FPPad Bits and Bytes for October 16

Posted on October 16, 2015 by Bill Winterberg 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

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

Posted on October 5, 2015 by Bill Winterberg 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.

See what went down at this year’s Fuse 2015 advisor fintech developer event

Posted on September 14, 2015 by Bill Winterberg in Conferences

Orion Advisor Services hosted Fuse 2015, a developer event the company organizes to encourage development of new apps and solutions for advisors and to increase the quantity and quality of integrations with Orion.

I created three videos from Fuse 2015 to get you an up close look at what happens at this exciting developer event.

Follow this link to view the Fuse 2015 Award Winners and view the #FuseUtah hashtag on Twitter.

Day 1: Fuse 2015 kickoff

Day 2: What are you developing?

Day 3: Best in Show

FPPad Bits and Bytes for March 28

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Bill Winterberg in Bits & Bytes

On today’s broadcast, cybersecurity takes center stage at FINRA and the SEC, what you need to do to protect your business from attacks. Amazon launches its cloud desktop service to the public. Does this mark the end of plain old desktop in your business? And two growing providers form a new joint venture to take your portfolio management efficiency to the next level.

So get ready, FPPad Bits and Bytes begins now.

(Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes on YouTube)

Today’s episode is brought to you by Orion Advisor Services, the nation’s largest privately held portfolio accounting service bureau.

Providing full-service data reconciliation, advisory fee billing, Salesforce integration, mobile apps and more, Orion believes it’s time for you to enjoy your business again. Visit fppad.com/orion for more information.

Here are the links to this week’s top stories:

Top Cybersecurity Threats for BDs, Advisors from ThinkAdvisor, and

SEC Cybersecurity Roundtable Webcast from SEC.gov

[Leading off today’s broadcast is an update from FINRA and the SEC highlighting cybersecurity threats faced by advisors and broker-dealers. In a roundtable event held in Washington DC this week, regulators and industry representatives acknowledged that the number one cybersecurity threat to firms of all sizes is the unauthorized account takeover.

This happens when a hacker compromises an investor’s username and password credentials, or manages to take control of an investor’s email account. The hacker then proceeds to liquidate holdings and transfer money to outside accounts, or even poses as a client with a convincing story to get advisors to transfer funds to an outside account, a clever tactic known as spoofing.

Both FINRA and the SEC acknowledge they must play a role in this area, but neither provided details on what exactly that role should be, and if any advisor exams are to include cybersecurity audits, they are likely to start in the fall of 2014 at best.

Until then, here’s what I recommend you do: First, update your compliance manual with policies for what you do when faced with a cybersecurity attack.

Second, train everyone in your organization so they’re familiar with the common tactics from hackers, including phishing, spoofing, and reverse social engineering. And finally, invest in technology to boost your security, like activating multi-factor authentication, deploying firewalls, and even using phishing simulation software that I highlighted in episode number 115.] The top risks broker-dealers face in dealing with cybersecurity threats are operational risk, “insider” risks posed by rogue employees and hackers penetrating BD systems, Daniel Sibears of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said Wednesday at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s cybersecurity roundtable.

Amazon WorkSpaces, Amazon’s Cloud Desktop Service, Launches To Public Along With New Sync Client from TechCrunch, and

Amazon WorkSpaces from Amazon

[Next up is news from Amazon, as the company announced the general release of its virtual desktop solution to the public called WorkSpaces.

WorkSpaces is squarely aimed to take on other virtual desktop providers like Citrix, VMWare, and Microsoft, and with pricing ranging from $35 to $75 per month for each user, WorkSpaces is roughly half the price of the competition. If you’re looking to get rid of your aging server and move all of your core software to the cloud, Amazon WorkSpaces just became a very compelling option.

Plus, with the introduction of a new WorkSpace Sync application, you can backup and synchronize up to 10GB of documents between your WorkSpaces, the Amazon Simple Storage Service, and even your local desktop computer. This gives you a secure and reliable document storage alternative to consumer services like Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, and Microsoft OneDrive that you might be using today.] Amazon WorkSpaces, the company’s virtual desktop computing environment introduced last fall at the AWS re:Invent conference, is today available to the public.

Orion Advisor Services, LLC and Total Rebalance Expert (TRX) Form Joint Venture; Announce Technology Integration from PRNewswire.com

[And finally, two popular providers in portfolio management and rebalancing software, Orion Advisor Services and Total Rebalance Expert, announced a new joint venture this week called the “Total Technology Platform.”

The two companies first integrated their solutions back in October of 2012, enabling the import of account, transaction, and tax lot data from Orion directly into TRX with a single click.

But this latest venture goes beyond bidirectional integration, as users of Orion will now be able to access TRX directly from within the Orion platform. At the same time, both companies said they are committed to maintaining open-architecture platforms rather than hold advisors captive to one bundled solution.

Orion users can still take advantage of integrations with Blaze Portfolio, iRebal from TD Ameritrade Institutional, and Rebalance Express from RedBlack Software, and TRX users can continue to import data from Morningstar Office, Portfolio Center from Schwab Performance Technologies®, Advent’s Black Diamond Performance Reporting and more.] Total Rebalance Expert (TRX) and Orion Advisor Services, LLC (Orion) announced today a joint venture between the two companies to provide a “Total Technology Platform” designed to simplify and streamline the portfolio management process.

Here are stories that didn’t make this week’s broadcast:

Box Unveils First Standalone Product And New API Pricing At Inaugural Dev Conference from TechCrunch

New Kitces Network to Target Planners for Gen X & Y from Financial Planning

Office 2 HD for iPad is now Citrix ShareFile QuickEdit, drops $7.99 price to become free via iTunes

Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes for March 28, 2014

FPPad Bits and Bytes for February 21

Posted on February 21, 2014 by Bill Winterberg in Bits & Bytes

On today’s broadcast, why did Microsoft rebrand several of its services, and how might it change the tools that you use, how one large RIA’s technology change created a time savings of over 40%, and a new collaboration hopes to eliminate concerns over support for one Salesforce overlay provider.

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.

Fresh off its acquisition of PowerAdvisor, TRX offers advisors 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 this week’s top stories:

Microsoft launches Office Online in battle with Google Drive from TheVerge.com,

Microsoft SkyDrive Morphs Into OneDrive, Bringing New Features from Mashable, and

Microsoft and DocuSign announce strategic partnership to bring eSignature to Office 365 customers from Microsoft

[Now occasionally I get feedback that I don’t pay enough attention to Microsoft, so Mike, this week’s lead story is just for you! The world’s largest software company just announced the rebranding of several of its product lines, beginning with its free web-based versions of Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, formerly known as Office Web Apps.

The company acknowledged that using the word ‘apps’ led to some confusion among its customers, as many assumed that native Office apps for iOS and Android were available, so now Microsoft is referring to the web-based tools as Office Online. While this move hopefully will clear up confusion over the different versions of Office available, no new features were released to coincide with the rebranding. Office Online will continue to store files in the cloud, which leads me to the second story about Microsoft.

Microsoft’s answer to online storage services like Dropbox, Box, and Google Drive has been SkyDrive, but this week the company rebranded SkyDrive to OneDrive, due to a legal dispute over the use of the word ‘Sky.’ Unlike the Office Online name change, OneDrive’s launch DID come with a series of new features.

OneDrive users can now automatically upload photos from their Android devices, which previously was only supported on iOS and Windows Phone. Online collaboration has also improved, as real-time editing in Office 365 documents is now done character by character. And subscriptions to OneDrive are now available on a monthly basis in addition to the annual subscription previously required under SkyDrive.

And rounding out the Microsoft trifecta this week, the company announced that eSignature support will be coming to Office 365 users through a new partnership with DocuSign. Expected to roll out in March, Office 365 users will be able to submit and sign documents using DocuSign without leaving their Microsoft applications. So if you use Microsoft documents for your internal client agreements and disclosure materials, the DocuSign integration should help you further streamline the e-signature process as you complete the on boarding of new clients.]

How a $5 billion RIA’s Laserfiche conversion generated time savings of 40% from FPPad

[Next up is a fascinating case study from a large RIA about its search for a robust electronic document management solution. At last week’s T3 conference, Jim Anderson of CLS Investments highlighted the firm’s approach to converting from IBM FileNet, its legacy content management system, over to a new implementation with Laserfiche. The RIA, which manages more than $5 billion in assets, migrated over 1.5 million documents into Laserfiche, and Anderson estimated that in the first year alone, the firm has realized a time savings of roughly 40%.

There’s a lot more to the story, including a time Anderson said everyone acted as if their hair was on fire, so be sure to get the link to read all the details.] One $5 billion RIA converted 1.5 million documents to Laserfiche in less than a year, saving the company 40% of its collective time

AppCrown Collaborates With a Global Services Major to Help Market, Deliver and Support Their Integrated Financial Services Platform in Banking and Wealth Management from PRWeb

[And finally, many of you who use Salesforce for your CRM might be familiar with AppCrown, the financial services technology provider built on the Salesforce.com platform. In prior years, AppCrown received criticism for failing to provide adequate support to its users who were implementing Salesforce in their business.

So to beef up its support, AppCrown just announced a new collaboration with Mphasis, a global service and solution provider owned by HP. It remains to be seen how the collaboration with Mphasis will improve AppCrown’s support of its financial advisor users, but if concerns about support have stalled your implementation plans, it might be time to reconsider whether AppCrown’s version of Salesforce could be a potential solution for you.] AppCrown, the leading provider for cloud based financial systems across CRM, Banking & Wealth Management, today announced its intent to partner with Mphasis.

Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes for February 21, 2014

FPPad Bits and Bytes for August 2

Posted on August 2, 2013 by Bill Winterberg in Bits & Bytes

It’s here! Bits and Bytes has gone video.

I’m now delivering the week’s best technology bits for financial advisers in a video broadcast you can bite into anytime you like (oh yes, I just did that).

This week’s edition of Bits and Bytes is brought to you by Redtail Technology, providers of cloud-based CRM for financial professionals since 2003.

Check out their popular advisor solutions and sign up for a 30-day free trial. Visit fppad.com/redtail for more information.

(Watch on YouTube). But still, those with short attention spans or aficionados of the written word can get this week’s stories of interest in their full-text glory below.

Like it? Hate it? Let me know!

Like the new format? Hate it? Don’t care for it? Be honest, and let me know by contacting me.

Tech reporter Davis Janowski leaving InvestmentNews to become editor for WealthFront, via Davis’ Twitter feed

[In this week’s lead story, venerable technology reporter Davis Janowski announced this week that he will be leaving his position as tech reporter at InvestmentNews to assume the editor role over at WealthFront. Most of you should recognize WealthFront from a number of past articles about online financial advice platforms and so called “robo-adviser” platforms. For as long as I can remember, Davis has been a solid journalist covering technology for financial advisers and inspired me to launch FPPad back in the day. So Davis, thanks for all your work and passion, and I look forward to what you have in store for advisers with your new role at WealthFront.]

For all my friends and colleagues out there actually following me, I am indeed leaving @newsfromIN and joining @Wealthfront as editor

— Davis Janowski (@ddjanowski) July 31, 2013

USB flash drives masquerading as keyboards mean more BYOD security headaches from ZDNet.com

[In my Defending Against Phishing, Hacking, and Spoofing Attacks presentation, this is one of the attacks I talk about under social engineering. See, hackers drop these little USB flash drives in business parking lots, labeled with enticing messages like “personal and confidential” or “2012 tax returns.” They hope than an unsuspecting employee will pick it up and plug it in to their corporate computer, which unbeknownst to the employee unleashes all kinds of malware and spyware inside the corporate firewall. The best defense against this tactic: train everyone in your organization not to use USB drives from unknown sources. The risk of stumbling on a rogue device is just too great.] You should be already aware of the data theft risks that USB flash drives pose to your company – even a seemingly lowly 2GB drive can hold a lot of precious data – but a new threat has emerged which makes them even more dangerous.

inStream Hires Professor Dr. Wade Pfau to lead Financial Planning Research from inStreamWealth.com

[inStream, the provider of free web-based financial planning, strike that, practice management software, just beefed up its chops in the retirement planning area by hiring Dr. Wade Pfau to lead its Financial Planning Research division. Pfau is the Professor of Retirement Income for the American College and has authored a number of influential papers on retirement research. Clearly, advisers looking to serve the needs of their retiring clients want access to the leading research on retirement planning, and Pfau’s connection with inStream will likely raise the company’s profile on most advisers’ radar. A final note: inStream is an advertiser on FPPad and helps support content production just like this.] inStream Solutions (“inStream”) announced today that American College Professor of Retirement Income Dr. Wade Pfau has joined the firm to lead Financial Planning Research.

Orion Advisor Services Enhances Integrated Performance Reporting Capabilities from MarketWatch.com

[Orion Advisor Services is well-known for its hosted portfolio management software and reconciliation service bureau. One issue with many of these services is that the reports themselves might not be exactly what advisers are looking for and want to present to their clients. Some advisers turn to third-party providers like MorningStar or AdvisoryWorld for more attractive reports that better convey information advisers want to put in front of clients. Well this week, Orion announced that its Report Builder solution now integrates with AdvisoryWorld, so advisers can pull in components like risk analytics, Modern Portfolio Theory statistics, and diversification and overlap analysis directly from AdvisoryWorld, but be able to match the font size and look and feel of standard Orion reports. If you’re one of the hundreds of Orion users, check out the updated Report Builder and see how you can enhance your reports with the latest AdvisoryWorld integration.] Orion Advisor Services, LLC, a premier portfolio accounting service provider, is delivering more robust performance reporting capabilities to its advisor clients through expanded integrations with AdvisoryWorld, a leading provider of customizable portfolio analytics and investment planning applications to the financial services market and PIEtech’s MoneyGuidePro, the leading goal-based financial planning software for financial advisors.

BlazePortfolio Completes Integration with Black Diamond from BlazePortfolio.com

[For rebalancing software, advisers are pretty familiar with Envestnet|Tamarac, TD Ameritrade Institutional’s iRebal, and Total Rebalance Expert. One of the programs not on most advisers’ radar is Atom Align from Blaze Portfolio. This week, the folks at Blaze Portfolio announced that their solution, Atom Align, is now integrated with Advent’s Black Diamond portfolio management software. So if you’re a Black Diamond user and don’t have rebalancing software, you have one more option to consider to increase your efficiency when rebalancing client accounts.] BlazePortfolio is excited to complete its integration with Black Diamond. The BlazePortfolio and Black Diamond integrated solution offers Investment Advisors the opportunity to utilize both platforms for their back office systems.

LinkedIn Company Pages Add Analytics from Mashable.com

[If you’re like me, you work hard to build your brand and build your profile through a number of social media websites. So a big part of measuring your success for the time you spend on social media is the ability to get metrics and real data behind your social media activity. Mashable reported on Wednesday that LinkedIn is now offering analytics for Company Pages set up on the site, so if your firm has a Company Page, go sign in and look for the new analytics tab in your menu.] LinkedIn added analytic support to Company Pages Wednesday, giving businesses the opportunity to track how content shared on LinkedIn performs.

And if you want to read the best material in financial planning knowledge and information over the weekend, click or tap the button below to head over to Michael Kitces’ Nerd’s Eye View blog and see the latest in Weekend Reading.

TD Ameritrade adds iRebal to the cloud and offers it for free to affiliated advisers

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Bill Winterberg in Software, Technology

TD Ameritrade’s rebalancing software will soon be available online via the cloud and at no additional cost to affiliated advisers.

In a press release today, TD Ameritrade Institutional announced that it will soon offer its proprietary iRebal® portfolio rebalancing software directly through the cloud. Also, advisers who custody assets with the custodian can access the web-based version of iRebal for free.

The new version of iRebal will be integrated with TD Ameritrade Institutional’s Veo® adviser platform (see: TD Ameritrade Institutional’s Veo® Open Access to enhance trading, fee billing, and client on-boarding processes), giving advisers access to powerful rebalancing software once reserved for desktop or server installations.

“With iRebal in Veo, advisers can reduce weeks-long processes down to minutes, putting them in a better position to pursue potential opportunities, react to changing market conditions and ultimately provide more valuable service to their clients,” said Tom Nally, president, TD Ameritrade Institutional, in the press release.

Although I have no official metrics, iRebal seemed to have leveled off in its growth of new users, so this move will no doubt put the software package back on the growth track.

Not only that, but eliminating the cost of the software for advisers who custody with TD Ameritrade Institutional should attract a significant number of the company’s 4,500 RIA custody clients.

Because of its high cost of ownership, rebalancing software has historically been within reach of only the largest RIAs.

Now with no fee, iRebal in the cloud puts significant pressure on vendors such as Tamarac, RedBlack, TRX, BlazePortfolio, and more.

The desktop version of iRebal will still be sold to “well-established” advisers, according to the press release, with pricing of a one-time $10,000 implementation fee and AUM-based pricing starting at $20,000.

TRX receives US Patent for Analysis Expert functionality

Posted on January 8, 2013 by Bill Winterberg in Software

Innovative 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 December 14

Posted on December 14, 2012 by Bill Winterberg in Bits & Bytes

Matt Abar, CEO of FinFolio

Watch today’s FPPad On Air broadcast at 4:15pm ET, as my guest will be Matt Abar, CEO of FinFolio.

Visit my Twitter profile page around 4:00pm ET for the broadcast link.

Now on to this week’s stories of interest:

Greg Friedman is set to finally bring Junxure to the cloud and beat back the Salesforce-ification of the industry from RIABiz.com

[Over 10+ years, Junxure desktop has attracted 10,000 users across 1,500 firms. It’s a great accomplishment for a niche CRM provider, but the momentum and innovation in cloud services, including cloud CRM, is challenging Junxure’s raison d’être. Will they be able to successfully pull off a transition of some or all of their users to the cloud?] As Greg Friedman takes Junxure to the cloud, he’s taking the gloves off with Salesforce — bolstered by new technology and a sense that the CRM giant is leaving much on the table in functionality and quality of service.

Surface to Air: Is Surface Going to be a Player in Financial Services? from WealthManagement.com

[Microsoft’s surface has a huge gap to close if it wants to be a contending tablet. Apple’s iPad has sold over 100 million units worldwide, and Microsoft chooses not to disclose early numbers of its Surface RT. Will the introduction of the $900 Surface Pro change anything? I doubt it.] Along with Windows 8 tablets for sale this year is Surface, a Windows 8 tablet that is meant to bully the iPad into submission. The likelihood of that in the near future? Slim, says financial services experts.

Total Rebalance Expert Integrates With Morningstar Office(SM) from MarketWatch

[Isn’t Morningstar Office supposed to be rebuilding their internal rebalancer? I’ll need to check with them once again, but for now, advisers using TRX’s rebalancer (see: Total Rebalance Expert CEO Sheryl Rowling on how rebalancing software saves advisers $325,000 per year) don’t have to wait for Morningstar anymore in the wake of this latest integration.] Total Rebalance Expert (TRX) today announced a data integration agreement with Morningstar, Inc., a leading provider of independent investment research. Now, advisors can automatically import their portfolio data from Morningstar Office(SM), a global practice and portfolio management platform for independent financial advisors, into TRX’s software platform to streamline and simplify the rebalancing process.

Half-financed by RIAs, AssetBook rolls out ‘Radar’ to put big RIAs in its range from RIABiz.com

[You’re likely aware you have alternatives in portfolio management software to the heavyweight products from Advent, Schwab, and Albridge. AssetBook, born from descendants of dbCAMS, is a very good and low-cost solution with many of the same features offered by those mentioned earlier. It’s also a service bureau, meaning you don’t need to spend each morning reconciling transactions and new positions that come in your overnight data feeds. So for less than $30/account/year, AssetBook is one to consider for advisers looking to move to the cloud and to benefit from the experience and service of a portfolio services bureau.] AssetBook Inc. has long been a niche choice for smaller RIAs looking for an affordable platform. But, with a new portfolio-reporting platform full of bells and whistles expected to roll out in the first quarter of 2013, the McHenry, Md.-based software company is luring larger firms away from more established competitors.

TD Ameritrade Institutional Earns Top Marks for Advisor Satisfaction in Financial Planning Magazine’s 2012 Tech Survey from MarketWatch

[Let’s cut to the chase: TDAI’s Veo® Open Access now has over 60 vendor integrations, received the most “very satisfied” ratings in this year’s Financial Planning Tech Survey, and services thousands of TDAI’s 4,500 RIAs. If you had to start over today and choose a new custodian, who would you choose?] TD Ameritrade Institutional’s Veo(R) open access initiative, an industry wide-effort to deliver quality technology integrations to advisors, has helped the custodian secure top scores for advisor satisfaction in this year’s Financial Planning Tech Survey.

FPPad Bits and Bytes for October 12

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Bill Winterberg 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.

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