Tag Archives: Sheryl Rowling

FPPad Bits and Bytes for October 16

Posted on October 16, 2015 by in Bits & Bytes

On today’s broadcast, Morningstar says it will acquire Total Rebalance Expert, LogMeIn acquires LastPass, and Laser App doubles down on technology training for advisors.

So get ready, FPPad Bits and Bytes begins now.

(WatchFPPad Bits and Bytes on YouTube)

Morningstar, Inc. to Acquire tRx Investment Portfolio Rebalancing Platform for Advisors from Morningstar

[Let’s get right to this week’s top story which comes from Morningstar, as the investment research company just announced that it will acquire Total Rebalance Expert, the portfolio rebalancing solution created by Sheryl Rowling back in 2008. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but my take on this news is that it’s a big positive for both companies, and here’s why.

First, Morningstar has provided back-office technology to thousands of advisors in the form of Morningstar Advisor Workstation and Morningstar Office, but for years advisors have complained that the internal portfolio rebalancing tool lacked some of the more sophisticated features found in competing solutions. So acquiring TRX closes this gap in Morningstar’s technology platform.

And for TRX, what began as a personal project for Sheryl Rowling’s own RIA has grown into a legitimate player in the portfolio rebalancing marketplace with over 175 firms already on board. But in order to take TRX to the next level, it’s going to require additional investments in development, marketing, and customer service, and that’s where Morningstar has the potential to add tremendous value.

This news is the latest in a string of fintech acquisitions this year that includes eMoney, Advent, LearnVest, Finance Logix, Upside Advisor, Guide Financial, and Yodlee. So, I think it’s time we have a chat. Come on, bring it in.

The independent technology providers you use today are in play. Fintech is hot right now, and there’s a lot of cash available, so don’t be surprised if one of the core solutions you use announces it’s going to be acquired.

Now I’m not saying you need to make an exit plan for each piece of technology you use, but I’m going do my best to keep you up to date on what’s happening, and offer suggestions where I feel appropriate if you need to make a move to an alternate solution. Ok? Ok.] Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Total Rebalance Expert (tRx), an automated, tax-efficient investment portfolio rebalancing platform for financial advisors, from FNA, LLC. Morningstar expects to complete the transaction in November 2015.

LastPass Joins the LogMeIn Family from LastPass, and

Joining forces with LastPass from Meldium, and

LogMeIn now owns LastPass – here’s how to migrate to 1Password from TroyHunt.com

[Next up is more acquisition news as LogMeIn, the remote access software provider, announced that it will acquire LastPass, the popular password manager solution, for $110 million. This follows the company’s September 2014 acquisition of Meldium, another password management tool, with a price tag of $15 million.

Now LastPass is the solution I use to manage passwords to hundreds of online accounts, so I am paying very close attention to what’s going to happen to the product in the near future. One thing LogMeIn did say on their website is that users of Meldium will be encouraged to transition to a comparable version of LastPass in early 2016.

But much of the online chatter I’ve read about LogMeIn mentions terrible customer service experiences and frustrating billing issues, so I admit that I’m considering competing solutions like 1Password or Dashlane, but I’m not making any moves just yet. Nevertheless, I’ve saved a great article that walks through the steps of extracting all my password data from LastPass to migrate to another service in case I might need it in the future, and you’ll find that link along with this episode’s top stories.] It’s a big day here at LastPass. We’re thrilled to announce that we’re joining LogMeIn.

Laser App doubles down on technology training at its first Advisor Con event in Las Vegas from FPPad

[And finally, a few days ago I attended the first-ever Advisor Con event hosted by Laser App Software in Las Vegas. The agenda at Advisor Con was filled with training sessions, and not just on Laser App software, but training for all of the technology providers who where in attendance.]

 

Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes for October 16, 2015

Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes for October 16, 2015

TRX Unplugged: What happens when a tech provider eschews formality and unplugs for the day

Posted on October 5, 2015 by in Conferences

Total Rebalance Expert, or TRX, is widely known for its impeccable portfolio rebalancing and tax management features. After all, TRX was born from Sheryl Rowling’s own need for an extremely precise tool to manage the demands of her RIA and CPA businesses.

But what escapes many advisers is the company’s culture born from the land of eternal summer, aka San Diego.

TRX lacks the institutional swagger of its larger counterparts, including iRebal from TD Ameritrade Institutional and Tamarac Advisor Rebalancing from Envestnet, but focuses on delivering value with its product line, where attention to detail and accuracy down to the penny and fractional share is vital.

So what happens when TRX decides to let its collective hair down and focus on education and value for its customers? You get TRX Unplugged.

Watch the coverage of TRX Unplugged above to gain a sense for how the company supports its advisor relationships and courts prospective firms with its deliberate relaxed attitude and atmosphere.

FPPad Bits and Bytes for November 8

Posted on November 8, 2013 by in Bits & Bytes

On this week’s broadcast, get up to speed on all the developments from the T3 Enterprise Conference, find out which portfolio rebalancing company just acquired a portfolio management software provider, and another CRM with a long history with advisors gets a fresh start in the cloud.

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 Mimic Technologies, providers of complete outsourced technology support, security, infrastructure and IT solutions exclusively for RIAs.

Mimic Technologies

To learn how you can keep your data safe from attackers, download a free copy of their white paper on social engineering attacks by visiting fppad.com/mimic.

Here are this week’s top stories:

Joel Bruckenstein convenes a wholesale version of T3 for IBD execs who choose software for thousands of reps from RIABiz.com, Trying to harness the power of big data for advisers from InvestmentNews.com, Live from T3: Deploying Tech at the B/D Level and Day Two at T3: A Lack of Data Standards from WealthManagement.com.

[First up this week is a recap of the first-ever T3 Enterprise Conference for broker-dealers and financial enterprises. T3 Enterprise is modeled after the T3 Conference for financial advisors, now in its 9th year, and in full disclosure, I co-produced T3 Enterprise along with Joel Bruckenstein and David Drucker.

If you weren’t able to attend or follow the conference hashtag on Twitter, here’s what you need to know:

Redtail, the leading provider of cloud-based CRM to advisors, unveiled a new platform called Redtail Data Cloud. Redtail Data Cloud aims to tackle the challenge of making sense of “big data” present in disparate or poorly integrated technology solutions, and generate valuable, meaningful insight that was generally only possible after pouring over custom spreadsheets for hours upon hours.

Redtail Data Cloud collects over 500 unique data points across its CRM, email, and document imaging products, and also collects data via integrations with Riskalyze, Advisor Websites, Advisor Deck, ActiFi, and MoneyGuidePro. Look for the platform to debut for both advisors and broker-dealers this January.

Also, two companies exited stealth mode at the conference by introducing new promising products.

The first is CleverDome, is a Scottsdale, Arizona-based startup born from the back-office of United Planners Financial Services. Their two new solutions, SOAR, or Source of Accurate Record, and miVu, or Media Integrated View Unification, are best described as document management tools that are invisible to the user, so if that doesn’t make you at least a little curious about what they do, I don’t know what will.

And second to emerge is Gotham Tech Labs, led by John Rourke, who introduced two new stand-alone products, WealthBox CRM and WealthBase. WealthBox CRM is intended to be a simple CRM with a streamlined interface, but with powerful social and collaborative workflows. WealthBase is an inbound marketing network intended to connect financial advisors with consumers seeking feedback and engagement on their financial needs.] Joel Bruckenstein and his co-producers, David Drucker and Bill Winterberg, made it a two-day event geared toward broker-dealers and large RIAs looking to enhance their advisors’ productivity and simplify the many day-to-day processes of providing advice.

Total Rebalance Expert Acquires PowerAdvisor from Cornerstone Revolutions from PRNewswire.com

[The next story is news hot off the presses from Total Rebalance Expert, the San Diego-based portfolio rebalancing software provider. In a press release issued just today, TRX announced that it acquired the PowerAdvisor portfolio management software solution from Portland, Oregon-based Cornerstone Revolutions. PowerAdvisor will be rebranded as TPX, or Total Portfolio Expert, and TRX will continue to support over 100 firms that use portfolio management software every day in their business.

Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed, but this deal will likely offer advisors with a tightly integrated portfolio management and rebalancing software package, a single resource for customer service and back office support, and a very capable solution offered at a very compelling price point.] Total Rebalance Expert (TRX) today announced the acquisition of PowerAdvisor’s portfolio management software suite from Cornerstone Revolutions. The combination of TRX’s industry leading portfolio rebalancing platform with PowerAdvisor’s portfolio management system will create a complete and integrated portfolio management solution.

Tech Review: ProTracker Cloud CRM Software from Financial-Planning.com

 [And finally, this week’s broadcast wraps up with an update on ProTracker software, providers of desktop-based CRM to advisors for over 16 years. In his technology column for Financial Planning magazine, Joel Bruckenstein reviewed ProTracker Cloud, the latest CRM to introduce a cloud-based solution, which is built on top of the SugarCRM platform. This is similar to the concept of overlays from XLR8 and AppCrown, which both customize the out-of-the-box Salesforce platform and tailor it for the wealth management environment.

Warren Mackensen, president of ProTracker Software and also an active fee-only financial planner, certainly has the experience of knowing what it takes to run a successful advisory business, so I’m optimistic that he’ll be able to introduce SugarCRM, which hasn’t yet gained much traction among advisors, as a viable contender among cloud-based CRMs.] A well-established product for independent advisors is moving to a platform that will provide increased flexibility and may attract new categories of users.

 News that didn’t make the broadcast:

Dell sells its majority stake in Smarsh to investment fund Toba Capital from Businessweek

[This in an informative review of Smarsh’s odd ownership by Dell, as a result of its purchase of Quest several years ago. Dell was a silent owner for roughly a year, making strategy moves challenging, according to the article. Now that the uncertainty seems all but gone for now, Smarsh is making strides to expand its growth among several industries, including archiving for financial services. They even opened a new office in the Atlanta metro area, about a half hour drive from FPPad world headquarters!] Dell has quietly unloaded its majority stake in digital archivist Smarsh, ending a prolonged period of uncertainty for one of Portland’s fast-growing tech companies.

Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes for November 8, 2103

TRX receives US Patent for Analysis Expert functionality

Posted on January 8, 2013 by in Software

TRX dashboardInnovative dashboard for portfolio rebalancing is now a patented method

Last year I connected with Total Rebalance Expert (TRX) CEO Sheryl Rowling to learn about the rebalancing software for advisers. In our discussion, Rowling highlighted the innovative Analysis Expert dashboard for which TRX filed a patent.

Watch the video interview from T3 2012 about the patented technology (starts at 3:05): http://youtu.be/JrpKkRuxok8?t=3m5s

Now, TRX just announced that it attained US Patent 8,321,320, granted November 27, 2012 for “Portfolio Management Analysis System and Method.”

“Advisors have been telling us all along that our approach to providing the needed technology to automate the portfolio rebalancing process was unique and innovative,” said Cheryll Lurtz, TRX co-founder and CIO, in a press release.

“Now with this patent, advisors using TRX can uniquely benefit from that intellectual capital that was generated from the experiences in tax-efficient rebalancing developed in advisory practices,” added Lurtz.

Click here to view the TRX press release (43 Kb PDF)

FPPad Bits and Bytes for October 12

Posted on October 12, 2012 by in Bits & Bytes

Whew, I’ve been on the road almost the entire week. I still have two videos to edit from FPA Experience, plus a number of blog posts that are unfinished, but I’m still making time to cultivate the best news in financial planning technology from around the web.

Here are this week’s stories of interest:

Be sure to catch this month’s Morningstar Advisor column, Outsourcing Alternative Asset Aggregation and More

Total Rebalance Expert Integrates with Orion Advisor Services from PRNewswire.com

[Orion clients already had a portfolio reblanacer tool built in to the software, but it’s not nearly robust as a product like Total Rebalance Expert (TRX). TRX has a number of features that self-described “compulsive perfectionist CPA” Sheryl Rowling says can help a firm manage complex strategies and situations when it comes to rebalancing portfolios (see: Total Rebalance Expert CEO Sheryl Rowling on how rebalancing software saves advisers $325,000 per year).] Total Rebalance Expert (TRX) and Orion Advisor Services, LLC, announced today the availability of data integration between the two leading technology platforms for financial advisors. The new integration will enable advisors to automatically bring over Orion portfolio data into TRX to streamline and simplify the rebalancing process.

Informa Investment Solutions acquires Zephyr Associates from PRNewswire.com

[Zephyr has an interesting product portfolio including StyleADVISOR, a historical backtesting a risk analytics tool, and AllocationADVISOR, a forward-looking portfolio simulator. Joel Bruckenstien reviewed StyleADVISOR in August for Financial Planning (see: Software Helps Money Managers Detect Patterns)] Informa Investment Solutions (IIS), a division of Informa plc and a leading supplier of software and solutions for the investment industry, today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Zephyr Associates, Inc. (Zephyr). Zephyr will continue to operate as a business unit within IIS.

Video Spotlight: Total Rebalance Expert CEO Sheryl Rowling on how rebalancing software saves advisers $325,000 per year

Posted on April 3, 2012 by in Video Spotlight

In today’s video spotlight, Sheryl Rowling, CEO of Total Rebalance Expert (TRX), walks me through the process of adding scale to portfolio management through rebalancing software.

In addition to scalability, advisers also implement rebalancing software to save money. Hear what Rowling has to say about how advisers save roughly $325,000 per year with this important tool.

(click here to view on YouTube)