Tag Archives: SalesForce

FPPad Bits and Bytes for December 23

Posted on December 23, 2011 by in Bits & Bytes

I hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday. Here are this week’s stories of interest:

How Black Diamond is faring as a unit of Advent Software from RIABiz.com

[So if you’re a disgruntled adviser on Advent’s legacy software, which new provider are you going to consider? Now that Advent owns Black Diamond, it seems like a no-brainer that advisers will make the transition to the web-based solution with little or no transition cost.] Since the Jacksonville, Fla.-based up-and-comer in portfolio accounting software was purchased back in early June by the San Francisco-based market leader, it has increased the number of advisory practices it serves to 330 from 270, an increase of about 22%.

TD to work on workflows for third-party technology partners from InvestmentNews.com

[This is a good, mid-week submission from Davis Janowski about TD Ameritrade’s efforts to provide sample workflows to advisors using Veo Open Access.] TD Ameritrade Institutional has completed an agreement with technology consultancy Actifi Inc. to help it build automated workflows for TD’s Veo Open Access platform.

FPPad Bits and Bytes for October 28

Posted on October 28, 2011 by in Bits & Bytes

I just came back from Brooklyn where the NAPFA Practice Management and Investments conference was held. While away, I kept an eye on new tech stories for advisers and wrapped them in one nice convenient package for you here:

TD Ameritrade Institutional Veo® Integration with Salesforce CRM Helps Financial Advisors Manage Important Client Relationships from amtd.com

[My Bits and Bytes post for September 9 listed TD Ameritrade’s announcement of an impending release of Salesforce CRM for its advisers. Yesterday, TD formally announced its release, which includes pre-defined workflow sequences advisers can use to get up and running quickly.] TD Ameritrade Institutional today introduced a Veo advisor platform integration with Salesforce CRM and other third party systems. The customized CRM app offers advisors flexibility, automated workflows and easier access to client data to help improve efficiency and client service.

Pershing Expands Anytime, Anywhere Account Access for Investment Professionals and Advisors With the Launch of Web-based NetX360.com from PRNewswire.com

[You knew lots of announcements were coming now, just days before Schwab IMPACT next week. Here’s an update from Pershing, which is in the final testing phase of rolling out a 100% web-based solution for its NetX360 platform. Notably, the platform supports multiple browsers, including Chrome and Safari, which I feel is a very wise decision.] Pershing LLC, a BNY Mellon company, announced today that it has expanded its leadership of anytime, anywhere account access with the introduction of a browser-based version of its innovative, open-architecture NetX360® technology platform.

Turning planning on its head from InvestmentNews.com

[Davis Janowski covers a new entrant into the financial planning software space. Free, web-based inStream from inStream Solutions, headed up by McLean Asset Management’s Alex Murguia, looks to be a streamlined challenger to the established, high-maintenance software applications traditionally used by advisers.] Planning tools that predict a client’s future needs, advanced financial calculators and an integrated contact management system make inStream a robust, cloud-based product.

EISI strikes a deal to cash out its shareholders from RIABiz.com

[A property and casualty insurance software provider bought the maker of NaviPlan. Add this to the Financeware patent-infringement issues from a few months back, and you have some “what’s next?” thoughts with respect to the future of financial planning software.] Faced with an innovation challenge and increased competition, Emerging Information Systems Inc., North America’s biggest financial planning software company, responsible for NaviPlan and Profiles financial planning software, announced yesterday that its shareholders have reached a deal to sell EISI.

FPPad Bits and Bytes for September 30

Posted on September 30, 2011 by in Bits & Bytes

I’ve been on the road Monday through Thursday, sharing information on how advisors can use transformative technology in their businesses today. Despite my travel, I am still keeping you informed on the top stories in tech this week.

Here are this week’s stories of interest:

Orion Updates Advisor Desktop for RIAs from AdvisorOne.com

[Orion is in the news again, this time announcing updates to its rebalancing tool to provide household-level management.] Orion Advisor Services unveiled the latest release for it Advisor Desktop portfolio management suite for RIAs on Monday with new features designed to make it easier for advisors using the primary database management tool to rebalance their clients’ portfolios and create tax efficient strategies at the household level.

Fidelity is set to add Envestnet, Redtail, Morningstar, AppCrown and Salesforce to WealthCentral from RIABiz.com

[If you’re a major custodian, you have technology news to share leading up to November. Case in point: Fidelity announces key integrations for its advisors.] As part of an accelerating arms race among RIA custodians, Fidelity Investments has more than doubled — to 11 from five — the number of vendors it plans to invest in integrating as part of its WealthCentral platform.

Trust Company of America is giving RIAs more weapons for free-wheeling from RIABiz.com

[Trust Co. of America announced its Liberty mobile platform two weeks ago. Hear from affiliated advisors on the benefits they see in the system.] Advisors currently using the product say that it takes the use of a mobile platform to a new level because everything that can be seen on a PC can be seen on a smart phone or tablet in the exact same configuration.

Advisor Software Debuts goalGetter App for iPad from Financial-Planning.com

[Today, if you don’t have a solution for mobile devices, iPad in particular, you might as well go back to the drawing board with your strategy. Here’s another iPad app for advisers from Advisor Software.] Advisor Software, a provider of wealth management applications for financial advisors, announced that its goalGetter financial planning application for the iPad is now available for free download from Apple’s App Store.

FPPad Bits and Bytes for September 23

Posted on September 23, 2011 by in Bits & Bytes

It’s the quiet before the storm. There are just a handful of updates this week, as I suspect many of the major technology providers are saving their big stories for October.

But first, you may be failing to deliver services that your clients expect. Find out what that may be in Clients Want Great Service. Does Your Financial Advisory Firm Leave Them Hungry?, my latest post for Blueleaf.

Now on to this week’s stories of interest:

How advisers can really make tech pay off from InvestmentNews.com

[Davis Janowski again ties to uncover what makes larger firms more successful with their technology. The revelations are limited to 1) a “highly customized version of Salesforce.com” with no insight on cost, 2) how easy breakaway brokers have it as they generally don’t need to deal with legacy systems, and 3) the significant leverage portfolio rebalancing software adds.] Financial advisers often equate technology with progress. And while it can be one of the major keys to unlocking profitability, it also can be responsible for strangling and stifling your firm.

12 Steps to Near-Paperless Bliss from AdvisorOne.com

[Bill Good is taking his office mostly paperless, clearing out 40 four-drawer filing cabinets. While the 12 steps outline a suitable capture system, I feel the important discussion of indexing and filing into a true document management system is omitted.] Digitizing paper files and routine processes is so valuable that it has to be at the top of advisors’ lists on ways to be more productive

Is Salesforce the future of adviser CRM?

Posted on September 9, 2011 by in Software

My commentary below was originally included in September 9’s Bits and Bytes post, but I pulled it out because it deserves to be featured in its own thread.

Custodians and technology vendors are doing all they can to win the business of advisers. The one tool used by the majority of firms is CRM. So in theory, if one can deliver the “best” CRM solution, one will likely win the majority of business from advisers. Salesforce seems to be the common thread in the CRM space heading into the final quarter of 2011 (see September 9’s Bits and Bytes for details).

My Thoughts on Salesforce

I think it’s safe to say that all roads in adviser CRM developments are leading to Salesforce. After all, they’re one of the leading providers of a CRM platform to enterprises. They had 45,000+ attendees at last week’s Dreamforce conference. They have Chatter, a built-in social collaboration product, to expand the platform’s functionality. And they have mobile apps.

But most advisers know that out-of-the-box, Salesforce is not designed for the way they do business. It needs customization, sometimes extensive and costly customization. To solve the customization issue, several providers exist that build and support overlays to the Salesforce platform. See AppCrown and Concenter Services. Then there’s the customer service and support element. I hear from frustrated advisers that they can’t get decent customer support once they sign on. And all Salesforce plans require an annual contract, so if 90 days go by and the firm hates Salesforce, there are no refunds.

And now, TD Ameritrade, Schwab Intelligent Technologies, and even Orion Advisor Services are customizing Salesforce. So which one will have the best (or better) custom overlay? And which one will provide the best support to its advisers?

I feel the vendor/custodian that figures out how to provide the best customer support to its advisers will win the war in CRM. Building the best custom overlay is just the battle.

FPPad Bits and Bytes for September 9

Posted on September 9, 2011 by in Bits & Bytes

Originally I hadn’t planned on posting a Bits and Bytes update today. I was on vacation until today and there were no relevant stories that came across my feeds. Then yesterday afternoon came.

While on my return flight to Dallas, my feeds and screens peppered me with updates from many of the major custodians including Schwab, TD Ameritrade, and Fidelity.

Say Goodbye to Paper-Based Compliance Practices

But first, my September column for Morningstar Advisor covers a technology product aimed at reducing the manual data-gathering process associated with compliance activities, namely trading supervision and pre-clearance approval. Go read it! Say Goodbye to Paper-Based Compliance Practices.

Now on to this week’s stories of interest:

 TD Ameritrade to release customized version of Salesforce from FA-Mag.com

[So if you’re Schwab and announce a partnership with Salesforce in October 2010, then take a year to roll something out to advisers, someone might steal your thunder. That’s just what TD Ameritrade did this week as it announced the rollout of a customized version of Salesforce at about a 40% discount to advisers. I’m going to view the demo this afternoon and hope to report shortly thereafter.] TD Ameritrade Institutional (TDA) is putting final touches on a customized version of Salesforce that it will release in October.

Fidelity Rolls Out ‘Technology Investment Evaluator’ for Advisors from Financial Planning

[Not to be left out, Fidelity is providing its internal consultants with an Excel-based spreadsheet that helps rank the various tools available to advisers by how well the tool might meet advisers’ needs.] Fidelity Investments’ RIA custodian business has announced a new tool, Technology Investment Evaluator, to help advisors run their businesses more efficiently.

And on Monday, I posted that Schwab revealed its new Intelligent Integration website and formed a new subsidiary called Schwab Intelligent Technologies to support the effort.

For my thoughts on Salesforce, read Is Salesforce the future of adviser CRM?

Orion announces integration with Salesforce/AppCrown CRM

Posted on August 30, 2011 by in Portfolio Management Software

In his State of the Company address to Orion Advisor Forum attendees, Orion president Eric Clarke announced that the company will be releasing an integration with Salesforce/AppCrown CRM by December of this year.

Orion president Eric Clarke

Orion president Eric Clarke

The announcement wrapped up a series of highlights how Orion is investing in its own business and in the business of its advisor clients.

New for Orion this year is a hardened server facility in Nebraska, an eProfile system designed to streamline the account creation paperwork process, and an Advisor Voice feature on the web, where advisors can submit their votes on top desired features they’d like to see released in the future.

At the conclusion of his address, Clarke described Orion’s vision to fully integrate the Advisor Desktop platform into the Salesforce/AppCrown platform by January 2013. This, according to Clarke, will allow advisors to manage major components of their business, including CRM, portfolio management, billing, and trading, all from within the CRM environment.

FPPad Bits and Bytes for October 29

Posted on October 29, 2010 by in Bits & Bytes

Happy Halloween! This week’s edition of Bits and Bytes is full of all treats and no tricks.

Here are this week’s feature stories:

At Schwab IMPACT 2010, Charles Schwab Advisor Services selected the first Intelligent Integration partners. Here’s coverage from the web:

Junxure, Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics Are The First Schwab Intelligent Integration Partners from FPPad.com,
Schwab Looks To Integrate Registered Independent Advisers’ Tech Systems from WSJ.com, and
Schwab chooses some giant software partners, apparently with big RIAs in mind from RIABiz.com

Thanks to our sources on the ground (John Stone of Revenue Architects and Tim Welsh of Nexus Strategy) at Schwab IMPACT 2010, we now know the first Intelligent Integration partners announced by the company this morning.

Fidelity arms its RIAs for battle with white-glove brands from RIABiz.com

Fidelity WealthCentral for Family Offices integrates portfolio reporting and trading and allows a view of holdings including alternative assets. Services such as trust, partnership accounting, private foundation services and general ledger export services are included. Most important: it can provide an ultra-affluent client with a dedicated relationship management team and investment analyst/trader.

ByAllAccounts’ Survey Reveals the Top Reasons Financial Advisors Would Consider New Portfolio Management System from Marketwire.com

ByAllAccounts, Inc., the financial advisors’ choice for account aggregation, today announced survey results that show financial advisors are generally loyal to their portfolio management systems of record. Nearly 70 percent of survey respondents are somewhat or extremely unlikely to switch from their current system to a new one in 2011.

And finally, my blog post for October, Convert Business Card Info in a Snap, at MorningstarAdvisor.com

While attending a huge conference such as FPA Denver 2010 has many advantages, one minor drawback of connecting with so many new people is processing the large stack of business cards collected after returning home from the event.

Schwab Intelligent Integration Selection Contest Winner

Posted on October 28, 2010 by in General

True to form, you can’t win if you don’t play.

We received seven entries into our Guess Schwab’s Intelligent Integration Partners, Win Free Coffee! contest. With two correct selections each (Junxure and Salesforce), Tim Welsh and “Joe” received two points and had their names entered into a hat.

I debated about allowing points for selecting Tamarac Advisor CRM; while it’s built on Microsoft Dynamics CRM, I’m willing to bet that  Tamarac’s customization of Dynamics makes it different enough that Schwab may not embrace it under their Intelligent Integration ecosystem. Our prediction: in the long run, Tamarac will succeed without needing Schwab’s Intelligent Integration partnership, and Schwab will serve advisers well with the three other CRM systems, so nobody really loses. Ultimately, no points were awarded for selecting Tamarac Advisor CRM.

On with the contest winner. Our impartial name-selector (my son Daniel) picked:

“Joe”

So Joe, check your e-mail to confirm your mailing address. You’ll be receiving your Starbucks gift card shortly!

And thank you to all of you who took a few seconds to add in your guesses. Look to FPPad in the future for some more fun, interactive speculation on the future of adviser technology.

Junxure, Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics Are The First Schwab Intelligent Integration Partners

Posted on October 27, 2010 by in Technology

Thanks to our sources on the ground (John Stone of Revenue Architects and Tim Welsh of Nexus Strategy) at Schwab IMPACT 2010, we now know the first Intelligent Integration partners announced by the company this morning.

Executive Vice President and Charles Schwab Advisor Services leader Bernie Clark announced the first CRM partners selected. They are:

UPDATE, 10:19AM EDT: Read Schwab’s press release from Marketwatch.com. And an odd observation; if Schwab is integrating with three CRMs, do they really need to partner with LaserApp to facilitate account form-filling? Why not integrate form-filling directly with the new Intelligent Integration partners? I suppose, though, that by supporting LaserApp, more CRM systems (e.g. Redtail, Goldmine, etc.) can be used to complete Schwab account applications, which helps everybody, but still supports a fractured, non-integrated ecosystem.

Last week we predicted Junxure, Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, and Tamarac Advisor CRM would be among the selections. It seems redundant at first to have included Tamarac Advisor CRM, as it is built on top of Microsoft Dynamics, but in my opinion, Tamarac Advisor CRM is substantially different from MS Dynamics as Tamarac has customized Dynamics’ out-of-the-box functionality to include data and fields relevant to wealth managers and financial advisers.

Now for the next important question: Who won our free coffee giveaway for guessing the correct partners? There are several people who responded correctly with two of the three partners, so tonight we’ll have an official hat-drawing from those names and reveal the winner tomorrow (the impartial name-remover from the hat is at day care right now).