Tag Archives: Morningstar Advisor

How screencasts can promote business growth this year

Posted on January 3, 2013 by in Software

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Screencasts can educate, inform, and promote your business for a more prosperous New Year.

How many times have you walked clients through filling out one of your account forms, or shown them how to create an account for your client portal?

If the answer is more than once, then screencasts might be your answer to address these situations more efficiently.

What’s a screencast?

It’s essentially a recording of both your voice and your computer screen that you can turn around and publish for others to view. There are a number tools you can use to make screencasts of your own, several of which I covered in my latest Quickview update for Morningstar Advisor.

Click here to read Show off With Screencasts at Morningstar Advisor and see which tool you’ll start using to experiment with screencasts.

The Best Financial Adviser Technology of 2012

Posted on December 13, 2012 by in Technology

Each year, readers look forward to my review of the best in financial adviser technology across the tech landscape.

This year’s winners of Best in Tech are highlighted in this month’s Morningstar Advisor column.

Read 2012’s Best Tech for Advisors today, and update your technology plan for 2013 to incorporate one or more of these leading solutions.

 

Want to impress guests of your holiday event? Add a mobile app.

Posted on November 29, 2012 by in Online Marketing, Software, Technology

 

The holiday season has arrived! Like many financial advisers, you’re likely planning to close the year by hosting a client appreciation event.

Client appreciation events are a great way to build rapport and camaraderie with clients, but they are also a great way to further differentiate your business from other financial planning and wealth management firms.

One way to differentiate your event (and also your business) is to build a mobile app for it.

This month’s Quickview update for Morningstar Advisor highlights one service you can use to build iOS and Android apps to showcase your next client appreciation event.

Be sure to read Quickview: Event Apps Made Easy.

Why doesn’t your firm have an app yet?

Posted on November 27, 2012 by in Technology

You are no stranger to the rise of mobile apps.

Cabinet has a new app for document management. Schwab updated their app for the iPad. Redtail has an app for their CRM.

Isn’t it about time you developed a mobile app for your firm?

Unfortunately, you don’t have the skills or budget to take on custom mobile app development.

As an alternative, you have several new choices among vendors who can get your firm on the mobile app trend.

Read this month’s Morningstar Advisor column, Stake Your Claim in the App Store to find out how you can make a positive impression with clients and prospects with your own branded mobile app.

 

Rescue your lost mobile device with this simple setting

Posted on October 25, 2012 by in General, Technology

This is the back of a Town Car. Don’t leave your phone here!

I just flew over 16,000 miles in the last 60 days, passing through airport security and riding in taxis at least a dozen times. Thankfully, I always remember to gather up my laptop and phone before I head to my destination.

But what if you have that one time when you’re in a rush and leave your mobile device behind?

This month’s Quickview update for Morningstar Advisor tells you about one simple setting you can use on your laptop, tablet, or smartphone to increase your chances of recovering your device.

Go read Rescue Your Lost Mobile Gear at Morningstar Advisor now.

Alternative investments don’t need to be a headache to manage

Posted on October 11, 2012 by in Software

With interest rates stuck at record lows, you’ve likely considered adding alternative investments to your clients’ portfolios for a boost in investment income. Alternatives also, in theory, add diversification to portfolios through the use of non-correlated assets with respect to equities and fixed income.

However, managing and reporting on alternative investments usually means adding a lot more manual processes to your back office procedures.

Thankfully, software and service vendors to financial advisers recognize the challenge and now support tools to facilitate alternative investment management.

I covered one of these tools in this month’s column for Morningstar Advisor.

Find out what it is by reading Outsourcing Alternative Asset Aggregation and More.

[Photo: troismarteaux]

How to find alternatives to popular apps and programs

Posted on October 4, 2012 by in Efficiency, Software

Last month Tungle announced they’re shutting down their popular public calendar and scheduling service (see: Tungle, my go-to calendar service, is shutting down. Here are public calendar alternatives financial advisers should consider).

I used Tungle to book well over 200 meetings, so I’m going to need to identify a suitable substitute for a public calendar.

What’s an easy way to do that?

One way to quickly identify alternatives to popular apps and programs is a website I covered in my latest Morningstar Advisor Quickview post.

Find out what it is by reading Quickview: Quickly Identify Alternate Software Solutions

How not to be handcuffed by your legacy portfolio management system

Posted on August 9, 2012 by in Portfolio Management Software

One of the biggest assets you own as a financial adviser is the database that holds client portfolio information. As your business grows, so does the size and complexity of your database.

Meanwhile, new and existing portfolio management software vendors are updating their products to deliver lower cost and higher productivity to their adviser clients. In the past, if you wanted to take advantage of new products, you were looking at a long, costly conversion process for all of your legacy portfolio data.

Today, you have more options than ever to perform legacy portfolio database conversions in a timely and cost-effective manner.

This month’s Morningstar Advisor column addresses your database conversion options. Read Avoid Legacy Portfolio Software Constraints to discover how you can avoid being handcuffed by your legacy portfolio management system.

How to organize your contacts and search them efficiently

Posted on July 27, 2012 by in Software

One sign of a successful advisory business is a voluminous contact list. Between clients, prospects, colleagues, and allied professionals, your contact list growth shows no signs of slowing.

How do you best organize your contacts and search them efficiently?

In this month’s Morningstar Advisor Quickview, I covered a new app now available for the iPhone that seeks to simplify and automate much of your contact organization.

Be sure to read Latest App Tackles Your Hulking Contact List at Morningstar Advisor.

How to host effective conference calls and get the most out of what used to be a dreaded experience

Posted on June 28, 2012 by in Efficiency, Practice Management

Let’s face it: this guy in the photo above is your worst nightmare for conference calls. Wind noise, road noise, and constant interruptions break the discussion flow and disrupts the thought process of everybody participating in the call.

In today’s Morningstar Advisor Quickview update, I highlight a new service designed to reduce all the frustrating things about conference calls so you can focus on collaborating and getting work done.

Go read Supercharge Your Next Conference Call at Morningstar Advisor and try the service for your next call.