Tag Archives: Social Media

ArchiveSocial delivers authentic social media capture for financial advisers

Posted on November 26, 2012 by in Compliance, Social Media

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When you get asked by the SEC, FINRA, or your broker-dealer for the last six months of your social media posts, what are you going to provide? How will your auditor make heads or tails out of your social media posts if they look nothing like the ones posted on public sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter?

Anil Chawla, founder and CEO of ArchiveSocial

One company wants to simplify the way social media messages are captured and displayed, giving advisers peace of mind knowing their archives can be reviewed easily by auditors.

That company is ArchiveSocial, and I recently connected with ArchiveSocial founder and CEO Anil Chawla to learn more about how they capture social media updates in what Chawla calls their “natural, authentic form.”

Click here to learn more about ArchiveSocial’s solutions for financial services.

In the podcast below, hear Chawla discuss the drawbacks of several existing solutions from vendors, the benefits of a “carbon copy” approach to archives, and an overview of ArchiveSocial pricing.

If you decide to purchase a full-year subscription, you can save 10% by using the code FPPAD12 (not an affiliate code).

Social currency might just be the answer to financial advisers’ frustration with social media

Posted on November 15, 2012 by in Podcast

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Have you heard of social currency before?

Justin Wisz, co-founder of Vestorly

Before you buy a book, do you visit the reviews on Amazon.com to read what other people said about it?

And before your next dinner out, do you pull up Yelp to find 4- and 5-star restaurant reviews nearby?

Those are examples of social currency. You’re seeking feedback curated by social networks to find the best resource (be it a book, restaurant, mechanic, etc.) for your needs. Many times, recommendations from your immediate social network on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter point you to products and services that have already been vetted by your friends and colleagues.

So how can financial advisers take advantage of social currency?

To answer that question, I connected with Justin Wisz, co-founder of Vestorly, an investment adviser matching service powered by social communities. Hear what he has to say about social currency and how Vestorly can help advisers get the most out of it.

PODCAST: Financial advisers don’t need to tweet or like to get social media benefits

Posted on October 18, 2012 by in Podcast, Social Media

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Tim Walker, Marketing Product Manager for Socialware

Some financial advisers are under the impression that the only way to benefit from social media is to tweet on Twitter or propagate Likes on Facebook. That’s just not true.

Advisers can benefit from social media simply by listening to what others are saying, a technique called “social listening.”

Unfortunately, most software designed to survey the social landscape for relevant updates is targeted to huge enterprises with recognized brands and millions of customers (think Coca-Cola, Southwest Airlines, etc.). Tools like Radian6 start at $5,000 per month, well beyond the reach of nearly all independent advisers.

Now, Socialware, a social media compliance software provider, just announced its own social listening software called Social Network Listening.

To get more insight on how Social Network Listening can help financial professionals, I connected with Tim Walker, Marketing Program Manager for Socialware for the following podcast.

View more information about Social Network Listening at Socialware.com.

One item of note: Social Network Listening is currently targeted to institutional financial services companies and broker-dealers, but Walker said that sales to independent advisers is on Socialware’s roadmap for the product.

FPPad Bits and Bytes for July 6

Posted on July 6, 2012 by in Bits & Bytes

One thing a week split by a holiday does is drastically reduce the amount of news you need to know. So enjoy a short Bits and Bytes update today and get on with your weekend plans.

First, be sure you get the checklist of 10 things you should ask before signing on with a cloud service provider. Read How to Stay Safe When Using the Cloud from the Journal of Financial Planning.

Here are this week’s stories of interest:

Six More Designate Erado as Their Social Media Compliance Provider from Erado.com

[Thankfully advisers have multiple vendors from which to choose for their social media compliance needs. Here, Erado announces six more engagements, though I might need to dig into the claim that they’re the “nation’s leading service.” Time for a face off article!] Erado, the nation’s leading service in SaaS based archiving of electronic communications, formally announces its exclusive agreement to provide social media compliance services to Soundmark Wealth Management LLC, Capitol Securities Management Inc., St. Croix Advisors LLC, Strategic Financial Services, Martin Wolf Securities, and Providence Financial & Insurance Services Inc.

‘Mint For Investments’ Startup SigFig Goes Mobile With New iPhone And Android Apps from TechCrunch.com

[SigFig is another one of the growing “robo adviser” online advice platforms for consumers and investors (see Competing Against “Robo Advisors:” Delivering Advice in a New World from T3 2012). Now they have an attractive mobile app that allows users to view all of their aggregated account information on their mobile device.] SigFig lets users connect all their various investment accounts — including 401k plans, IRAs, etc. — onto a single dashboard.

FPPad Bits and Bytes for June 29

Posted on June 29, 2012 by in Bits & Bytes

While last week was an onslaught of news, this week the flow was reduced to a trickle. Having returned from giving a presentation in San Francisco yesterday, my focus is now on my move to Atlanta in July.

First, be sure to read this month’s Quickview update at Morningstar Advisor, Supercharge Your Conference Calls

Have a great holiday week next week, and now on with this week’s stories of interest:

Schwab Launches Advisor App for the iPhone® from Yahoo! Finance

[Finally, Schwab gets onboard with iOS devices and now has an app for iPhone. But wait: it doesn’t feature trading, it doesn’t have streaming financial news… well, it’s a good version 1.0, but advisers already have more functionality out of the apps from Fidelity (see Fidelity WealthCentral Mobile now available for iPad) and TD Ameritrade Institutional (see Exclusive look at Veo® Mobile app updates for iPad from TD Ameritrade Institutional’s Jon Patullo).] After a successful pilot, Charles Schwab announced today that it will roll out the first version of the new Schwab Advisor Center app for the iPhone. Starting today, independent investment advisors who custody assets with Schwab Advisor Services can download the app to view their clients’ account balances, positions and transactions, allowing them to easily tap into the real-time data they need from Schwab Advisor Center while on the go.

Smarsh Report Reveals Challenges in Oversight of Electronic Communications from Smarsh

[Smarsh knows a lot about compliance and archiving, having a commanding presence in the broker-dealer industry as well as a decent number of independent RIA clients. In this second update to its compliance survey, you can identify the hot topics that concern compliance professionals. Hint: Mobile, social, and website archiving are trouble spots for advisers.]  Smarsh®, the managed service leader in secure, innovative and reliable email archiving and compliance solutions, today released its second annual Electronic Communications Compliance Survey report, revealing the findings of a survey of compliance professionals in the financial services industry.

FPPad Bits and Bytes for June 1

Posted on June 1, 2012 by in Bits & Bytes

Wow, it’s June already? I returned from presenting at FPA NorCal this week on top apps for financial advisers. If you want some of the inside scoop, check out the #FPANorCal hashtag or tweets from Michael Kitces while they’re still on his timeline (you’ll need to scroll down to see tweets from May 29).

Here are this week’s stories of interest:

How Can RIAs Improve Efficiency? from Financial-Planning.com

[Donna Mitchell covers a new report from Pershing Advisor Solutions with three ways advisers can be more efficient, but it doesn’t list any resources to use. So here’s a recap of Pershing’s insight with a resource thrown in: 1) Identify an ideal client profile (self explanatory), 2) Have a consistent business process (so you need a tool to define workflow), and 3) avoid overloading staff members (I wish I had a solution for that!)] Principals of RIA firms need to pay closer attention to workflow and operational issues at their firms, especially if they want to stay viable amid rising operational costs, Pershing Advisor Solutions said.

Advisers still shaky on social media policy from Reuters

[Guess what: you need a social media policy, even if your policy is ‘we don’t use social media.’ And what about Facebook ‘Like’ buttons? It appears that as long as a ‘Like’ stands on its own without any additional commentary, advisers aren’t violating regulatory rules prohibiting testimonials.] As the securities industry finally warms up to using social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, regulators are discovering that brokerages and investment advisers are off to a rocky start.

Plantly launches “missing allocation tool” to the public from FPPad

[It’s my blog so I get to link to my own posts once in a while. Most of you are familiar with Personal Capital, Betterment, SigFig, and Wealthfront in the race to deliver online financial advice to investors. Plantly is yet another startup aiming to equip DIY investors with simple plans based on MPT models. Oh, it’s free to use today.] Brooklyn-based startup launches free asset allocation planning tool to the public.

Financial advisers need a smarter approach to manage social media

Posted on May 25, 2012 by in Efficiency

So you decided to dip your toe in the social media waters. At first you start with, say, a LinkedIn profile update, then create your own Facebook page, and follow up with your first tweet on Twitter.

Pretty soon this innocuous activity grows into a larger drain on your time. What’s especially challenging is keeping all of your profiles updated with information you want to share with your audience.

There has to be a better way!

Fortunately, my Quickview post this month for Morningstar Advisor tells you about one tool that can add some smarts to your social media management.

It’s titled Make Your Social Web Smarter, and you better go read it right now!

A public thank you to Alex Murguia, CEO of inStream Solutions, for the tip.

 

[Video Spotlight] Sarah Carter of Actiance at FinovateSpring 2012

Posted on May 11, 2012 by in Video Spotlight

Another presenter at FinovateSpring 2012 that should be familiar to FPPad readers is Actiance. The Belmont, Calif.-based company provides compliance solutions for regulated financial professionals in the form of its Socialite Engage platform.

Here’s Sarah Carter from Actiance telling what Socialite Engage can do for advisers and gives a bonus tip on what day and time is best to post social media updates.

(click to view on YouTube)

FinovateSpring 2012 highlights for independent financial advisers: Day 1

Posted on May 8, 2012 by in Conferences

I’m attending FinovateSpring 2012 today and tomorrow. When I have a chance, I’ll update FPPad with items independent financial advisers will want to add to their radar.

(updated 3:34PM PDT – final update of the day)

Smart Expense™ from Concur simplifies travel expense reporting with TripIt integration from FPPad.com

[Again, here’s another option to facilitate expense report generation, especially if you are an existing TripIt user, Smart Expense from Concur. The disadvantage is there’s a monthly fee for TripIt Pro, but people on Twitter swear by it, so appears worthwhile. SmartExpense from Concur is free.] While you’re traveling, Concur’s mobile travel & expense app helps you stay on the ball. Need to change a flight, book a hotel or rental car, or even hail and pay for a taxi? Concur’s mobile app puts the ability to do all this in the palm of your hand.

(updated 2:41PM PDT)

SaveUp Helps Banks Gamify Consumer Saving from Finovate.com

[Do you have clients that just aren’t meeting their savings goals? Maybe they need to make savings a game. SaveUp takes the basic human desire for positive reward reinforcement by allocating special credits for doing the right things, then those credits can be redeemed for prizes and contest drawings.] First on stage in today’s final session, SaveUp demonstrated how financial institutions can use its platform to instill positive saving habits in members.

(updated 11:34AM PDT)

iQuantifi helps clients optimize and prioritize financial goals in real time from FPPad.com

[Unbeknownst to me prior to today, iQuantifi is an online goal-planning and illustration tool built by Franklin, Tenn.-based financial planner Tom White. Its goal is to “help people identify, prioritize, and achieve their financial goals.” It has a very appealing goals-based interface with an interactive timeline users can use to click and drag goals and see what happens to goal planning in real time. The product is in a private alpha, but you can sign up for their enewsletter to stay informed of product updates. Here’s the Finovate blog entry.]

(updated 11:05AM PDT)

Actiance Helps Financial Institutions and Advisors Track Social Media Activity from Finovate.com

[FPPad readers should be well aware of Actiance and their social media archiving services (among others) for advisers. They presented at FinovateSpring 2012 to gain more exposure in regulated industries. Socialware, Arkovi, Erado, et. al., are you listening?] Wrapping up the first session, Actiance showed how financial institutions can encourage consumer engagement without compromising their brand.

Personal Capital announces iPhone app, Universal Checkbook from tuaw.com

[Personal Capital is known for its free iPad app offered directly to consumers. At FinovateSpring 2012, the company announced the release of an iPhone app and also Universal Checkbook, a way to link a checking account to Personal Capital and use it to send payments to almost anyone. How’s that for integration?] Personal Capital also announced a new feature in the iPhone app that is not part of their iPad app — the Universal Checkbook.

Expensify Trips Aims to Make Travelling Easier from FinovateSpring.com

[Travel a lot to adviser conferences? Expensify might save you tons of time by linking photos of your receipts while traveling with your trip itinerary, generating an expense report in real time.] Expensify showed how its Trips platform makes travelling easier by helping you get a head start on processing travel receipts:

 

What are social media best practices for advisers? Find out at TDAI National 2012

Posted on January 30, 2012 by in Social Media

So you hear over and over that in order to build your profile as an adviser today, you need to be active in social media. Ok, so where to begin?

If you’re attending the TD Ameritrade Institutional 2012 National Conference this week, you can get your fill of social media tactics from a variety of subject matter experts.

I’ve been asked to facilitate conversations with conference attendees in TD Ameritrade’s Social Media Lab Thursday and Friday, February 2 and 3. Appearing with me in the Social Media Tactics room throughout each day are Marie Swift of Impact Communications, Brett Farmiloe of Blind Society, and Caitlin Zucal of Arkovi.

The Social Media Lab will also have three other rooms, covering the topics of social media compliance, website optimization, and best practices for LinkedIn.

So come visit the Social Media Lab and bring all the questions you have. I’ll be on hand starting at 2:00pm Thursday 2/2 and also at 4:00pm Friday 2/3. No question will be refused!