Tag Archives: Veo

FPPad Bits and Bytes for August 17

Posted on August 17, 2012 by in Bits & Bytes

Here’s a thought; move your stuff 800 miles, update the address on all your cars, credit cards, investment accounts, etc., then prep for a two week vacation! That’s been my summer in a nutshell, stepping away only a few times to prepare the best news in financial planning technology just for you.

Here are this week’s stories of interest:

LearnVest’s Mission to Wrangle Your Personal Finances from Mashable.com

[“Weight Watchers meets personal finance” is how LearnVest founder Alexa von Tobel describes her company. Having grown to over 65 people, von Tobel describes in the video below how her goal is to help everyone sleep better at night and enrich their lives through sound financial advice.]

TD Ameritrade showcases what API can do with slick Veo-iRebal harmonization from RIABiz

[TD Ameritrade Institutional continues to expand the capabilities of its Veo® Open Access platform (see TD Ameritrade Institutional’s Veo® Open Access to enhance trading, fee billing, and client on-boarding processes). This time the custodian couples its iRebal rebalancing software with Veo’s API to streamline trade order processing and reduce manual entry errors.] TD Ameritrade Institutional has linked two of the jewels in its software crown and the combination may be a multi-carat combination — at least for the relatively small cadre of RIAs who use iRebal.

SEC Audit: Getting data out of PortfolioCenter from Krisan’s BackOffice, Inc.

[Krisan’s BackOffice, Inc. is an outsource provider for Schwab Performance Technologies® PortfolioCenter®. In this post, limited scope examination criteria from the SEC is broken down into the various fields and reports that can be used to satisfy auditors. It’s a helpful overview of how extensive even a “limited scope” request can be, and an eye-opener for advisers who insist on managing portfolio accounting software on their own.] When the SEC auditors come knocking, they usually require lengthy, detailed information about your business. Fortunately, PortfolioCenter can help — assuming you keep your PortfolioCenter database complete and accurate, and you have the right Smart Sets.

[VIDEO] thinkpipes® integration into Veo® platform enables advisers to trade options more efficiently

Posted on July 11, 2012 by in Video Spotlight

TD Ameritrade Institutional’s integration of an award-winning trading platform will help advisers manage options strategies in just a few clicks

Time and inflation are eating away at your clients’ portfolios in the current low-return market environment. In response, many of you are considering options to diversify investment strategies, hedge specific sector exposure, or increase portfolio income.

But implementing complex options strategies across hundreds of client accounts exponentially increases the resources you must allocate to traditional portfolio management.

In my latest video spotlight, I spoke with TD Ameritrade Institutional’s Jon Patullo about the company’s recent integration of thinkpipes®, named “Best for Options Traders” in 2011 by Barron’s Online Broker Survey, into the Veo® platform.

Patullo also provides a brief overview of the thinkpipes dashboard and how easy it can be to roll a set of options contracts forward across multiple accounts.

(watch thinkpipes® integration powers options trading in TD Ameritrade Institutional’s Veo® platform on YouTube)

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.

[VIDEO] TD Ameritrade Institutional’s Veo® Open Access to enhance trading, fee billing, and client on-boarding processes

Posted on June 19, 2012 by in Practice Management, Video Spotlight

Veo® Open Access, the award-winning integration platform initiative launched by TD Ameritrade Institutional last year, is getting additional upgrades this summer to further simplify advisers’ processes.

Several weeks ago, I met with Chris Valleley, director of the new Technology Solutions group for TD Ameritrade Institutional, and asked him about what’s in store for advisers currently using Veo®, the custodian’s account management and trading platform (see TD Ameritrade Institutional’s Jon Patullo discusses electronic signature and future enhancements of Veo® Open Access). The number of supporting integrations with Veo® Open Access Architecture continues to grow, now surpassing 60 vendors in all.

“Throughout the summer, we’re really focusing on those features where the vendor can push data back to Veo, [such as] things like trading and allocations,” Valleley said. (see Orion CEO discusses Veo® integration at the TD Ameritrade Institutional 2012 National Conference)

He discussed three key workflow enhancements planned for the near future: trading and rebalancing, management fees, and client on-boarding and electronic signature.

For example, Valleley highlighted how updates to Veo can streamline the quarterly process of submitting management fee invoices for accounts held at TD Ameritrade Institutional.

“Instead of creating [an intermediate] file and all the manual work that goes along with that, the [integrated portfolio management] vendor can then push the invoice directly to Veo,” he said.

Watch the full interview to get all the information on the progress TD Ameritrade Institutional is making with its integration platform.

[VIDEO] How financial advisers can compare technology integrations

Posted on June 5, 2012 by in Practice Management, Video Spotlight

Financial advisers can quickly assess technology integrations with TD Ameritrade Institutional’s analysis tool

How well does one CRM integrate with financial planning software? What about integrations between portfolio management software and rebalancing software?

To answer those questions, TD Ameritrade Institutional created the Integration Analyzer. Available to all of its affiliated advisers, Integration Analyzer quickly displays how well one software program integrates with another, and with Veo® Open Access.

For insight as to how Integration Analyzer works, I met with Chris Valleley, Director of Technology Solutions for TD Ameritrade Institutional at the custodian’s offices in Fort Worth, Texas. View the video below for the demo.

(click to view on YouTube)

thinkpipes® trading now integrated in TD Ameritrade Institutional’s Veo® adviser platform

Posted on April 19, 2012 by in Technology

Latest integration to offer advanced, highly-customizable trading capabilities based on thinkorswim technology.

Advisers can now access thinkpipes trading information directly from the Veo® platform

In a press release today, TD Ameritrade Institutional announced that it has integrated thinkpipes®, an advanced trading platform based on thinkorswim technology, into the Veo® adviser platform.

“thinkpipes is much more than a trading platform and has truly become one of the most powerful tools that we leverage day-to-day” said Donald Capone, CFA, portfolio manager at JK Financial, Inc., in the press release. “If it’s being traded on the market, I no longer have to use multiple sources for historical data or quotes. It’s all right there at your fingertips in thinkpipes.”

For more details, visit TD Ameritrade Institutional’s thinkpipes page and Veo® page.

Video Spotlight: Exclusive look at Veo® Mobile app updates for iPad from TD Ameritrade Institutional’s Jon Patullo

Posted on April 10, 2012 by in Technology, Video Spotlight

Last week you found out about TD Ameritrade Institutional’s updates to the Veo® Mobile app for ipad, including the ability to trade equities and mutual funds and stream CNBC.

Yesterday, Jon Patullo, Managing Director of Technology Product Management, gave me an exclusive tour of the app’s new features from TD Ameritrade Institutional’s offices in Fort Worth, TX. Enjoy the video.

(click to view on YouTube)

FPPad Bits and Bytes for April 6

Posted on April 6, 2012 by in Bits & Bytes

At last, good content to share with you on financial planning technology from the last week! Here are this week’s stories of interest:

TD Ameritrade makes trading on iPads for RIAs available before mobile devices from RIABiz.com

[You found out Wednesday afternoon that TD Ameritrade Institutional rolled out an update to its Veo® Mobile app for iPad that includes trading, real-time client account access, and live streaming CNBC. In Brooke Southall’s article for RIABiz, he relates some clarity from Jon Patullo on why the company decided to support trading on the popular tablet.] Following the lead of Pershing LLC and Fidelity Investments but ahead of Schwab Advisor Services, TD Ameritrade Institutional is ma king it possible for advisors to place trades for mutual funds, ETFs and equities from chairlifts and hotel lobbies using iPads.

Mobile-Management from Financial Planning

[This is a decent short overview of a few apps with which advisers are finding success with clients. Included are goalgamiPro from Advisor Software (see my intervew on goalgami with ASI’s Neal Ringquist), AdvisorView from Tamarac, and mobile apps by Orion Advisor Services.] New and powerful planning tools lets advisors such as Betty Hedrick slash the time required for both nuts-and-bolts planning, as well as the once time-consuming transactional work of managing wealth.

Also note that AdvisorOne is starting a 10-part series by Actifi’s Spenser Segal on top technology trends for advisers. The first update is just an overview of what’s to come in the future, but it’s worthwhile taking note so you don’t miss subsequent updates in the future.

TD Ameritrade Institutional enchances Veo® Mobile with trading and real-time client account access

Posted on April 4, 2012 by in Practice Management, Technology

Advisers using the Veo®  Mobile app can trade and view client account information in real time

In a press release today, TD Ameritrade Institutional announced several enhancements to mobile apps it provides for the Veo® advisor platform.

Click here to read the press release (at Marketwatch.com)

If you recall my interview with Chris Valleley, Senior Manager of Technology Product Management, he mentioned that the trading interface would be opened up to partners through Veo® Open Access, including the company’s own iRebal rebalancing software provider. Now that same trading capability has been expanded to include mobile apps available to advisers who custody assets with TD Ameritrade Institutional.

In today’s release, Jon Patullo, Managing Director of Technology Product Management commented, “In today’s volatile economic environment, advisors need to be able to stay connected while on the go and have the ability to monitor markets and manage their business anytime, anywhere.”

However, not all advisors are on board with trading via mobile devices as noted in this recent RIABiz article, Why RIAs are shunning mobile apps and why Black Diamond, Orion, Fidelity and others are still placing their chips on an iPad future.

In some circumstances, advisers may find the trading functions too limited to submit bulk trades across all client accounts or to perform sophisticated rebalancing. On the other hand, being able to conduct one-off trades while away from the home office is very convenient, and is becoming a more frequent circumstance with advisers seeking productivity from mobile apps while on the road.

Veo® Mobile is available for download from the iTunes app store.

FPPad Bits and Bytes for February 10

Posted on February 10, 2012 by in Bits & Bytes

Relatively speaking, it’s been a quiet week. It’s my first full week home in Dallas with no traveling or conference appearances, but I’ve had a big backlog of work and writing waiting for me. Much of what I did this week was edit video interviews recorded at last week’s TD Ameritrade Institutional conference. Be sure to check those out using the link below.

First up in this week’s Bits and Bytes is my February column for Morningstar Advisor, Embracing the Cloud. Think you can’t ditch the servers that run all your in-house software? Think again.

Next is coverage from last weeks’ TD Ameritrade Institutional 2012 National Conference:

View my three-part Video Spotlight series, filmed on location at the conference, then review my thoughts on electronic signature options being rolled out to advisers.

TD Ameritrade brings some Florida heat to the RIA winter from RIABiz.com

[Guest columnist Tim Welsh does a good job capturing the major themes at the custodian’s annual conference.] Building on the growing momentum of its RIA custody business, TD impressed the crowd with high-profile keynote speakers, a technology showcase, practice management gurus, elegant parties and a legendary 1970’s-era disco band.

Tech Execs Look to the Future: TD Ameritrade Conference from AdvisorOne.com

[Some of the big players in technology participated in a good panel discussion on how today’s innovations are laying the framework for exciting functionality in the future. A quick read with great quotes from the panelists.] A gathering of executives from up-and-coming, as well as established, technology companies sat with AdvisorOne at the TD Ameritrade conference in Orlando Friday morning for a discussion of the state of advisor technology, integration and where the innovation is likely headed next.

Finally, this week’s stories of interest:

Data Standards Elusive from InvestmentNews.com

[Those seeking background on common data standards and integration need only look to the mobile phone industry to witness a scrambled approach to common standards. There’s iOS, Android, WebOS, Symbian, Windows Mobile, and on and on. So really, why should the financial services industry be at all interested in developing a common standard? My take: the winner will be the one with the first mover advantage. Today, that nod goes to TD Ameritrade Institutional’s Veo Open Access initiative.] Getting a fragmented industry to agree on a common framework may be impossible.

New version of Laser App hits industry from InvestmentNews.com

[Generating paperwork is one of those seemingly unavoidable consequences of running a financial advisory business. But with more electronic form automation and e-signature acceptance by custodians, paperwork might soon go the way of the dinosaur.] One of the great quests in the advisory industry is the desire for straight through processing of forms, preferably digital forms that make printed paperwork a thing of the past.