Tag Archives: Microsoft Surface

FPPad Bits and Bytes for May 30

On today’s broadcast, Microsoft introduces the Surface Pro 3 line of tablets. Will the third time be the charm to win adoption from advisors? Cybersecurity remains a hot topic in financial services. Read what one compliance attorney says are the worst security practices he’s ever seen. And, advisor matchmaking websites are popping up everywhere. Will any of them reach critical mass to successfully match prospects with the right advisor?

So get ready, FPPad Bits and Bytes begins now!

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

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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/itegria.

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

Fly Or Die: Microsoft Surface Pro 3 from TechCrunch

[This week’s top story comes from Microsoft, as the company recently introduced its third generation of Surface Pro tablets due out by mid to late June. The entry level Surface Pro 3 comes with the Core i3 processor and 64GB of storage, starting at $799, but a fully loaded Core i7 version with 512 GB of storage will set you back almost $2,000 and it doesn’t include the detachable Type Cover, which runs an additional $129.

Microsoft is using its Surface Pro 3 to take aim at the Apple MacBook Air line of popular ultra-thin laptops. While the Surface Pro 3 is lighter than the 13” MacBook air, offers a touch display, and has a removable keyboard, the fully-loaded version runs nearly $300 more than the top of the line MacBook Air.

Still, the latest Surface runs Windows 8 natively, supports Microsoft Office, and poses fewer compatibility issues with proprietary broker-dealer or custodial software that often requires Internet Explorer.

But at 18% taller and 22% wider than the iPad Air, to me the Surface really isn’t a tablet as much as it is a touchscreen laptop with a detachable keyboard. It remains to be seen whether the Surface Pro 3 will gain adoption from advisors, or languish when compared with the more traditional Windows laptops from manufacturers like Dell, Lenovo, and others.] Forget everything you thought you knew about the Microsoft Surface tablet, as the latest generation of the Windows-powered Surface Pro is a clear step up from the Microsoft slates of yore.

surface pro 3 thumbnail

Microsoft Surface Pro 3 review: A legitimate work PC in tablet clothing from PCWorld

Through every iteration, Microsoft’s Surface Pro tablet has edged closer to becoming a true laptop replacement. Microsoft’s latest Surface Pro 3 takes several small steps in that direction—along with one giant, game-changing leap.

Experts: Financial Advisers Lax on Cybersecurity from WSJ.com

[Next up is a timely article on poor cybersecurity practices among financial advisors. In a Wall Street Journal column, Brian Hamburger, compliance attorney and chief executive of MarketCounsel, identified several dangerous issues he’s seen when visiting advisory firms.

The innocent, but dangerous, practices include things like writing down passwords on sticky notes, failing to reset passwords when an employee leaves the firm, and not encrypting laptop hard drives.

Couple that with the dramatic increase in client spoofing, where hackers break in to client email accounts to request fraudulent money transfers, and you have a recipe for some substantial financial losses as well as the loss of client trust.

Regarding passwords, my advice is to treat them like a pair of boxer shorts. Yes, boxer shorts: Keep them a mystery, don’t share them, don’t leave them lying around, and please, change them often!] When consultant Brian Hamburger visits financial advisory firms he often sees a practice as innocent as it is dangerous: Passwords posted on computers to help advisers remember them.

‘Match.com’ for advisers and clients expands to San Francisco from InvestmentNews

[And finally, there are a number of new websites that have recently launched to match consumers seeking financial advice with financial advisors. You may already be familiar with services like Paladin Registry or WiserAdvisor.com, and to a lesser extent, the advisor search features from the FPA and NAPFA.

But recently, InvestmentNews highlighted the latest entrant into the field called GuideVine. The service follows a similar theme to existing advisor matchmaking websites, but GuideVine offers embedded video introductions along with standard written biographies to help consumers get a feel of each advisor’s unique characteristics.

Now I support any and all websites that have the objective of connecting clients with advisors that are right for them, but I think advisors would be wise to invest time and energy building their own online resources, which include a blog, active social media profiles, and even a YouTube channel.

I feel it’s key to be visible in the places where your potential clients are active every day, and to me, the advisor matchmaking sites just don’t have the large audiences that are found on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and more.] GuideVine, a technology startup that wants to connect advisers with consumers seeking financial advice, started operations on Thursday in San Francisco after a successful New York launch in March.

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

Voices: Katie Stokes, on Getting Rid of the Quarterly Report from WSJ.com (free preview)

With real-time market and investment available online to every client, the quarterly report is an obsolete mode of data delivery.

Riskalyze and United Planners Launch Partnership from Yahoo Finance

United Planners Financial Services (UP), a national RIA and independent broker-dealer partnership with more than 350 advisors nationwide, and Riskalyze, the creator of the Risk Number™, today announced a partnership to equip every UP advisor with industry-leading Client Risk Profile technology to pinpoint client risk tolerance.

 

Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes for May 30, 2014

Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes for May 30, 2014

 

FPPad Bits and Bytes for May 3

I’m in San Diego presenting at the Shareholders Service Group 2013 conference, then headed out to Palm Springs tomorrow for FPA Retreat 2013. Grab me and introduce yourself if you’re attending either event!

Here are this weeks stories of interest:

How to secure mobile devices against “WiFi honeypots” from FPPad

[This is important, so I’m sharing it in the first spot this week. WiFi honeypots are hardware devices that fool your laptop and/or mobile device into thinking its connected to a trusted WiFi network. But its not, and unknowingly connecting to a WiFi honeypot exposes you to a man-in-the-middle attack. Read this article now to learn how you can increase your defenses against WiFi honeypots.] Most of the time, you’re likely not at risk of having data you send over WiFi intercepted by someone else. But a number of software programs and hardware devices for sale on the Internet allow users to do just that; sit on public WiFi and eavesdrop on unencrypted data being passed back and forth.

Pershing Broadens the Accessibility of NetX360 to run on Microsoft’s Surface Pro Tablet from PRNewswire

[Ok, the race to support Windows 8 is on. Pershing starts off the PR campaign by announcing its NetX360 custodial platform is now supported on Windows 8. By definition, that means NetX360 also runs on Surface Pro tablets, which run Windows 8. BUT, what I haven’t seen yet is the user interface, and I doubt there have been any major changes to the interface that correspond with the tiles UI (formerly Metro) featured so prominently in Windows 8. I’d reach out to Pershing for comment, but I’m 35,000 feet in the air as I write this.] Pershing LLC, a BNY Mellon company, today announced that the company’s industry-leading technology platform for advisors, NetX360®, now runs on Microsoft’s new Surface™ Pro tablet. The availability and compatibility of NetX360 on the Surface Pro will help advisors manage their business more effectively and efficiently while working in the office or on the road.

Building a Smarter Portfolio from Financial-Planning.com

[Joel Bruckenstein reviews Riskalyze, a web-based tool that uses questionnaires to determine a quantifiable number for a client’s risk tolerance. With the “magic” number in hand, advisers can design portfolios around the client’s appetite (or lack thereof) for risk. Sound familiar? As Bruckenstein mentioned, providers like MoneyGuidePro and FinaMetrica have similar features in their respective programs. But the fresh graphics and appealing user interface give Riskalyze a leg up on the usability factor, so this is one worth watching as they mature.] I recently tried a new cloud-based product called Riskalyze Pro that provides advisors with both risk-assessment and portfolio-construction tools. The tool was developed by Riskalyze Advisors, a new company whose proprietary platform provides risk assessment, portfolio construction, analytics and investment discovery.

eMoney And Zumbox Announce Strategic Partnership To Offer Digital Postal Mail To Clients from PRNewswire

[Here’s an interesting combination. Zumbox is an alternative to paper mail you get every day. Instead, Zumbox scans all your paper mail and delivers it to you through a secure portal. That worked well five years ago when everything came in the mail. I don’t know about you, but today, I get virtually everything electronically, including bank statements, credit card statements, brokerage account trade confirms. Even my tax return this year was 100% electronic. So why eMoney chooses to partner with Zumbox for electronic document delivery over more prevalent providers (say, ShareFile, Box, etc.)? I’m going to connect with eMoney soon, so I’ll report back what I learn.] eMoney Advisor (“eMoney”), the only wealth-planning system for financial advisors that offers transparency, security, mobile access and superior organization for everything that impacts their clients’ financial lives, has announced a strategic partnership with Zumbox to offer Digital Postal Mail to clients whose advisors use the eMoney platform.

Windows 8 for financial advisers: Pros and cons from FinFolio CEO Matt Abar

Windows 8 is here. Microsoft Surface RT tablets are here.

Does that mean you should run out and buy them?

Matt Abar, CEO of FinFolio has experience with Windows 8 from both the developer and consumer perspective. In my latest FPPad On Air broadcast, watch Abar discuss the pros and cons of Windows 8 and what it will mean for financial advisers as they upgrade their technology in 2013.

(click to watch on YouTube)