Tag Archives: TD Ameritrade Institutional

Veo One preview from the National LINC 2015 Conference

Posted on January 31, 2015 by in Conferences

I just returned from TD Ameritrade Institutional National LINC 2015 Conference in San Diego where I produced a couple of videos covering the technology updates from the event.

Veo® Vendor Village

First, you can get a glimpse of the “vendor village” TD Ameritrade Institutional configures for the technology providers that are integrated with the open access capabilities of the Veo® platform.

Nearly 40 of the 85+ integrated providers were on site providing demos of their technology to the thousands of advisors in attendance.

With over 85 integrated vendors, you may see several new companies that you haven’t heard of before, including Advizr, Vanare, and Upside.

Veo One™

Next up is a preview of Veo One™, TD Ameritrade Institutional’s updated online dashboard designed to be a single source for an advisor’s daily workflow.

Veo One is currently in a private testing period with select advisers, and the official rollout is anticipated in late summer or early fall of 2015.

The first five Veo One integrations will include DocuSign® and Laser App Anywhere for account opening, financial planning software from MoneyGuidePro™, Orion Advisor Services for portfolio management, and Redtail Technologies for CRM.

The Best Financial Advisor Technology of 2014

Posted on December 19, 2014 by in Bits & Bytes

Welcome to this special edition of FPPad Bits and Bytes, the Best Tech of 2014! On today’s broadcast, this is my last show of the year, meaning it’s time to review the top technology news from the last 12 months that matters to your business. That’s right, it’s time for my Best Tech of 2014 awards.

So get ready, FPPad Bits and Bytes begins now.

(Watch the Best Tech of 2014 on YouTube)

Today’s episode is brought to you by ITEGRIA, providers of complete outsourced technology support, security, infrastructure and IT solutions exclusively for RIAs.

itegria - providing a 360-degree, comprehensive approach to financial advisor IT needs

In their new book titled Red Flags, you’ll learn how to protect your firm from cyber-attacks, disasters, and IT compliance risks. Learn more about the Red Flags book by visiting fppad.com/itegria.

This week’s episode is all about my picks for the Best Technology of 2014. This is my fifth year highlighting top technology for financial advisors and wealth managers, and as always, I break down award winners into three categories: the best back office technology, the best client-facing technology, and the best overall innovation of the year.

Best Back-Office Technology

So let’s begin with the Best Back-Office Technology award winner, which is a product or service that boosts the overall efficiency and productivity of your back office and makes a direct impact to your bottom line.

The Best Back-Office Technology of 2014 award goes to (drumroll please) the Motif Advisor Platform.

Unveiled at Finovate Spring 2014 where it won Best of Show, the Motif Advisor Platform is a solution you can use to build, manage and rebalance your own motifs on behalf of clients. You can combine up to 30 stocks and ETFs into your own custom motif and trade the entire strategy for one flat fee.

Pricing for the Motif Advisor Platform starts at $20 per month per customer, so the Motif Advisor Platform takes top honors this year because it helps you be much more efficient when managing custom portfolios AND it saves your clients money in transaction fees that might normally be charged for trading individual securities and ETFs.

Honorable mention in this category goes to Riskalyze, for its enterprise Compliance Cloud risk-monitoring solution, and the TD Ameritrade Institutional Veo Open Access Dashboard, consolidating dozens of technology integrations into one highly-functional web-based screen.

Best Client-Facing Technology

Next up is the award for the Best Client-Facing Technology. Now the winner in this category must significantly enhance the client-facing elements of your business and facilitate your interactions with clients. Clients benefit from improved personalized service as well as an increased level of convenience when using such technology.

I think all of you will agree that the growth of online investment services has really upped the ante when it comes to the client-facing elements of your technology. So it’s no surprise that the winner in this category is part of the online investment providers, but for me, one of them just barely edged out the others in taking top honors.

This year’s Best Client-Facing Technology award goes to (wait for it) Betterment Institutional.

But like I said, Betterment Institutional just barely edged out the other solutions built for advisors like Guide Financial, Jemstep Advisor Pro, Upside Advisor, Oranj, Wealth Access and several more. Why?

Because Betterment has a solid track record on the consumer side with over 50,000 customers, plus it has the advantage of having Steve Lockshin providing direction for the company based on his experience in the independent advisor market with Fortigent and AdvicePeriod.

Now don’t get me wrong, I think the other advisor-focused solutions have an equal shot at significant growth in this space, which didn’t make the award selection process any easier. But the good news for you is that you have a number of choices in this low-cost online investment category when you’re ready to add this offering to your business model.

Honorable mention here goes to Estate Assist for its online safe deposit box that helps clients manage their growing digital assets.

Innovation of the Year

And finally, the third category in my annual Best Technology of 2014 awards is the Innovation of the Year. This award goes to a product or service that introduces a new business practice or service experience to your business. This innovative tool should transform the way you interact with clients, enhance your overall efficiency, or even enable the delivery of new services not possible or practical in the past.

The award for Innovation of the year goes to (thank you) Engage, from Orion Advisor Services.

Out of all the new products we’ve seen in 2014, Engage is one of those solutions that I feel breaks new ground.

It begins with videos you create to communicate with clients, which you really should think about doing in 2015, but what Engage allows you to do it customize the video content you send to clients in an automated fashion.

Engage integrates performance data from Orion, graphic elements from MoneyGuidePro, and calendar scheduling from Redtail CRM, and embeds the information directly in your videos. So you only need to record one video, but Engage makes it seem like you created hundreds of videos, each with graphics and information specific to your clients.

It’s pretty cool stuff, and that’s a technical term, and a little ahead of its time, as a lot of you just aren’t ready to communicate with clients using video, which is why I feel Engage from Orion deserves to be recognized for its innovation this year.

Closing out this year’s award is an honorable mention to Gladstone Associates for their new streamlined business valuation toolkit that uses technology integrations to efficiently gather data about your business.

Your Feedback

So what do you think about my choices for Best Tech of 2014? Did I make the right choices, or did I completely blow it?

You’ve got to let me know! Leave a comment below, send me a message on Twitter using @billwinterberg, or leave a comment on the FPPad YouTube channel.

Thank you so much for being a part of the FPPad community throughout 2014, and I wish you all the best in 2015!

 

Watch my broadcast on the Best Tech of 2014 for financial advisors

Watch my broadcast on the Best Tech of 2014 for financial advisors

FPPad Bits and Bytes for September 5

Posted on September 5, 2014 by 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.

Total Rebalance Expert

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 September 5, 2014

FPPad Bits and Bytes for February 7

Posted on February 7, 2014 by in Bits & Bytes

On today’s broadcast, TD Ameritrade Institutional unveils a new interface designed to be “mission control” for advisors, how you can customize videos for hundreds clients with the push of a button, and a new provider delivers technology to simulate portfolio crash testing before the next crash occurs.

So get ready, FPPad Bits and Bytes begins now!

(Watch this episode on YouTube)

Today’s episode 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 latest white paper on social engineering attacks by visiting fppad.com/mimic.

Here are this week’s stories of interest:

A Smart Start at National Conference: TD Ameritrade Institutional Reveals Plans to Launch New Intelligent Technology Platform for Advisors from TD Ameritrade Institutional

[Leading off this week is a recap of the first institutional custodian conference of 2014, as TD Ameritrade Institutional held its annual event in Orlando last week. In the past, TD Ameritrade Institutional announced a number of new innovations in technology, including the release of Veo Open Access platform and a free web-based version of iRebal for its advisors. This year’s technology announcements were a bit more subdued, but most relevant to advisors is the introduction of the new Veo Open Access Dashboard.

The Veo Dashboard is designed to be “mission control” for advisors, enabling access to dozens of integrated solution providers from one consolidated web-based screen. Early integrations include Redtail CRM, Orion Advisor Services portfolio management, MoneyGuidePro financial planning, and TD Ameritrade Institutional’s own iRebal software.

Tom Nally, president of TD Ameritrade Institutional, said that the first iteration of the Veo Dashboard is expected to come this summer.] Building on the success of its Veo® open access effort, TD Ameritrade Institutional will give advisors the ability to harness the collective power of more than 60 leading advisor technology providers integrated with its Veo trading platform.

New Orion App Revolutionizes Client Reports from PRNewswire

[Another cool innovation announced at last week’s TD Ameritrade Institutional conference comes from Orion Advisor Services, who debuted a new client communication platform called Engage. Many of you might already be using mobile apps and video market commentary from Orion to enhance your communication with clients.

But what Engage allows you to do is further customize videos you make for clients. With Engage, you can retrieve things like performance data from Orion, the confidence meter from MoneyGuidePro, or calendar scheduling from Redtail CRM and embed that information using graphics right in your video. While you still can’t say client names or announce specific performance numbers, your clients receive a compelling video that contains personal details to help them not only hear about, but actually see the progress they’re making towards their wealth management goals.

Once again, if you’re not thinking about how you should be using video to enhance client relationships, I think it’s time you start creating a strategy new, and Engage from Orion gives you a pretty clever way to get started. Clients of Orion can use Engage for no additional charge, and pricing details for non-Orion customers will be coming soon.] Orion Advisor Services, LLC, a premier portfolio accounting service bureau, announces the release of a new web-based app, Orion Engage, which helps advisors communicate more effectively with clients by creating interactive videos that can present portfolio performance and other unique details specific to individual clients.

Don’t Be A Crash Test Dummy from Financial Advisor

[And finally, one hot technology trend right now involves applications that perform macro economic analysis and portfolio stress-test simulations. By now you’ve likely heard of startups like HiddenLevers and MacroRisk Analytics, but a new provider in this space making waves is RiXtrema. In a recent Financial Advisor column, Joel Bruckenstein reviewed the company’s Riskostat product, which offers patent-pending technology to assess stock market behavior in times of crisis.

Bruckenstein offered a favorable review of Riskostat, and with a list price of $300 per months, feels it is competitively priced in a market that’s a small, but growing segment, of advisor technology.] Now a third firm, RiXtrema, is launching a software product called Riskostat that is designed to help advisors analyze the vulnerability of their clients’ portfolios to various macroeconomic risk factors as well as help advisors explore opportunities to hedge away some of those risks.

Stories that didn’t make the cut for this week’s broadcast:

Advisor Software, Inc. And Orion Advisor Services, LLC Integrate Apps For Financial Advisors from PRNewswire

Advisor Software, Inc. (“ASI”), a provider of wealth management solutions for the financial advisor market, announced today a partnership with Orion Advisor Services, LLC (“Orion”) to integrate the two companies’ software applications for financial advisors.

Junxure Announces Limited Release of Junxure Cloud CRM for Financial Advisors from Junxure

Junxure announced the limited release of Junxure Cloud™, its comprehensive, cloud-based CRM solution for financial advisors.

Road Warrior Advisors–Keep Your Data Private from Morningstar Advisor

Protect your client and business information by hiding it from wandering eyes.

 

Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes for February 7, 2014

Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes for February 7, 2014

FPPad Bits and Bytes for January 3

Posted on January 3, 2014 by in Bits & Bytes

On today’s broadcast, hackers make headlines targeting high-profile companies, so how can you avoid a security breach in your business? Electronic signature technology gains momentum, find out which providers you should add to your processes. Big data is coming. Who’s harnessing all the data you gather in your business, and how will these tools help you make better decisions in 2014 and beyond? All this and more.

So get ready, FPPad Bits and Bytes begins now!

(Click to watch on YouTube)

Today’s episode is brought to you by New Planner Recruiting, which specializes in the sourcing, screening and integration of entry level financial planners within financial planning firms nationwide.

NewPlannerRecruiting620

Whether you’re a firm looking to hire or an aspiring planner establishing your career path, sign up for the free newsletter full of valuable resources and information by visiting fppad.com/npr

Here are this week’s links of interest:

Financial Adviser Technology Trends in 2014

Financial advisor technology news moved at a snail’s pace over the holidays, so today’s episode is going to cover the most important technology trends I see coming in 2014. These trends break down into four main categories:

  • Security
  • Electronic signature
  • Big data, and
  • Enhancing your online presence

Security

Security news has received a lot of attention recently, headlined by the recent data breach at Target of over 40 million credit and debit card accounts, and quickly followed up by the release of over 4 million usernames and phone numbers from users of Snapchat, the private mobile messaging service.

While these are big companies with a potential bounty of user information, don’t think that your business is immune to attacks from hackers seeking personal and financial information.

This year, you should make it a priority to strengthen the defenses of your computers, mobile devices, and your network. Also, social engineering will likely be the primary method hackers will use to exploit people in your organization, so periodically test how susceptible your organization is to well-designed social engineering attacks.

Vendors that can help with your security include Mimic Technologies, Right Size Solutions, True North Networks, Envision Consulting, and many more, and you can use simulated phishing applications from Wombat Security Technologies, TraceSecurity, ThreatSim and more.

Electronic Signature

Next up is the increased adoption of electronic signature by financial institutions. You heard about e-signature several times in last years’ broadcasts as TD Ameritrade Institutional, Fidelity, Pershing, LPL and others support some form of the technology in their existing account processes.

But you can also deploy e-signature for the contracts and agreements you have for your internal documentation. So it’s worth exploring your options from providers such as RightSignature, Adobe® EchoSign®, DocuSign, and more to streamline your signature-gathering process, all while satisfying compliance, of course!

Big Data

The third trend I see ramping up big time for advisors in 2014 is Big Data. More technology providers are developing big data capabilities to help you analyze your data more effectively so you can make informed decisions about your client needs and business opportunities.

Look to adopt one or more of the business analytics tools available from Redtail Data Cloud, AssetMark, Orion Advisor Services, Envestnet|Tamarac and more.

Enhancing Your Online Presence

Finally, 2014 should be the year you make a serious effort to enhance your online presence. This is about more than just creating a Twitter account, posting a few tweets, and calling it a day.

More and more prospects are looking for financial advice and evaluating financial advisors online, long before they pick up the phone to schedule an initial meeting. And some prospects don’t even care that your office be in the same city where they live; they want an advisor who is an expert regarding their specific needs and circumstances, without imposing some arbitrary geographic requirement.

That said, does your website have what it takes to attract this generation of web-savvy prospects? Does your social media activity reinforce your value proposition to potential clients? And does your technology live up to the expectations of individuals born in the digital age?

Boost your online presence with services from providers like Advisor Websites, Wealth Management Marketing, Vestorly, Advisor Studios, Wired Advisor, and more.

So there you have it!

You’ve heard what I think the most important technology trends of 2014 will be, and I’ve given you a head start with a number of vendors and providers that can help you get the new year off to a fantastic start.

Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes for January 3, 2014

Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes for January 3, 2014

FPPad Bits and Bytes for December 6

Posted on December 6, 2013 by in Bits & Bytes

On this week’s broadcast, learn the hits and misses from the year’s most anticipated advisor technology survey, the pending termination of several financial planning software products catches advisors off guard, how the leading independent custodians are stepping up their technology, and more.

So get ready, FPPad Bits and Bytes begins now!

(watch FPPad Bits and Bytes on YouTube)

This week’s episode is brought to you by Angie Herbers Incorporated, a consulting and research company to financial advisory firms, who just released a new white paper called Take Two: The New Direction of Succession that addresses the key elements to create a successful transition to your junior advisors.

ahi 600

Download the Take Two white paper for free, along with other practice management resources, by visiting fppad.com/ahi

Here are this week’s top stories:

Tech Survey 2013: What’s New iIn Advisor Tech? from Financial-Planning.com

[Leading off as the top story is one of the most anticipated technology articles that comes out every year. The first of December marks the release of the annual Financial Planning Magazine Technology Survey, where Joel Bruckenstein digests over 1,100 responses about the various software programs and practice management tools used by financial advisors today.

So who are the winners and losers from this year’s survey?

Redtail Technology, Salesforce, and Tamarac Advisor CRM are the winners among CRM software, as advisors continue to embrace cloud-based technology, with slippage coming from Junxure, ProTracker, ACT, and Goldmine.

In financial planning software, this year’s results are essentially a carbon copy of last year’s survey, with MoneyGuidePro, eMoney, and MoneyTree claiming the top three spots.

And the same is true with portfolio management software, as the top 6 vendors are also a total repeat of last year’s results.

So who missed out on opportunities this year? The survey randomly selected new products from Blueleaf, inStream, and Market76, but found that few advisors had even heard of these relatively new players, which tells me that financial advisors, well, those who don’t watch Bits and Bytes, continue to be a challenging market for new providers to gain exposure.] The move to the cloud is finally taking place. In category after category of this year’s Financial Planning Tech Survey, we found software providers making the shift, and advisors responding.

NaviPlan financial planning desktop products to be discontinued from InvestmentNews

[The next story features news from Advicent Solutions, the company formerly known as Zywave, who provides a suite of financial planning software to advisors under the NaviPro brand.

In an unexpected announcement to some users, the company announced it will sunset six of its NaviPlan products on March 31, 2014, citing an “ever-changing marketplace.”

Going away will be all of the NaviPlan Extended and NaviPlan Standard desktop-based variants, making the cloud-based NaviPlan Premium and NaviPlan Profiles the sole applications that will receive ongoing support and enhancements in 2014 and beyond.

This news reinforces the trend of advisors adopting cloud-based solutions as seen in the Financial Planning Software Survey, so don’t be surprised when other providers announce the discontinuation of their own desktop-based software in favor of cloud-based alternatives.] NaviPlan financial planning products for desktop computers will be discontinued as the owner develops its NaviPro products for online use.

Plowing Ahead from FA-Mag.com

[Software providers aren’t the only ones making big changes in advisor technology, as four of the major custodians are also investing heavily in advisor-facing technology in a very competitive arms race. Once again, Joel Bruckenstein interviewed executives from Fidelity, Pershing, Schwab Advisor Services, and TD Ameritrade Institutional to reveal their strategies to help make advisors more efficient and more profitable through enhanced technology.

There’s a ton of great information in this article, so be sure to read it to see what your custodian is doing to help you grow your business.] Over the last several years, custodians have been investing in advisor-facing technology like never before.

Envestnet | Tamarac’s Advisor Xi(R) Platform Added To Pershing’s NetX360(R) Technology Channel from WSJ.com

[And finally, one company benefiting from custodian technology enhancements is Envestnet|Tamarac. This week, the company announced that its Advisor Xi suite will soon integrate directly with Pershing’s NetX360 custodial platform, giving advisors straight-through processing capabilities for trades in accounts held at Pershing, as well as access to real-time custodial account data.

The real-time data feeds will compliment existing integrations with Schwab and TD Ameritrade supported today, and expand straight-through processing trading capabilities announced at Schwab IMPACT several weeks ago.

Tamarac anticipates that the new integrations will roll out to its 660 firms during the first quarter of 2014.] Envestnet | Tamarac, a division of Envestnet, Inc., a leading provider of integrated, web-based portfolio and client management software for independent advisors and wealth managers, announced today that it has formally begun the integration of its Advisor Xi(R) platform into Pershing’s NetX360(R) custodial channel for investment professionals and Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs). Advisors will have access to this integration in the first half of 2014.

 

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Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes for December 6, 2013

 

 

 

TD Ameritrade Institutional integrates Laser App Anywhere with the Veo® advisor platform

Posted on August 21, 2013 by in Efficiency, Software

Independent advisers will shuffle less paper with TD Ameritrade Institutional’s latest Laser App integration

In a press release issued today, TD Ameritrade Institutional announced that it integrated Laser App Anywhere, the online document form filling application, to the Veo® advisor platform.

Laser App Anywhere for Independent Advisers

Laser App Anywhere was introduced last year at Laser App’s industry conference, but the solution was targeted to the document processing needs of broker-dealers. Independent advisers who custody with the leading financial institutions still had to use Laser App’s desktop application to streamline form filling.

TD Ameritrade Institutional’s Laser App Anywhere integration changes all that, and now brings Laser App Anywhere to independent advisers.

“Using the valuable integrations TD Ameritrade Institutional has built with Laser App Anywhere and Veo, advisers can spend less time processing paperwork manually and realize cost savings and increased productivity,” said Robert Powell, vice president of sales and marketing at Laser App, in the press release.

End-to-End Paperless Process

TD Ameritrade Institutional’s Veo platform has also supported DocuSign integration for some time, but that offering didn’t solve advisers’ need for true end-to-end paperless processing. Now with the addition of Laser App Anywhere, forms can first be prepopulated online using client data stored in the Veo platform, then routed to clients for electronic signature directly through DocuSign.

“The integration of Laser App Anywhere’s web-based technology with DocuSign further enhances the account opening process and supports TD Ameritrade Institutional’s larger effort to streamline workflows and provide better integrations between the technologies advisors use every day,” said  Jon Patullo, managing director of technology product management, TD Ameritrade Institutional.

For all the details of the integration announcement, read the official press release.

Advisers want help identifying software integration; look for the logo, says TD Ameritrade Institutional

Posted on July 23, 2013 by in Efficiency, Software

TD Ameritrade Institutional will help advisers identify software integration with a new “Veo Integrated” logo

Financial advisers all want one thing: more integration of the software tools they use.

But finding out if one software program integrates with another, let alone the quality of the integration, is difficult at best.

The ‘Veo Integrated’ logo recognizes the innovation, collaboration and commitment to RIAs shown by firms that have contributed to the success of the Veo open access initiative.

TD Ameritrade Institutional believes it has an answer to advisers’ integration dilemma: a logo.

Want integration between your software tools? Look for the logo says TD Ameritrade Institutional

Want integration between your software tools? Look for the “Veo Integrated” logo, says TD Ameritrade Institutional

In a press release issued today, TD Ameritrade Institutional is launching a new “Veo Integrated” logo to raise awareness of the company’s relationships with third-party solution providers through the Veo open access initiative.

Recognize Innovation

“TD Ameritrade Institutional is working with a growing network of technology providers to improve the technology experience for RIAs by integrating common advisor applications with our Veo system,” said Jon Patullo, managing director of technology, TD Ameritrade Institutional, in the press release.

“The ‘Veo Integrated’ logo recognizes the innovation, collaboration and commitment to RIAs shown by firms that have contributed to the success of the Veo open access initiative,” added Patullo.

Veo Integration Analyzer

TD Ameritrade Institutional also reiterated the presence of the Veo Integration Analyzer™, a web-based tool available to advisers who custody assets with the company. Veo Integration Analyzer is designed to highlight levels of integration between advisers’ existing applications or applications they may be considering for purchase.

Last year I stopped by TD Ameritrade Institutional’s headquarters in Ft. Worth to get a demo of the Veo Integration Analyzer from Chris Valleley, Director of Technology Solutions for TD Ameritrade Institutional. See the demo below (or click here to watch on YouTube).

FPPad Bits and Bytes for May 10

Posted on May 10, 2013 by in Bits & Bytes

I was in San Diego and Palm Springs over the last week, delivering three different presentations over four days. I’m no Michael Kitces, but I was glad to sleep in my own bed after a week on the road.

Attend The Mobile Adviser Wednesday, May 15th through the AICPA PFP Web Seminar

Attend The Mobile Adviser Wednesday, May 15th through the AICPA PFP Web Seminar

Heads up: I’m presenting a webinar on my session The Mobile Adviser: Everything financial advisers need to stay safe, connected, and productive in the Mobile Age on Wednesday the 15th for the AICPA.

Follow this link to register: AICPA PFP & CPA/PFS Web Seminars

 

Here are this week’s stories of interest:

Bloomberg’s new venture: Online advice from InvestmentNews.com

[The latest entry into the online investment advice market is BloombergBlack, a premium investment subscription service primarily targeted to high net worth individuals interested in managing their own investments. For a starting fee of $100/month (their Form ADV permits monthly fees up to $500), subscribers gain access to four investment experts and a variety of Bloomberg research and information.] An 800-pound gorilla is wading into the market for online investment management and financial advice. Media giant Bloomberg LP is quietly testing a “premium” wealth management service, BloombergBlack, aimed squarely at mass-affluent investors.

Savant Capital takes advice online from InvestmentNews.com

[Ok, so the roughly $3 billion AUM Savant Capital is launching eSavantAdvisor, a 100% online way to work with a CFP® practitioner employed by Savant. There are three advisors for eSavant, and fees are no lower than the 1% annual fee on the first $1 million in assets charged by the parent company. At least the minimum fee is down to $900 (if you don’t count TD Ameritrade Institutional’s $165/year fee) from Savant’s typical $5,000 annual minimum. So what technology does the eSavantAdvisor client get? Access to their portfolio data via Orion Advisor Services, a login at TD Ameritrade Institutional (doesn’t that duplicate info in Orion?), and web meetings with WebEx to start. There may be other technology available, but the ones listed cover the basics. But here are two things that bother me: First, which three of the dozens of Savant employees are stepping up as eSavantAdvisor planners? It’s not clear. And second, look at the Savant Capital Management website: it could use an overhaul. At least eSavantAdvisor.com features a more modern design, even if it is missing video.] Savant Capital Management is offering technology-savvy investors an online version of the comprehensive investment advice that its advisers offer clients who come into one of its offices.

Schwab Launches OpenView MarketSquare, PortfolioCenter Hosted from Financial-Advisor.com

[It’s official, the long-awaited hosted version of PortfolioCenter is now live, and so is the Zagat-style rating system, MarketSquare. Most controversial is MarketSquare, where online reviews are first screened by Schwab insiders, likely for accuracy and brevity, and not to intentionally skew the bias of reviews. Still, in the day when all of us can get unfiltered reviews of any product sold on Amazon.com, Schwab’s filter-first attribute of MarketSquare does create an odd approach. But on the other hand, there are a few websites out there already that permit unfiltered reviews of financial advisor products, and the value of those are so-so.] Schwab Intelligent Technologies (SPT) announced today that OpenView MarketSquare and PortfolioCenter Hosted have now gone live.

NetDocuments Launches New Apps Marketplace from BusinessWire.com

[Apple’s App Store is approaching 50 billion (yes, BILLION) app downloads, Salesforce’s AppExchange has over 1.7 million installs, and now online document management provider NetDocuments is hopping on the app marketplace bandwagon. The NetDocuments Apps Marketplace is sparsely populated today with just six apps in all, and largely acts as a consolidated list of third party developers that have created their own solutions for specific tasks performed in NetDocuments. Currently, apps can not be sorted by price, so it’s not easy to tell which apps are free to use and which apps require a purchase or subscription. Oh, and they also released version 13.2 with a REST API and improved email search capabilities.] NetDocuments today announced the immediate availability of NetDocuments’ Apps Marketplace, a centralized location for third-party software developers to create apps that integrate with the company’s existing cloud-computing content management and collaboration services. The marketplace showcases apps that users can implement to streamline workflows and improve performance in managing their repository of documents and emails.

Financial adviser workflow: How Deborah Fox is networking advisers with a one-stop shop for workflow

Posted on February 20, 2013 by in Efficiency, Technology, Video Spotlight

While attending the TD Ameritrade Institutional 2013 National Conference last month, I connected with Deborah Fox, founder of the Fox Financial Planning Network.

In our conversation, Fox provided insight on the need for systematized workflow solutions in the financial services industry.

“We wanted to provide tools in a way advisers could get quick results to fully systematize their practice and think through their business model,” said Fox.

I reviewed the Fox Financial Planning Network resources in January for Morningstar Advisor (see: How to add pre-configured workflows to popular adviser CRM software).

You’ll see how the network resources are not just a list of PDF files listing the steps advisers should follow to prepare for a client meeting, but includes CRM plugins (Redtail and Grendel are the first ones to support this integration) and live training webinars and discussions with Fox and other experts.

For more information about the Fox Financial Planning Network, visit them online at http://foxfinancialplanningnetwork.com/

(click to watch on YouTube)