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FPPad Bits and Bytes for September 5

Posted on September 5, 2014 by Bill Winterberg in Bits & Bytes

On today’s broadcast, custodians are battling for your business with their technology solutions. Which one is coming out on top? Hacked celebrity photos have been posted all over the Internet. How are you protecting your cloud data so you don’t embarrass yourself in front of clients? And Box is thinking outside of the cloud file storage, uh, box. Find out which new initiatives offer the best efficiency gains for financial advisors.

So get ready, FPPad Bits and Bytes begins now.

(Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes on YouTube)

This week’s episode of Bits and Bytes is brought to you by Total Rebalance Expert, the industry’s largest, privately owned portfolio rebalancing software provider.

Now available as a part of the Orion Advisor Services platform, TRX features tax-efficient rebalancing, an easy to use interface, and more, all at an affordable price. Learn how you can gain a half a million dollar return on your technology investment by downloading their latest white paper at fppad.com/trx

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

Tech Update: What the Big Custodians Now Offer from Financial Planning

[This week’s top story comes from Joel Bruckenstein and his article in Financial Planning magazine. This month, Bruckenstein covered technology updates that the four major custodians have introduced, or are planning to introduce shortly, to financial advisors.
First on the list is Pershing Advisor Solutions, which most recently unveiled a new client portal called NetXInvestor, designed to be the single resource clients can access to view their portfolio holdings, access documents stored in the online vault, and in the near future, collaborate with their advisor through a secure messaging system.

Next is TD Ameritrade Institutional and its rollout of the Veo Open Access dashboard, which Bruckenstein said is poised to have the “most far-reaching impact” for advisors. The dashboard aims to unify your experience when using CRM, portfolio management, document management and other technologies. So instead of bouncing around from window to window, the dashboard leverages deep integrations with over 75 vendor integrations including Redtail CRM, Orion Advisor Services, and MoneyGuidePro to review, edit, and update data without leaving the Open Access dashboard.

Third up is Schwab Advisor Services, as Bruckenstein highlighted incremental updates to its esignature support, streamlined trade uploads from the Tamarac rebalancing soft are, and the integration of Morningstar Office to Schwab’ OpenView Gateway. Of particular interest is Schwab’s upcoming PM squared portfolio management platform, a completely new online solution that, according to Schwab’s Neesha Hathi, should be in limited beta testing as we speak.

And finally, updates on Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services rounded out the review, as the company’s WealthCentral platform will soon offer account-opening integration with Redtail and Skience for Salesforce, single sign on and trade order imports from Tamarac, portfolio imports into Naviplan and MoneyGuidePro, and other enhancements.] Over the last several years, the four major custodians have done a good job of enhancing their technology platforms. While there are some clear differences across the industry, it is fair to say that today’s platforms are far superior to what was being offered a few years ago.

You’re Reacting to Celebgate Wrong from Yahoo! Tech

Download my free Defend against hacking, phishing, and spoofing attacks handout

[Next up is news on cloud security, as I’m sure you might have heard that compromising photos of celebrities were leaked, apparently accessed from mobile device backups in the cloud. The Internet blew up, saying “Apple was hacked” and “iCloud has a security flaw.” Well, maybe not.

Yes, many of the private photos were obtained from the cloud, including Apple iCloud, but the method by which they were obtained is pretty old fashioned. Hackers used brute force attacks to successfully crack passwords and then correctly answered security questions that were far too basic, and the rest is history. So what can you do to prevent the sensitive data you manage from falling into the wrong hands?

Use long passwords, use a unique password for each website, and obfuscate answers to security questions. Instead of answering using Honda Civic as the make and model of your first car, use the word green, which might have been the color of your first car.

I have a lot more tips on keeping your data safe in a free handout you can downloaded, which is linked along with this week’s top stories.] Ever since somebody released nude photos of female movie stars this week, the wild overreactions have been clogging the Interwebs. Most of the hysteria runs along one of a few lines, and a lot of it is plain wrong.

Box’s Next Act: Box for Industries, Introducing Box Workflow, and BoxWorks 2014: New Ways to Collaborate in the Cloud from Box

[And finally, the online cloud file storage market is getting very crowded, so some of the top players are looking to set themselves apart from the competition. Case in point is Box, who this week announced several new initiatives, including Box for Industries, Box Workflow, and Box for Office 365.

Box for Industries expands on the Box OneCloud application marketplace and now highlights integrated solutions for verticals such as health care, education, and more, but notable absent is financial services. Box Workflow adds business process capabilities to firms by leveraging automation and document metadata. And Box for Office 356 better integrates Box with Microsoft’s online office suite which, if you’re not satisfied with OneDrive, opens up another cloud storage alternative.] Today… we’re announcing Box for Industries, a new initiative to accelerate business transformation in every business by combining tailored solutions leveraging Box’s metadata, workflow, compliance, and platform capabilities; industry-specific applications from curated third-party developers and partners; and world-class implementation services from Box and key system integrator partners.

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

Worth The Wait from Financial Advisor Magazine

It has taken much longer than anticipated, but Junxure CRM (www.junxure.com), a firm that integrates CRM technology, consulting and training for financial advisors, has finally announced the general release of “Junxure Cloud,” its comprehensive, cloud-based suite of CRM/office management products for financial advisors. After trying the application out for a few days, I’m happy to report that it was well worth waiting for.

Riskalyze announces Compliance Cloud to pinpoint risky portfolios from FPPad

Riskalyze Compliance Cloud aims to single out portfolios that drift outside a client’s risk tolerance

Online Adviser’s New Target: Investors With $1 Million or More from the Wall Street Journal

One of those online firms, sometimes dubbed “robo advisers,” is edging into the business of providing wealth-management services to people with $1 million or more.

FPPad Bits and Bytes for September 5, 2014

FPPad Bits and Bytes for March 28

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Bill Winterberg in Bits & Bytes

On today’s broadcast, cybersecurity takes center stage at FINRA and the SEC, what you need to do to protect your business from attacks. Amazon launches its cloud desktop service to the public. Does this mark the end of plain old desktop in your business? And two growing providers form a new joint venture to take your portfolio management efficiency to the next level.

So get ready, FPPad Bits and Bytes begins now.

(Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes on YouTube)

Today’s episode is brought to you by Orion Advisor Services, the nation’s largest privately held portfolio accounting service bureau.

Providing full-service data reconciliation, advisory fee billing, Salesforce integration, mobile apps and more, Orion believes it’s time for you to enjoy your business again. Visit fppad.com/orion for more information.

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

Top Cybersecurity Threats for BDs, Advisors from ThinkAdvisor, and

SEC Cybersecurity Roundtable Webcast from SEC.gov

[Leading off today’s broadcast is an update from FINRA and the SEC highlighting cybersecurity threats faced by advisors and broker-dealers. In a roundtable event held in Washington DC this week, regulators and industry representatives acknowledged that the number one cybersecurity threat to firms of all sizes is the unauthorized account takeover.

This happens when a hacker compromises an investor’s username and password credentials, or manages to take control of an investor’s email account. The hacker then proceeds to liquidate holdings and transfer money to outside accounts, or even poses as a client with a convincing story to get advisors to transfer funds to an outside account, a clever tactic known as spoofing.

Both FINRA and the SEC acknowledge they must play a role in this area, but neither provided details on what exactly that role should be, and if any advisor exams are to include cybersecurity audits, they are likely to start in the fall of 2014 at best.

Until then, here’s what I recommend you do: First, update your compliance manual with policies for what you do when faced with a cybersecurity attack.

Second, train everyone in your organization so they’re familiar with the common tactics from hackers, including phishing, spoofing, and reverse social engineering. And finally, invest in technology to boost your security, like activating multi-factor authentication, deploying firewalls, and even using phishing simulation software that I highlighted in episode number 115.] The top risks broker-dealers face in dealing with cybersecurity threats are operational risk, “insider” risks posed by rogue employees and hackers penetrating BD systems, Daniel Sibears of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said Wednesday at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s cybersecurity roundtable.

Amazon WorkSpaces, Amazon’s Cloud Desktop Service, Launches To Public Along With New Sync Client from TechCrunch, and

Amazon WorkSpaces from Amazon

[Next up is news from Amazon, as the company announced the general release of its virtual desktop solution to the public called WorkSpaces.

WorkSpaces is squarely aimed to take on other virtual desktop providers like Citrix, VMWare, and Microsoft, and with pricing ranging from $35 to $75 per month for each user, WorkSpaces is roughly half the price of the competition. If you’re looking to get rid of your aging server and move all of your core software to the cloud, Amazon WorkSpaces just became a very compelling option.

Plus, with the introduction of a new WorkSpace Sync application, you can backup and synchronize up to 10GB of documents between your WorkSpaces, the Amazon Simple Storage Service, and even your local desktop computer. This gives you a secure and reliable document storage alternative to consumer services like Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, and Microsoft OneDrive that you might be using today.] Amazon WorkSpaces, the company’s virtual desktop computing environment introduced last fall at the AWS re:Invent conference, is today available to the public.

Orion Advisor Services, LLC and Total Rebalance Expert (TRX) Form Joint Venture; Announce Technology Integration from PRNewswire.com

[And finally, two popular providers in portfolio management and rebalancing software, Orion Advisor Services and Total Rebalance Expert, announced a new joint venture this week called the “Total Technology Platform.”

The two companies first integrated their solutions back in October of 2012, enabling the import of account, transaction, and tax lot data from Orion directly into TRX with a single click.

But this latest venture goes beyond bidirectional integration, as users of Orion will now be able to access TRX directly from within the Orion platform. At the same time, both companies said they are committed to maintaining open-architecture platforms rather than hold advisors captive to one bundled solution.

Orion users can still take advantage of integrations with Blaze Portfolio, iRebal from TD Ameritrade Institutional, and Rebalance Express from RedBlack Software, and TRX users can continue to import data from Morningstar Office, Portfolio Center from Schwab Performance Technologies®, Advent’s Black Diamond Performance Reporting and more.] Total Rebalance Expert (TRX) and Orion Advisor Services, LLC (Orion) announced today a joint venture between the two companies to provide a “Total Technology Platform” designed to simplify and streamline the portfolio management process.

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

Box Unveils First Standalone Product And New API Pricing At Inaugural Dev Conference from TechCrunch

New Kitces Network to Target Planners for Gen X & Y from Financial Planning

Office 2 HD for iPad is now Citrix ShareFile QuickEdit, drops $7.99 price to become free via iTunes

Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes for March 28, 2014

FPPad Bits and Bytes for March 21

Posted on March 21, 2014 by Bill Winterberg in Bits & Bytes

On today’s broadcast, Microsoft slashes pricing of another service in an attempt to be your single destination for notes, find out when Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps may finally be available for the iPad, and how two advisors are giving up on the traditional office space so they can work with clients completely virtually.

So get ready, FPPad Bits and Bytes begins now.

(Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes on YouTube)

This week’s episode of Bits and Bytes is brought to you by Total Rebalance Expert, the industry’s largest, privately owned portfolio rebalancing software provider.

Fresh off its acquisition of PowerAdvisor, TRX offers advisors tax-efficient rebalancing, an easy to use interface, and more, all at an affordable price. Learn how you can gain a half a million dollar return on your technology investment by downloading their latest white paper at fppad.com/trx

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

Microsoft launches free OneNote for Mac, freemium OneNote for Windows, and OneNote cloud API for apps from TheNextWeb, and

Introducing the OneNote Channel from IFTTT

OneNote vs. Evernote: A personal take on two great note-taking apps from ComputerWorld

[Leading off this week’s broadcast is news once again from Microsoft, as the company revealed changes to its note taking application called OneNote. For the first time, Microsoft released a version of OneNote for the Mac operating system, and it also introduced a freemium version for Windows, replacing the traditional desktop-based version that was priced at around $100.

This move increases OneNote’s chances of competing against popular note taking apps like Evernote, Google Keep, and to a lesser extent, Apple’s Note application synchronized via iCloud.

Notes saved in OneNote are synchronized via Microsoft’s OneDrive online file storage service, further deepening user’s dependency on Microsoft’s array of services, but with support for OneNote apps for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone, you’ll have the ability to review and add notes anytime, anywhere all from the convenience of your mobile device of choice.

Also new to OneNote is a library of APIs that will allow third-party apps to integrate with the note taking service, including an integration with IFTTT, or If This Then That, a wildly popular online automation service for single-step workflows.

Premium features in OneNote are available if you own Office 2013 or subscribe to Office 365.] Microsoft today revealed three major announcements regarding its OneNote offering: a free version of OneNote for Mac, a freemium version of OneNote for Windows, and a new cloud API for first- and third-party apps to communicate directly with OneNote.

Microsoft CEO Nadella may unveil Office on iPad on March 27 from ZDNet.com

[Now I can’t mention Microsoft in a broadcast this week without addressing the rumors surrounding the imminent release of Microsoft Office for iPad. Several news outlets cited unnamed sources who alluded to the release of Office for iPad around March 27th.

Since the debut of the iPad back in 2010, users have had access to a number of third-party apps that were somewhat compatible with Microsoft Office documents, including apps like Documents To Go, Office 2 HD, Quickoffice Pro HD, and more.

But until now, there’s been no native solution from Microsoft that offers many of the robust features users know and love in Office, and using the Office Online suite, formerly known as Office Web Apps, in the iPad’s web browser has been a kludgy solution at best.

So if you’ve avoided using Apple’s iWork suite or Google Drive to manage word processing and spreadsheets on your iPad, you may now finally have the apps you’ve been waiting for directly from Microsoft. So check the app store after March 27th to see if Office for iPad is available.] It looks like Microsoft’s new CEO Satya Nadella himself may be taking the wraps off Microsoft’s Office for iPad.

Can an adviser thrive in a virtual office? from InvestmentNews

[And finally, all this talk about notes in the cloud and Office on the iPad is a great segue to talk about the virtual office. In a trend worth watching, several advisors are ditching the traditional corporate office environment in favor of more flexible, and low-cost, virtual office.

Advisors Alan Moore and Sophia Bera were recently featured in a column at InvestmentNews for their approach to running an advisory business without the need for the traditional office.

To support his business, Moore highlights a number of apps that help him stay connected with clients.

Long-time FPPad subscribers should recognize the online scheduling app from ScheduleOnce, electronic signature tools by Adobe EchoSign, and my favorite time tracking app called RescueTime.

But Moore also revealed some new apps like Meldium, a password manager for teams, and Talkwalker, a service similar to Google Alerts that scours the web and notifies you when it finds key words and phrases relevant to you.] Not many financial advisers have the courage or desire to shut down a bricks-and-mortar space in order to inhabit an all-virtual world. But many young advisers such as Mr. Moore are convinced that it’s a business model that can work.

Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes for March 21, 2014

FPPad Bits and Bytes for March 14

Posted on March 14, 2014 by Bill Winterberg in Bits & Bytes

On today’s broadcast, Google Drive adds new features with third party add ons. Find out which ones will help you be more efficient. A new startup emerges to help advisors compete against “robo advisors.” How their partnership with a leading network of planners could change the mass-market advice model forever. And, find out about the biggest mistakes you should avoid before you upload your first video to YouTube.

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.

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

Google launches Docs plug-ins to better compete with Office from PCWorld, and

The Best Add-Ons for Google Drive from Lifehacker

[Three weeks ago, I covered news from Microsoft as they changed the name of SkyDrive, their cloud-based file storage solution, to OneDrive, and added several useful features to the service. Not to be left out, Google announced this week that it is extending the functionality of Google Drive with third-party plugins.

The new feature, called “add-ons,” allows users to enhance the Docs and Sheets office apps similar to what you can to today with Extensions in Google Chrome or packaged apps for ChromeOS. So what are the best new add-ons you can start using today?

The first is HelloFax, which allows you to send a file from Google Docs to any fax number by simply clicking on the HelloFax add-on and typing in the destination phone number. Now you can finally get rid of your fax machine and return it to 1985. Next is an add-on called Mapping Sheets, which lets you create custom Google Maps using data in a Google Sheet file. So for example, if you wanted to quickly map the addresses of all your clients, you could create a Google Sheet with the data and use the Mapping Sheets add-on to easily make the map.

And last is an add-on called Track Changes, which is one of the features where Google Docs underperformed its Microsoft Office counterpart. The new Track Changes add-on now essentially replicates the track changes feature found in Microsoft Word, closing the gap between the two programs, at least for the time being.] Yesterday, Google introduced add-ons for Google Docs and Sheets. These add-ons allow you to add all kinds of functionality to your documents, including signing faxes, creating bibliographies, and more.

Garrett Planning Network To Make Guide Financial Available to Its Network Of 300+ Advisory Firms from PRNewswire

[Next is news from a company new to the advisor technology marketplace called Guide Financial. Guide works in a similar fashion to Mint.com, as it aggregates data from banking, credit card, and investment accounts, but Mint.com doesn’t have an advisor dashboard, which is where Guide steps in.

Recognizing the potential of Guide’s dashboard, the Garrett Planning Network announced this week that it will begin to private-label the Guide online portal to the Network’s 300 plus advisory members.

This is a clever agreement between the two companies, as the online portal form Guide will help Garrett members boost their client-facing technology, squarely taking on the competition from robo advisor services that are proving to be very attractive to Gen X and Gen Y clients.

Pricing details of the private-labaled portal weren’t disclosed in the press release, but you can sign up for your own 15-day free trial to test Guide Financial on your own and watch their presentation from Finovate Fall 2013 by visiting the links to this week’s top stories.] Guide Financial (www.guidefinancial.com), a web-based service provider targeted to financial professionals at advisory firms, banks and insurers, announced today that it has reached an agreement to make its service available to the over 300 advisory companies in the Garrett Planning Network.

YouTube secrets for financial advisers from FPPad

[And finally, you’re probably watching today’s broadcast on YouTube, and you might be considering uploading your own video content to get discovered on the world’s second largest search engine. But before you get started, do you know what the top mistakes advisors are making on YouTube?

Earlier this week, I joined Joe and Luke Simonds in a lively Google+ Hangout to talk about the opportunities of YouTube content, but we also highlighted the biggest mistakes some advisors are making when they post content online. These mistakes include not getting compliance to review a script prior to filming, not making your own thumbnail images, and not using video annotations and hyperlinks to their fullest potential.] Effective video thumbnails, annotations, and hyperlinks are the biggest missed opportunities on YouTube for financial advisers

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

Save more with Google Drive from Google

We’ve lowered the price of our monthly storage plans to $1.99 for 100GB (previously $4.99), $9.99 for 1TB (previously $49.99), and $99.99 for 10TB, with even more storage available if you need it.

4 New Advisor Tech Trends from Financial Planning

For advisors, technological change can seem both lightning fast and very slow.

Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes for March 14, 2014

FPPad Bits and Bytes for February 21

Posted on February 21, 2014 by Bill Winterberg in Bits & Bytes

On today’s broadcast, why did Microsoft rebrand several of its services, and how might it change the tools that you use, how one large RIA’s technology change created a time savings of over 40%, and a new collaboration hopes to eliminate concerns over support for one Salesforce overlay provider.

So get ready, FPPad Bits and Bytes begins now!

(Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes on YouTube)

This week’s episode of Bits and Bytes is brought to you by Total Rebalance Expert, the industry’s largest, privately owned portfolio rebalancing software provider.

Here are this week’s top stories:

Microsoft launches Office Online in battle with Google Drive from TheVerge.com,

Microsoft SkyDrive Morphs Into OneDrive, Bringing New Features from Mashable, and

Microsoft and DocuSign announce strategic partnership to bring eSignature to Office 365 customers from Microsoft

[Now occasionally I get feedback that I don’t pay enough attention to Microsoft, so Mike, this week’s lead story is just for you! The world’s largest software company just announced the rebranding of several of its product lines, beginning with its free web-based versions of Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, formerly known as Office Web Apps.

The company acknowledged that using the word ‘apps’ led to some confusion among its customers, as many assumed that native Office apps for iOS and Android were available, so now Microsoft is referring to the web-based tools as Office Online. While this move hopefully will clear up confusion over the different versions of Office available, no new features were released to coincide with the rebranding. Office Online will continue to store files in the cloud, which leads me to the second story about Microsoft.

Microsoft’s answer to online storage services like Dropbox, Box, and Google Drive has been SkyDrive, but this week the company rebranded SkyDrive to OneDrive, due to a legal dispute over the use of the word ‘Sky.’ Unlike the Office Online name change, OneDrive’s launch DID come with a series of new features.

OneDrive users can now automatically upload photos from their Android devices, which previously was only supported on iOS and Windows Phone. Online collaboration has also improved, as real-time editing in Office 365 documents is now done character by character. And subscriptions to OneDrive are now available on a monthly basis in addition to the annual subscription previously required under SkyDrive.

And rounding out the Microsoft trifecta this week, the company announced that eSignature support will be coming to Office 365 users through a new partnership with DocuSign. Expected to roll out in March, Office 365 users will be able to submit and sign documents using DocuSign without leaving their Microsoft applications. So if you use Microsoft documents for your internal client agreements and disclosure materials, the DocuSign integration should help you further streamline the e-signature process as you complete the on boarding of new clients.]

How a $5 billion RIA’s Laserfiche conversion generated time savings of 40% from FPPad

[Next up is a fascinating case study from a large RIA about its search for a robust electronic document management solution. At last week’s T3 conference, Jim Anderson of CLS Investments highlighted the firm’s approach to converting from IBM FileNet, its legacy content management system, over to a new implementation with Laserfiche. The RIA, which manages more than $5 billion in assets, migrated over 1.5 million documents into Laserfiche, and Anderson estimated that in the first year alone, the firm has realized a time savings of roughly 40%.

There’s a lot more to the story, including a time Anderson said everyone acted as if their hair was on fire, so be sure to get the link to read all the details.] One $5 billion RIA converted 1.5 million documents to Laserfiche in less than a year, saving the company 40% of its collective time

AppCrown Collaborates With a Global Services Major to Help Market, Deliver and Support Their Integrated Financial Services Platform in Banking and Wealth Management from PRWeb

[And finally, many of you who use Salesforce for your CRM might be familiar with AppCrown, the financial services technology provider built on the Salesforce.com platform. In prior years, AppCrown received criticism for failing to provide adequate support to its users who were implementing Salesforce in their business.

So to beef up its support, AppCrown just announced a new collaboration with Mphasis, a global service and solution provider owned by HP. It remains to be seen how the collaboration with Mphasis will improve AppCrown’s support of its financial advisor users, but if concerns about support have stalled your implementation plans, it might be time to reconsider whether AppCrown’s version of Salesforce could be a potential solution for you.] AppCrown, the leading provider for cloud based financial systems across CRM, Banking & Wealth Management, today announced its intent to partner with Mphasis.

Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes for February 21, 2014

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FPPad Bits and Bytes for September 5

FPPad Bits and Bytes for March 21

FPPad Bits and Bytes for March 14

FPPad Bits and Bytes for February 21

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