Tag Archives: Redtail

FPPad Bits and Bytes for June 14

Posted on June 14, 2013 by in Bits & Bytes

Younger, tech-savvy advisers are more successful than their baby boomer counterparts, says one study

Younger, tech-savvy advisers are more successful than their baby boomer counterparts, says one study

So you want to be more successful, right? According to one story in this week’s Bits and Bytes roundup, you need to be more tech savvy.

Being young doesn’t hurt either, but there’s not much you can do about rolling back the clock.

So go order the latest MacBook Airright now and move on with this week’s stories of interest:

High-tech solutions to manage less money from SFChronicle.com

[Pulled right from the article, one prospect said “I started as a dashboard client, then they sold me into their wealth management product.” And THAT is the power behind Personal Capital’s free tools. Give them technology that is so useful, up front, for free, and roughly 1 out of 285 will convert to a paying client at 95bps (700 clients, says TechCrunch, and 200,000 total dashboard users).] A growing group of startups is using technology to lower the cost and provide personalized solutions to a less-wealthy demographic. Many are based in the Bay Area, drawing on the region’s engineering and financial talent. Here’s a look at four of them.

Survey: Younger Financial Advisers Tech-Savvy, Successful from NBCBayArea.com

[First, watch the video embedded below. It’s Flash, so tap the link above if you’re viewing this on your iPad/iPhone or inside an email.]

[This story is based on the Fidelity survey that showed younger advisers are managing more AUM then their baby boomer counterparts (see that story at Financial-Planning.com). The good news is one adviser profiled in this story, Martin Weil, is making a commitment to embrace technology in his business. The results? Weil’s business is on a very positive growth curve. Plus, add in some gentle promotion from NerdWallet for good measure.] Is older and wiser always better? When it comes to managing your money, the answer is: Maybe not.

Junxure Cloud is really coming; availability and pricing firmed up from InvestmentNews.com

[Davis Janowski gets an early look at Junxure Cloud, expected to be released to the public this October. Advisers have been very patient waiting for the cloud version of Junxure, and according to Janowski, most will be rewarded for the wait. Since Junxure Cloud doesn’t provide all of the functionality of its desktop counterpart, there may be some barriers to migration for firms that find Junxure Cloud to be missing those two or three specific features they can’t live without. But for advisers seeking a new CRM, Junxure Cloud certainly is an attractive option among the remaining web-based CRMs. Still, pricing is pretty high at $75/user/month, especially compared to Redtail and Grendel, which both charge roughly $65/month for up to 15 users (or $4.33/user/month if all 15 user seats are filled).] Good things take time. That goes for the crafting of software and applications, too. Junxure Cloud is no exception.

FPPad Bits and Bytes June 7

Posted on June 7, 2013 by in Bits & Bytes

No more planes, trains, and automobiles! No I'm back to give you the best in tech from the past three weeks.

No more planes, trains, and automobiles! Now I’m back to give you the best in tech from the past three weeks.

First, don’t forget to register for Tuesday’s free webinar on adviser technology. Head on over to InvestmentNews.com now.

Now this is an extended Bits and Bytes, covering the past three weeks of news and making up for my business/vacation trip out to the West Coast.

For your convenience and efficiency, I split this week’s updates among their respective categories, so you can use the links below to jump to areas of interest.

Here are the best stories of interest from the last three weeks:

Compliance

Smarsh Survey Reveals New Phase in Evolution of Communications Oversight from Smarsh.com

[Smarsh, the provider of email and social media archiving solutions, recently released its annual Electronic Communications Compliance Survey that has all sorts of nuggets around compliance. If you offer your contact information, you can download the report for free. Inside you’ll find insights like the gap between social media use and actually archiving messages and details on mobile device security (or lack thereof).]  Smarsh, the leading provider of hosted archiving and compliance solutions for email and electronic communications, today released its third annual Electronic Communications Compliance Survey Report at FINRA’s 2013 Annual Conference. While challenges surrounding the oversight and retention of electronic communications remain widespread, this year’s study reveals that compliance professionals in financial services are more comfortable with the “new normal” of greater regulatory scrutiny, evolving communications tools and more complexity in the demands around email surveillance.

CRM

Live Junxure Cloud Demos Now Available from Junxure.com

[Curious what Junxure Cloud looks like? Demos are now available through Junxure, with five live demo sessions offered through June. Click over to their announcement and the link to join the demo sessions is at the bottom of the announcement.] Just announced! This June, Junxure will begin offering a series of live demonstrations of Junxure Cloud™, its highly anticipated cloud-based CRM solution for financial advisors.

Redtail and goalgamiPro make a data connection from InvestmentNews.com

[You should know both Redtail and goalgamiPro well from past FPPad coverage (see Yes, you can create financial plans in eight minutes). Now the two companies have integrated their products, saving you time when logging in and passing data from Redtail to goalgamiPro.] The latest example, and one that might end up being a good fit for a large number of advisers, at least those that do financial planning, is the integration of goalgamiPro with the popular customer relationship management application from Redtail Technologies.

Social Media

BloombergBlack Review: This Is Not The Disruptor You’re Looking For from I heart Wall Street

[Here is a VERY comprehensive look at BloombergBlack, the latest attempt at a “robo-adviser” online advice platform. Bottom line: behind the mystery and mystique of a premium brand, BloombergBlack lacks the real power and potential of big data and proactive alerts of online platforms. Read the full review for all of the insight.] When I first shared the news with Josh Brown about BloombergBlack (behind the scenes) it created a much bigger stir than I ever anticipated, especially inside of the wealth management industry.

Twitter Offers Bigger Opportunities with Lists Update from Arkovi.com

[If you are starting to get overwhelmed by the number of people you follow on Twitter, lists are an ideal way to organize people on a variety of filters. Lists allow you to sort the people you follow by whatever label or criteria you wish, saving you from the firehose of tweets found on your main timeline.] For active Twitter users, building lists is an easy way to organize friends, colleagues, brands and influencers online.

Practice Management

Pershing Launches Online Practice Management Center for Advisors from Pershing.com

[This is the next wave in value-add resources that custodians are beginning to deliver to their advisers. I would expect similar offerings from the other major custodians if they don’t already do this today (I just can’t keep all of their value-add resources straight in my head!). But what is really offered at Pershing’s site? This is essentially an aggregated website of about 100 of Pershing’s research and white papers published to date. So if you are looking for tips on using your tablet or getting proactive follow up reminders from your CRM, you will need to look elsewhere (aka FPPad!).] Pershing LLC, a BNY Mellon company, today unveiled its new Practice Management Center, a comprehensive resource that offers Pershing’s clients practice management-related content in one user-friendly, central location. In response to client demand, advisors will now have quick access to all of Pershing’s family of practice management materials, including more than 100 pieces of thought leadership, whitepapers, guidebooks and interactive tools on-demand.

3 Great Apps That Will Change Your Life from Financial-Planning.com

[Shortcut: the apps are Penultimate, Evernote, and Nozbe. What are my three “life-changing” apps? 1. PlainText: I don’t write notes with a stylus. Handwritten notes aren’t searchable. So instead I type, and this freemium app syncs all my entries with my Dropbox account. 2. Dropbox: While it’s not the gold standard in cloud file storage (see: Dropbox for Financial Advisers: Is it Safe? Secure?), it’s one of the best integrated services out there, including support for my PlainText notes. 3. Workflowy: Like PlainText, this is a super simple app I use to organize lists and todos. Expand and contract lists at will to see the entire universe or just one specific topic. It, too, syncs with Dropbox for backup.] To increase this understanding and to communicate your insights effectively, you need get yourself, your information and your insights organized. Here are three great app’s to help you get your tech stuff together like never before.

General Technology

Leaving Behind the Digital Keys to Financial Lives from NYTimes.com

[This article scratches the surface of what is becoming a much more significant issue as so much of our financial lives move to online services. I even struggle with this issue personally, as I maintain all of the online accounts for our household, and my wife isn’t all too familiar with the “system” I use. As a planner, you clearly have an opportunity to help clients not only organize their online finances, but also ensure that access to online information is available for all those who need it.] Bob Gingberg, a retired production manager for an educational publisher, is worried that he does not know any of the logins and passwords for online accounts belonging to his partner or brother and they do not know his.

Bill Winterberg: The 2013 IA 25 Extended Profile from AdvisorOne.com

[Once again, it was quite a surprise to receive a phone call from Joyce Hanson of Investment Advisor magazine calling to inform me that I had been selected into the IA 25 list of influential people in the financial services industry. I am honored and humbled, and will continue to deliver as much premium information about technology in this industry to you, my loyal readers and subscribers!] Bill Winterberg, a certified financial planner with a bullish view on the future of technology in the advisor space, describes himself as squarely positioned in the Gen X/Gen Y demographic.

Personal Capital Closes $25 Million In Series C Funding For Online Wealth Management Platform from TechCrunch

[After raising another $25 million, Personal Capital has attracted $52.3 million in funding to support a team of 70 employees managing a collective asset base just shy of $200 million across 700 clients. That’s roughly $285,000 for the average client. So with $52 million raised, I get a raw cost of client acquisition of $74,174, not including any spending derived from Personal Capital’s revenue earned to date. BUT, as Harris mentions, it may still be very early to evaluate the company’s growth soak critically, as this trend toward online advice platforms may have another 10 or 15 years ahead of it. Still, that is a long time to wait for any return on investment for many of the early investors.] When many people hear “wealth management,” they think of elite advisors meeting old money clients at the country club, or decades-old firms with big names such as Fidelity or Schwab. But in the years ahead, one Silicon Valley startup is aiming to shake up that establishment — and just has raised a nice chunk of new funding to help.

Ex-PayPal CEO to hire 100 in Denver for latest venture from BizJournals.com

[So what’s Personal Capital going to do with its new $25 million? Open up an office in Denver, CO and hire 100 financial advisers.] Bill Harris, the former CEO of PayPal and Intuit, tells the Silicon Valley Business Journal he intends to establish a Denver office for his latest company and hire 100 financial advisers.

Pershing Previews Its Next-Generation Mobile Application at INSITE™ 2013 from Pershing.com

[Pershing gets another update this week due to their conference-related announcements. The company previewed changes coming to its NetX360 mobile apps designed to run on iOS, Windows, and Android platforms. Nope, no Blackberry app for the 30 of you who have visited FPPad since the beginning of 2013!] Pershing LLC, a BNY Mellon company, is previewing its next generation mobile solution for investment professionals today at the INSITE™ 2013 conference in Hollywood, Florida. The new version features a fully redesigned, sleek user interface and a variety of features aimed at making advisors more efficient and productive in their everyday activities.

Pershing unveils next NetX360 from InvestmentNews.com

[Alright, I’ll stop at three updates related to Pershing, but despite its dry title, InvestmentNews tech reporter Davis Janowski does a good job describing some of the adviser-of-the-future technology on display at INSITE 2013. He highlights voice recognition inside NetX360 that can respond to a variety of report commands. Now controlling NetX360 by voice while driving is a bit of a stretch for me, but it at least gets the point home. But here’s my hangup; I have trouble using Siri to send texts to family while driving, what makes me think I’ll be successful at performing data queries in NetX360? So, there’s obviously wow factor here, but true utility? I’m on the fence. So can custodians start with truly paperless account application and approval processes first, for example, which will translate to actual efficiency gains in your office? Thanks.] Ram Nagappan, Pershing LLC’s chief information officer, is something of a visionary. Not only does he love technology for technology’s sake — he gets positively giddy showing off new things — he loves applying it to improve business processes.

How Do I Know If My VPN Is Trustworthy? from Lifehacker.com

[I talk about VPN services to help keep passwords and login credentials safe from prying hackers (see How to secure mobile devices against “WiFi honeypots”). But when your credentials pass through a VPN, how safe are they? This Lifehacker update gives some good rules of thumb when evaluating the security of your VPN provider.] You do have to trust that your VPN service provider has your best interests at heart, because you’re relying on them to secure your connection, keep everything encrypted, and to protect your activity from prying eyes.

Congratulations to Redtail Technology on their Ten-Year Anniversary

Posted on March 25, 2013 by in General

My friends at Redtail Technology, creators of the popular web-based Redtail CRM, just celebrated their ten-year anniversary.

Join me in congratulating them!

(click to watch on YouTube)

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

Posted on March 19, 2013 by in Technology

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.

How to add pre-configured workflows to popular adviser CRM software

Posted on January 14, 2013 by in Efficiency

workflow diagram

Adding workflows to CRM can be a time-consuming process. Here’s one plug-and-play solution for popular adviser CRM software.

You may not hear the following message from FPPad all that often, but it seems that in other trade publications, columnists continuously profess how adding workflows to your business drives scalability and profitability.

Sure, it’s true, and sure, it sounds great, but just when you’re ready to add workflows to your existing technology tools, you realize it’s not a 2-hour process.

Far from it.

Fortunately, there is a new solution for advisers that provides a huge library of pre-configured workflows, AND they come ready to drop right in to popular CRM software.

So if you’re part of the 50,000+ users of two specific CRM solutions, read on to find out how you might benefit from pre-configured workflows for your business.

I covered all the details in this month’s Morningstar Advisor column, Enhance Service and Profits With Workflows. Go read it now!

 

FPPad Bits and Bytes for January 11

Posted on January 11, 2013 by in Bits & Bytes

This week’s guest on FPPad On Air is Peter Giza, former CTO at RedBlack Software, LLC, to talk about emerging technology trends that have the potential to change the financial advisory industry for the better.

Note that today’s broadcast begins around 1:15pm ET instead of 4:15pm, so check the FPPad On Air page this afternoon for the link to watch.

Here are this week’s stories of interest:

Laserfiche 9 Unites ECM and BPM from MarketWatch.com

[I just returned from Laserfiche’s Empower 2013 conference, and I must say there is a lot of excitement surrounding the new business process management (BPM) capabilities in the latest version of the company’s software, Laserfiche 9. I bet most advisers have no way to execute automated workflow in their business, let alone implement BPM. But with a large number of potential document management customers, financial advisers may soon warm up to the possibilities available by using software such as this.] Today, Laserfiche announced the immediate availability of Laserfiche 9 at its annual Empower 2013 conference. The new release unites enterprise content management (ECM) and business process management (BPM) functionality across the Laserfiche product line.

NetDocuments Launches 13.1 Release with Secure Document Delivery from MarketWatch.com

[Another document management provider, NetDocuments, released some very useful features in version 13.1 this week, including the ability to share documents with users outside of your organization using secure URLs, avoiding the need to force those users to create a NetDocuments account. It’s very similar to the way Dropbox (and others) allow users to create a unique URL that enables access to documents and folders without the need to have a Dropbox account. There are a number of other new features also described in the press release.] NetDocuments today announced the 13.1 release of its leading cloud-computing content management and collaboration service. This latest release contains more than 20 new and updated features, including document delivery via a secure link and a new search engine.

Adding a contact’s Social Media profile addresses to their record from Redtail Technology

[Social is the name of the game these days, so any way you can connect to the social stream coming from clients, the better. Here’s a new feature from Redtail CRM that at least helps you consolidate links to clients’ social profiles. While not as robust as social aggregation solutions like Newsle and Rapportive, advisers can see what clients are posting in one easy click.] You can add a contact’s Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr, YouTube, Google+, Pinterest or MySpace addresses to their contact records, in order that you might quickly access information that is currently relevant to them.

6 ideas you can implement today from Advisor Websites

[This is a notice for an upcoming webinar hosted by Advisor Websites, Mobile Assistant, and Redtail. All of the vendors will cover tips on getting the most form your mobile devices, how to capture lead information online, and better engage clients through technology.] When? Tue, Jan 29, 2013, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM PST. Who should attend? Reps or their marketing/administrative staff.

TD Ameritrade Institutional Veo® open access now offers seven integrations with popular CRM software

Posted on December 20, 2012 by in Technology

Pareto Platform, Tamarac Advisor CRM, Junxure CRM and Advisors Assistant are now integrated with the custodian’s Veo® open access platform

In a press release today, TD Ameritrade Institutional announced that it has added four new integrations of CRM software to its Veo® open access platform, bringing the number of CRM integrations supported up to a total of seven.

Click to view the press release (at MarketWatch.com)

Existing CRM software integrations included Salesforce, Ebix and Redtail, where advisers can customize a dashboard to view total client holdings with data provided via TD Ameritrade Institutional Veo® open access connections.

In the press release, Jon Patullo, managing director of technology product management, TD Ameritrade Institutional, said, “Technology that helps an advisor manage a better client experience is becoming increasingly important. By integrating data between Veo and CRM systems, advisors are now armed with a more robust CRM system that can help boost productivity, improve client service, and streamline numerous tasks so advisors can spend their time on what matters most – their clients.” (see: TD Ameritrade Institutional’s Veo® Open Access to enhance trading, fee billing, and client on-boarding processes)

Since its launch in July 2010, Veo® open access now offers integrations with over 60 technology vendors spanning advisers’ critical systems including CRM, portfolio management, financial planning, and document management software. For more information about Veo® open access, visit TD Ameritrade Institutional online at http://www.tdainstitutional.com/

FPPad Bits and Bytes for November 16

Posted on November 16, 2012 by in Bits & Bytes

Remember, today at 4:15pm Eastern, 1:15pm Pacific I’ll be hosting FPPad On Air with Steven Ryder of True North Networks to discuss disaster recovery and business continuity in the wake of superstorm Sandy. Check Twitter or Google+ for the link this afternoon.

Here are this week’s stories of interest:

David Drucker and Joel Bruckenstein Announce Preliminary Agenda for “T3” 2013 Conference in Miami from PRNewswire.com

[One of the industry’s top conferences on technology is approaching quickly. Save the dates of February 11-13 and soak up the Miami sunshine while you absorb technology and practice management ideas. Note that the book Technology Tools for a High-Margin Practice will be published with all new information, including a chapter I wrote on the top collaboration technologies. Do not miss this conference!] David Drucker and Joel Bruckenstein, producers of the 8th Annual “T3” Technology Tools for Today™ Conference to be held at the Hilton Miami Downtown from February 11-13, 2013, today announced the preliminary T3 2013 conference agenda and initial details of their new book, Technology Tools for a High-Margin Practice, due out February 6, 2013.

H.D. Vest Chooses Advent’s Black Diamond Platform from Marketwire.com

[H.D. Vest, once part of Wells Fargo & Company and now owned by Parthenon Capital Partners, is equipping its 4,800 affiliates with access to on-demand custom performance reporting via Black Diamond. Clearly this is how wealth management and financial planning services will be delivered in the future; online, mobile, and customized. AND if you were a private equity company looking to increase the value of the H.D. Vest purchase, don’t you think streamline portfolio reporting and management is a decent way to do it?]  Advent Software, Inc., a leading provider of software and services for the global investment management industry, recently announced that H.D. Vest Financial Services® (H.D. Vest) has transitioned its performance reporting to Advent’s Black Diamond platform to enhance their Advisors’ ability to communicate portfolio performance during client meetings.

Envestnet | Tamarac(TM) Brings Tamarac University Online from MarketWatch.com

[Today you can learn how to cut an onion online. So why not learn how to rebalance client portfolios at the same time? If you’re an Envestnet | Tamarac user, you’re in luck, as much of their training content (a.k.a. Tamarac University) is now online and available on demand.] Envestnet | Tamarac(TM), a division of Envestnet, Inc., a leading provider of integrated web-based portfolio and client management software for independent advisors and wealth managers, has announced an expansion of its popular Tamarac University program to include an online option for RIAs covering its entire curriculum.

Envestnet Announces Integration With Junxure CRM Software via PRNewswire.com

[In the second release this week, Envestnet will combine “portfolio management with client recordkeeping and workflow management” inside the soon-to-be-released Junxure Cloud. What’s odd to me is that Junxure Cloud likely will have some type of workflow or task management component, yet the Envestnet integration adds in workflow management of its own. Which one will should advisers use?] Envestnet, Inc., a leading provider of technology-enabled wealth management solutions for investment advisors, has announced that it has agreed to integrate with Junxure Cloud, the upcoming web-based client-relations management (CRM) program for financial advisors. The integration is expected to be included with the initial release of Junxure Cloud, expected in the first quarter of 2013.

Advisor Software, Inc. Signs Agreement With Redtail Technology To Integrate goalgamiPro Quick Planning Solution With Redtail CRM from MarketWatch.com

[If you’re going to create a quick plan for a client, the last thing you want to do is perform double entry of a client’s name, address, etc. In this announcement, Redtail will soon partner with Advisor Software allowing users to pass client information to Advisor Software’s goalgamiPro (see: Yes, you can create financial plans in eight minutes).] Advisor Software, Inc., a provider of wealth management solutions for the financial advisor market, has finalized an agreement with Redtail Technology, Inc., a provider of client management solutions for financial professionals, to provide access to ASI’s unique quick planning tools. The strategic partnership will integrate ASI’s direct-to-advisor product goalgamiPro with Redtail’s Client Relationship Management (“CRM”) suite.

FPPad Bits and Bytes for October 5

Posted on October 5, 2012 by in Bits & Bytes

Yes, it’s October already. How are you faring on your new technology initiatives for 2012?

If you didn’t attend FPA Experience last week, you still can get a great recap of my Transformative Technology You Can Implement Today presentation from this WealthManagement.com update, From FPA 2012: Transformative Technology That Doesn’t Cost a Dime, and Financial Planning magazine’s story, What’s the Most Important Tech Tool for Advisors?

Here are this week’s stories of interest:

Schwab and Salentica Announce Launch of Integration for Independent Investment Advisors from Schwab Advisor Services

[Here’s the history on Salentica’s integration with Schwab: in May 2012, they entered a beta testing, transitioned to a pilot phase in August (see FPPad Bits and Bytes for August 3), and is finally in production to advisers using Salentica’s Advisor Desk. How many advisers can that represent? In the 2011 Financial Planning magazine software survey, 4% of 3200 respondents, or roughly 120, said they use Microsoft Dynamics for CRM. So some smaller percentage of that 120 are probably using Salentica. My guess is it’s less than two dozen.] Schwab Intelligent Technologies and Salentica Inc. announced today that Salentica Advisor Desk™ with Schwab OpenView Gateway™ is available to independent investment advisors after a successful pilot. Advisors who use Salentica Advisor Desk as their client relationship management (CRM) solution can now view real-time information on their clients’ financial holdings within their CRM.

Smarsh Launches Archiving & Compliance for Salesforce Chatter on Salesforce.com’s AppExchange from Smarsh.com

[Smarsh is building off its summer success of releasing Web Archiving (see: Smarsh president Stephen Marsh addresses Pinterest and compliance), and now the archiving vendor captures messages sent through the enterprise communication platform Chatter from Salesforce.] Smarsh®, the managed service leader in secure, innovative and reliable email archiving compliance solutions, today announced it has launched Archiving & Compliance for Chatter on Salesforce.com’s AppExchange, the world’s most popular cloud marketplace for social apps for business. Archiving & Compliance for Chatter enables organizations to capture, preserve, search, supervise and produce organizations’ Chatter files and communications in support of compliance, recordkeeping and e-discovery initiatives.

Fox and Redtail partner on work flow from InvestmentNews.com

[Back in 2011 I reviewed the latest refresh of Redtail CRM for Morningstar (see: A Popular CRM Gets an Upgrade), and at that time the CRM supported basic step-by-step workflow definitions. In it’s latest partnership, Redtail users can now open PDF files of workflow designs published by Fox Financial Planning Network directly within the CRM. As to pricing, the top tier purchase is around $6,000 and includes full training sessions, workflow system, resource center and coaching, with a nominal monthly access fee thereafter. I’ve seen discounts available for AICPA PFP section members, so ask if you’re affiliated.] Fox Financial Planning Network and Redtail Technology Inc. this week plan to announce a technology integration that allows for “one-click” deployment of FFPN’s comprehensive “client service delivery work flows” onto Redtail’s popular customer relationship management platform.

 

FPPad Bits and Bytes for June 8

Posted on June 8, 2012 by in Bits & Bytes

So, have you reset your LinkedIn password yet?

With Boston on my schedule Monday through Wednesday (and some new video filmed that is coming soon), followed by Atlanta on Thursday and Friday, you can understand how frequent posts just aren’t high on my priority list. Nevertheless, I’m devoted to giving you the BEST (not simply all) technology stories from around the web this week.

Here are this week’s stories of interest:

Cabinet NG Launches CNG-SHARE, Secure File Sharing Portal from Yahoo! Finance

[See, enterprise and business document management providers won’t stand still while consumer services like Dropbox race ahead. Here, Cabinet NG is extending its functionality by offering a portal to share documents in the CNG repository with individuals outside of the firm (e.g. your clients). The portal can be white labeled for your firm, too. Though not as slick as Dropbox’s desktop sync, it’s a step in the right direction.]  Cabinet NG (CNG), provider of electronic document management and workflow management software, today announced the availability of the industry’s first fully integrated document management, cloud-based file sharing, and workflow solution.

Can Future Advisor be the self-driving car for financial advice? from O’Reilly Radar

[Give FutureAdvisor credit: I filmed Bo Lu last month at FinovateSpring 2012, and in the last week, they received this feature in O’Reilly and one in the Wall St. Journal. Advisers, you need to pay attention to what these new web apps are doing for clients that you’re turning away because of low assets.]  Future Advisor launched in 2010 with the goal of providing better financial advice through the Internet using data and algorithms. They’re competing against startups like Wealthfront and Betterment, among others.

Schwab shifts its strategy on its massive Intelligent Integration from RIABiz.com

[I was on Schwab’s press call 30 minutes after delivering a presentation in Boston. Credit to Brooke for turning this article around quickly, which captured much of the essence of the call, while I was in holding patterns over a stormy DFW airport.] Schwab Advisor Services has shifted strategies on its giant Intelligent Integration initiative, and rather than picking the best of breed in technology categories, the firm is looking to select the industry’s top platforms.

Black Diamond is setting its sights on smaller advisors and other things I learned over breakfast with Reed Colley from RIABiz.com

[Another great segment from Brooke on Black Diamond’s first year under the umbrella of Advent (see Advent Purchases Black Diamond Performance Reporting for Approximately $73 Million). But what isn’t discussed is what Black Diamond is doing to address the challenges of scaling up the adviser on-board process, training, and customer support of critical portfolio management software. Anyone want to chime in?] Since being acquired at this time last year by Advent Software, Black Diamond has increased its assets administered by 75% to $110 billion and it now serves 350 advisory firms.

Managing Customer Contact from Financial-Planning.com

[The category of CRM software for advisers is crowded, yes, but there really are just a few market dominators followed by a long tail of solutions with 1%-2% adoption. Joel Bruckenstein highlights new player Wealth Advisor CRM. My take? Registered reps might find it useful, independent RIAs likely will find it limited. At $65/month for a 15-user database, Redtail is a very attractive alternative.] Advisors already have no shortage of customer relationship management products to choose from, so does the marketplace really need another one? The folks at Wealth Advisor CRM think so, and perhaps they are right. Their offering may be just different enough and inexpensive enough to attract a sizable following.