service to its 100 million active daily users.

Uh, let me explain my thoughts in a brief demonstration… Get it, jump the shark?] Snapchat is understood to be at the front of a queue of tech firms developing Robo-Advisory technology – which uses algorithms to help users develop and implement customized investment strategies for retirement planning.

BBVA Compass Teams Up With Robo FutureAdvisor from Forbes

[But wait, there’s more! In its first move after being acquired by BlackRock, FutureAdvisor announced it is partnering with BBVA Compass to roll out the automated investment tools to the bank’s nearly 700 branches in the US.

Bank customers will get access to FutureAdvisors’ digital investment management for the standard fee of 50 basis points, and you can probably bet that new accounts opened up with be held with BBVA’s broker-dealer affiliate, which is how the bank capitalizes on the partnership.] BBVA Compass, the Sunbelt subsidiary of the Spanish banking giant, has announced it will partner with FutureAdvisor to offer its customers digital investment management, popularly known as Robo Advisors. It is the first major bank to sign on with FutureAdvisor since the advisory firm combined forces with BlackRock, the giant asset management company, last year.

Robo Adviser Wealthfront Begins to Offer Free Portfolio Reviews from WSJ.com

[And if you’re not sick of robos by now, let me add news from Wealthfront who this week released a free Portfolio Review service to show investors how bad their current portfolios are and urge them to save a boat load of money by switching to Wealthfront. Whoops, did I say that out loud?

This concept is nothing new, as Personal Capital has offered a similar portfolio analyzer since 2011, and FeeX has been doing it since 2012, but here’s the deal. These VC-backed companies are spending tons of money to target your clients and prospects to get them to try out this tool, and of course, they’re going to tell clients they have suboptimal allocations and are paying high fees to their advisor.

So, expect clients to bring up fees, allocations, and performance in your next meeting, and you need to have a strong answer in the form of your value proposition, which is all the added advice, guidance, and behavior management you deliver that the automated services are incapable of providing.] In a bid to attract more assets, Wealthfront Inc. is joining other robo advisers in providing free advice to investors about their accounts at other financial institutions.

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

New Laserfiche Release Aims to Improve ECM from CMSWire

Laserfiche just released version 10 of its enterprise content management system (ECM). Speaking at the Laserfiche Empower 2016 Conference in Long Beach, Calif., Laserfiche President Karl Chan said the new version is designed to supercharge content-driven business processes, enabling enterprises to redesign the flow of information throughout the enterprise.

LastPass Revamps Its Interface, Adds Emergency Access and Better Sharing from Lifehacker

LastPass is one of the best password managers around. Today it gets a bit better with an improved interface and a handful of new features.

Dashlane 4 Makes Changing Passwords on Hacked Sites Easier, Adds a New Interface, and More from Lifehacker

Dashlane is one of our favorite password managers, and today the service updated with a new, consistent interface across all devices, an updated “password changer” that lets you change passwords on a site without even visiting it, new languages, and more.

 

Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes for January 15, 2016

Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes for January 15, 2016

FPPad Bits and Bytes for October 26

Posted on October 26, 2012 by in Bits & Bytes

Here are this week’s stories of interest:

Fidelity to play midwife to RIAs-in-the-making now that WealthCentral is firmly on its feet from RIABiz.com

[What does a custodian do once they have their “technology part (largely) finished?” According to Mike Durbin, Bob Oros, and David Canter of Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services, the custodian continues to bolt on value-add components to its adviser toolkit, with a nod to expanded practice management, marketing, and valuation and M&A resources.] With nearly all its advisors finally transitioned onto its ambitious new technology platform, WealthCentral, Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services is feeling confident in the foundation it’s provided for advisors, especially the breakaways that have been its bread and butter. Now, the second-largest custodian is ready to offer consulting style services — marketing consultations, strategic planning sessions and M&A facilitating — to help create new RIAs, not just attract breakaways.

Junxure CRM Announces Integration with TD Ameritrade Institutional’s Veo from Junxure.com

[TD Ameritrade Institutional’s Veo® Open Access has been available to third-party vendors since January 2011 (see: TD Ameritrade Institutional’s Veo® Open Access to enhance trading, fee billing, and client on-boarding processes), and currently has over 60 vendors integrated in one from or another. Finally, Junxure CRM is integrated with Veo® Open Access to access client account data held at TD Ameritrade Institutional inside Junxure and manage alerts along with Junxure workflow.] Continuing its reputation as a leader in technology integration for financial advisors, Junxure is excited to offer CRM integration with Veo® Open Access from TD Ameritrade Institutional.

Schwab Performance Technologies Announces Improvements from FA-Mag.com

[Schwab’s OpenView Integrated Office™ offering (say that three times fast!) will now integrate with web-based document management software NetDocuments. It’s a fairly straightforward pairing, as NetDocuments has been closely tied to Salesforce CRM for a number of years now, and because Integrated Office is a Salesforce overlay, dropping in NetDocuments is a no-brainer. According to sources inside Schwab, access to the program is included in the cost of Integrated Office. My last pricing quote from Schwab was $10,000 per year for two seat licenses and up to 150 accounts, which Brian Shenson announced at the T3 Conference earlier this year.

Oh, and PortfolioCenter ™ gets an update on securities management and fee billing modules, plus the PortfolioCenter Hosted product will be rolled out “soon” at a cost of roughly $48/account/year. And I don’t think that price includes any outsource reconciliation services a-la BOSS.] A Charles Schwab & Co. subsidiary that offers technology services for independent financial advisors announced changes today that improve document and portfolio management systems.

Cambridge Launches eSignature Program and New Website for Independent Financial Advisors and Their Clients from HearldOnline.com

[Woah, Cambridge just laid the smack-down on most major custodians. For the longest time, custodians have alluded to the use of esignature technology like DocuSign to facilitate a truly end-to-end paperless process for most forms. Evidently, Cambridge is now offering just that to its reps, all free of charge (or at least, rolled up in Cambridge’s cut of GDC).] Cambridge Investment Research, Inc. (Cambridge) announced it is launching a new eSignature program for use with clients by its independent financial advisors. Partnering with DocuSign, Cambridge is rolling out an electronic signature option compatible with most desktop and mobile devices used by rep-advisors and their clients.

Invesco Unveils Mobile Access to Investment Insights, Product Information and Business Building Ideas with New App for iPad from Invesco.com

[In a trend among investment managers, Invesco now offers an iPad app advisers and investors can use to access news, commentary, product information, and videos. You could access all that from Invesco’s website, but why would you want to when you can curl up on the sofa and browse the app in your downtime? By the way, this app is very well executed. No fluff here. See the demo video below.] Invesco, a leading investment manager, announced today the launch of a free iPad® app, available from the App Store(SM), that will provide on-the-go access for financial intermediaries and investors to essential investing resources.