[Disclosure: I provided marketing services to Wealthbox within the last 12 months. See all my disclosures at fppad.com/disclaimer ]
Welcome to a new FPPad fintech briefing, Here are the top fintech stories you need to know today.
Plaid Acquires Quovo
Financial account aggregation provider Plaid started off 2019 with one of the first large #fintech acquisitions, announcing earlier this week that it will acquire Quovo, a competing account aggregation company, in a deal that Bloomberg reported could be worth roughly $200 million dollars after performance bonuses are factored in to the price.
Most consumers aren’t aware of Plaid, as the company focuses on helping other financial applications such as Venmo, Betterment, and Robinhood, connect to customer bank and credit card accounts in order to verify account information. According to a company blog post, Plaid will use the Quovo acquisition to expand its data aggregation capabilities to include investment and brokerage accounts.
SEC Fines Wealthfront and Hedgeable
In regulatory news, the Securities and Exchange Commission took its first enforcement actions on two automated investment services, commonly referred to as robo-advisors, as it fined both Wealthfront and Hedgeable for making false statements in marketing materials to potential customers.
The SEC fined Wealthfront $250,000 dollars for claiming the company would avoid all wash-sale transactions in its tax-loss harvesting algorithms, when three years of trading history showed that wash sales were indeed triggered in at least 31 percent of customer accounts. The SEC also issued an $80,000 fine to Hedgeable for allegedly misleading portfolio performance reports that included performance data from less than 4 percent of client accounts.
Wealthbox Releases All-New Mobile App for iOS
And finally, in CRM news for financial advisers this week, Wealthbox announced the release of an all-new mobile app for iOS devices. The mobile companion to Wealthbox CRM supports Touch ID or Face ID for account authentication, single-tap quick actions for frequently used functions, support for native dictation, and more.
Here’s Steve Carroll, Product Manager for Wealthbox, with more information:
The all-new Wealthbox Mobile app is completely rebuilt and and redesigned for today’s modern financial advisor. This companion app is completely in sync with the full-featured functionality the web-based Wealthbox product, and has many convenient mobile features like bio authentication and native dictation for advisors on the go.
For more information on this news and more, head over to FPPad.com/flashbriefing to find the links to today’s top stories.
Disclosure: Wealthbox and its owner Starburst Labs have purchased marketing services from Bill Winterberg in the last 12 months. See all disclosures here: fppad.com/disclaimer
Welcome to a new FPPad fintech briefing, Here are the top fintech stories you need to know today.
Robinhood Outage Impacts Options Trading
It was a tough week for Robinhood, the zero-commission stock and cryptocurrency trading app, as the company first suffered a significant outage related to stock option trading on Wednesday December 12th.
According to a Business Insider article, a Robinhood spokesperson said the outage impacted “a smaller percentage of customers” and trading was limited, “as a precautionary measure.”
Nevertheless, a number of Robinhood users voiced their frustration on Twitter, posting a series of tweets showing rejected option trades in their accounts and complaining of losses they felt they realized due to the outage in trading.
Robinhood Rescinds “Checking and Savings” Feature
Then on Thursday, Robinhood announced a new brokerage feature it called “Checking and Savings,” that promised a 3% interest rate on cash, support for bill pay and direct deposit, all of which Robinhood claimed was insured under SIPC protection.
But in response to swift industry backlash, Robinhood removed all of its marketing material for “Checking and Savings” just 36 hours later and replaced it with a reference to potential “cash management” features to be released at a later time. The most concerning feedback surrounding the feature launch came from SIPC president and CEO Stephen Harbeck, who went on the record to say that he doubted cash deposited for the Checking and Savings feature would be covered and insured under the non-government member agency’s rules and requirements.
TD Ameritrade Institutional and Wealthbox CRM Automate Account Openings
And switching gears to fintech news for financial advisers, Wealthbox, the provider of CRM solutions for advisers, announced a new automated account opening feature integrated with TD Ameritrade Institutional’s Veo platform.
The integration allows advisers using Wealthbox CRM to pre-fill client information into Veo and Veo One account-opening forms directly from the contact record page in Wealthbox.
Here’s Wealthbox CEO John Rourke with more:
Wealthbox continues to fathom the depths of Veo One integration resulting in fewer steps.
For advisers to help investors the Wealthbox app is a breeze.
From millennials to empty nesters, opening new accounts is now done with ease.
For more information on this news and more, head over to FPPad.com/flashbriefing to find the links to today’s top stories.
I’m Bill Winterberg, and those are your fintech headlines for today from FPPad.com. Check back in with me later for more fintech news.
Welcome to the FPPad fintech briefing, Here are the top fintech stories you need to know today.
eMoney Advisor introduces Tamarac integration
eMoney Advisor, the popular financial planning software used by advisors, announced earlier this week that the company completed its integration with the Tamarac platform, which allows both advisors AND clients to view detailed portfolio information directly in the eMoney platform. This means advisors can easily access their Tamarac Reporting™ information in the eMoney dashboard, but clients can also view more detailed portfolio management and performance information from Tamarac when they log in using their secure client portal.
Tolerisk adds integration with Wealthbox CRM
In risk tolerance news, Tolerisk also announced its own new integration with Wealthbox CRM, allowing advisors to automatically import information about clients and prospects from Wealthbox to quickly set up new risk tolerance assessment questionnaires. Founded in 2014 by Mark Friedenthal, Tolerisk aims to quantify not only an investor’s ability to take risk in their portfolio, but also quantify their WILLINGNESS to take risk based on a standardized risk assessment process.
Finworx launches Finworx360
And finally, another newcomer to the client risk assessment space called Finworx announced the launch of Finworx360, billed as a behavioral finance assessment tool to help advisors better understand their clients’ decisions when it comes to investing. I connected with Finworx CEO Jeremy Floyd to learn more about what Finworx360 offers for advisors.
For over a year, our team has been polishing the behavioral risk survey and investor persona approach to understand the growing trends and behavioral biases, and to gain more comprehensive insights. Finworx360 is a result of our research, and it offers a whole new level of focus, simplicity, and accessibility to a broader audience.
To get links to all the details on today’s stories, visit fppad.com/flashbriefing
I’m Bill Winterberg, and those are your fintech headlines for today from FPPad.com, be sure to check back in with me later for more fintech news.
Disclosure: Wealthbox compensated me to help create the marketing video for the launch of Wealthbox 3
Welcome to the FPPad fintech briefing, Here are the top fintech stories you need to know today.
AdvicePay Launches with Support for Credit Card and ACH Billing
If you’ve wanted to take credit card or ACH payments for financial planning fee, there’s a new solution for you. AdvicePay just launched its payment processing solution this week for advisors who charge clients directly for financial planning fees instead of deducting a percentage of assets held by a custodian. Prior to AdvicePay, planners most likely received payments by check, as payment processors like PayPal and Stripe don’t work with financial advisory business, citing regulatory concerns. AdvicePay has over 280 advisors already using the platform and charges $50 a month per advisor plus transaction processing fees.
In the 401(k) retirement plan space, Vestwell announced it will offer a select list of investment options under Morningstar Investment Management ‘s fiduciary services program. This partnership comes as Vestwell continues to make progress in the retirement plan space with its technology platform that helps employers and plan sponsors offer affordable, diversified investment options to employees while helping plan administrators also meet their fiduciary responsibilities to plan participants.
Wealthbox Launches Wealthbox 3
And in CRM news, Wealthbox CRM just announced the launch of its latest version of the advisor CRM called Weathbox 3. To mark the occasion, I joined Team Wealthbox as they sabered a bottle of champagne in a video that you just have to watch! But first, here’s Wealthbox cofounder Dan Ferranti on the new features advisors will find in Wealthbox 3:
To get links to all the details on today’s stories, visit fppad.com/flashbriefing
I’m Bill Winterberg, and those are your fintech headlines for today from FPPad.com, be sure to check back in with me later for more fintech news.
Starburst Labs, the creators of Wealthbox CRM, raised $6.25 million in new capital
The XY Planning Network inks an enterprise pricing deal with eMoney Advisor
Morgan Stanley pays a $13 million settlement for billing mistakes across 149,000 customer accounts, and
Document management provider Cabinet Paperless gets acquired by PSIGEN Software
Starburst Labs raises $6.25 million in new capital
This week, Starburst Labs, which is the New York City-based company (formerly known as Gotham Tech Labs) that makes Wealthbox CRM, announced it raised $6.25 million in Series A funding. Back in December when the Financial Planning Magazine technology survey came out, Wealthbox CRM was one of the few movers and shakers in that survey who rose up the ranks in overall adoption. Most of the other companies basically stayed in the same positions as in previous surveys.
So Wealthbox CRM basically launched from zero on February 11th 2014 (which I remember because February 11th is my birthday) and in under three years has ascended to the level of industry adoption to compete with well-known CRMs like Redtail, Salesforce, and Junxure.
What’s interesting, though, is that Starburst has three other products in addition to Wealthbox CRM which are InvestorSay, an online community centered around investing ideas, PaperTrade.io, a plugin for simulated stock trading contests, and Wealthbase, a question and answer website that reminds me a lot of Quora.
So the Series A funding won’t exclusively support Wealthbox CRM, because I’m sure it’ll be allocated across all four products, but at least the new investment will do more than just keep the lights on at Starburst’s SoHo offices. Now, they don’t have a personal chef on site, but the offices are more than adequate to support the work the team needs to get done.
And don’t forget, Wealthbox CRM is included in the technology package for anyone who is a member of the XY Planning Network, which is growing at its own eye-opening pace, so I’m not at all concerned that the product might go away anytime soon. An acquisition is a whole other story, but that’s a risk you take with any independent technology provider you use in your business, and isn’t a risk that’s exclusive to Wealthbox CRM.
So with that, let me just say that I believe Wealthbox CRM deserves a little more respect and recognition in the industry for the adoption it has already earned among advisors in just a few years.
The XY Planning Network inks pricing deal with eMoney Advisor
emX pro is the top of the line package that offers planning modules for cash flow, estate, investment, and retirement illustrations above and beyond the client portal and account aggregation in the less expensive tiers.
Retail pricing for emX pro is around $3800 a year, so enterprise pricing probably knocks off 10 to 20 percent, but it doesn’t bring the price down to the $1000 a year range for planning software like MoneyGuidePro and inStream that offer pricing discounts to XYPN members.
Morgan Stanley pays a $13 million settlement for billing mistakes
I have two more quick stories worth mentioning: First, I saw that Morgan Stanley was ordered to pay $13 million to settle civil charges brought by the SEC after the Commission found that more than 149,000 clients were charged excess fees of more than $16 million between 2002 and 2016 as the result of billing errors. The firm also failed to comply with custody rules by not conducting surprise audits on client accounts for which the firm had custody.
So accurate billing is one of those things than often goes under appreciated inside your advisory business. If you have robust portfolio accounting systems like Orion, Envestnet | Tamarac, Advent, AssetBook, and others, it’s probably built in and pretty seamless. But I know some firms still calculate fees using custom Excel spreadsheets, and if that’s you, this action against Morgan Stanley should be a reminder for you that it’s probably time to replace your Excel spreadsheets with a more robust and less error-prone accounting system.
Cabinet Paperless gets acquired by PSIGEN Software
Someone challenged me last week about why I think advisers are behind on technology adoption, and when I think of document management, this one of the solutions where I think I’m correct in that a minority of advisors have purchased and implemented a robust solution here. Your top contenders here are Laserfiche, Cabinet, NetDocuments, and possibly Sharepoint if you can justify the cost and customization required to make it work right in your firm.
Soapbox: Incremental Care > Acute Care
So moving on, I didn’t come across any cool or disconcerting apps this week to share, so i’ll get right to the soapbox to wrap up this week’s update.
Sometime in the next few days, I hope you’ll take about 20 to 25 minutes to read an essay in the New Yorker by Dr. Atul Gawande about incremental care, or primary care, and the differences and tradeoffs of that kind of physician interaction compared to acute care, or the interaction one might receive from a specialist.
Yes, there are some connections with health insurance and health insurance , but this essay helped me set aside my own political believes and consider what I want from my long-term healthcare interactions.
I’m one of the fortunate ones; my wife works for a big employer that offers a high deductible plan with subsidized premiums and very good coverage. I try not to loose sight of how much of a privilege it is not to have to worry each year about our family’s coverage. But that’s not true for millions of americans nationwide. And I’m sure many of your clients, especially your small business owners, spend a lot of time each year evaluating some very difficult choices around the coverage for their employees, as well as coverage for their own household. Many of you, as owners of independent RIAs, are in the same boat.
So that’s why this essay was a compelling read for me. It was worth 25 minutes of my time, and I hope you’ll find it’s worth your time, too.
I’ve linked to all of this week’s featured stories over on my website, so be sure to check them out over at fppad.com/203
And that wraps up this week’s broadcast on the best in advisor technology and more. If you have something to say, or have a story you think should be featured in a future episode, please send me a tweet on Twitter, I’m @billwinterberg, or if you’re not already receiving my email newsletter, you can sign up at fppad.com/subscribe
Thank you so much for *reading*, I’m Bill Winterberg, see you next time.
On today’s broadcast, Wealthbox CRM releases 5 new integrations, Orion sends portfolio information to clients via text message, Morningstar ByAllAccounts introduces a new client portal, and more.
[This week’s top story comes from Wealthbox CRM, as the company took advantage of a Cinco de Mayo theme to announce five new integrations on 5/5. The new integrations include TD Ameritrade Institutional’s Veo Open Access, Riskalyze, Orion Advisor Services, Microsoft Office 365, and Zapier. If Zapier sounds familiar, that’s because you heard about it in last week’s episode, unless you missed it, which means you should take a few minutes to watch it and get caught up.
This is great news from Wealthbox CRM, as many advisors I know were discouraged from using it in the past because it lacked integrations with many core technology solutions. With that objection out of the way, you should update your due diligence matrix to see which CRM is the best fit for your business objectives over the next few years.] Today we’re happy to announce five new Wealthbox CRM integrations with leading technology partners.
[Next up is news from Orion Advisor Services, as this week the portfolio accounting service provider announced a new app called Notifications. Once clients register their mobile number using the Orion client portal, Notifications uses text messages to provide updates like your clients’ portfolio balance, performance information, or even RMDs. Oh, and for you compliance officers watching, all of the messaging are automated, meaning there is no personal communication between the client and the advisor.
Ever since I saw the Penny App at last year’s FinCon event, I’ve been waiting for an advisor fintech provider to roll out text messaging for updates to clients, and correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure Orion is the first provider to do it.
Now one drawback I see is that clients need to learn special keywords like BAL, PERF, ADV to get information, so my challenge Brad and his team, you remember Brad, the potato chip guy from one of my vlogs, is to add in support for natural language processing so I can just ask the app, “What is my portfolio balance?” Sorry Brad!] Orion Advisor Services, LLC (“Orion”), a premier portfolio accounting service provider for financial advisors, is announcing the launch of the Notifications app, which allows advisors to communicate with clients more directly by sending portfolio updates and scheduling meetings all via a text alert platform.
[And finally, news from Morningstar wraps up this week’s broadcast as the company’s aggregation service, ByAllAccounts, released a personal financial management portal for advisors and clients.
The new portal is available as a complete solution with customized branding for your firm, or if you already use a portal or online dashboard from other providers, you can choose from a number of the ByAllAccounts portal elements to use as stand-alone tools. For this reason, pricing is going to depend based on your needs for a solution, but whatever you pay, account aggregation from ByAllAccounts is included for an unlimited number of clients and accounts.
But there are some caveats you should know: First, the aggregation data is not intended for data reconciliation, so it’s not suitable for detailed portfolio performance information. Reconciliation-ready data is part of the the traditional ByAllAccounts aggregation service.
Second, a minimum number of licenses are required to use the portal, so today, this solution targeted for the mid- to large RIAs and broker-dealers, yet I’m optimistic that over time ByAllAccounts can offer pricing and functionality that is attractive to advisors of all sizes.] Morningstar, Inc., a leading provider of independent investment research, today launched a new personal financial management portal in the firm’s account aggregation service, Morningstar® ByAllAccounts.
Here are the stories that didn’t make this week’s broadcast:
Demonstrating the intensifying race to dominate adviser technology, Pershing broadened the scope of its B2B digital advice offerings, announcing on Wednesday it was bringing startups SigFig, Vanare and Invesco’s Jemstep Advisor Pro onto its platform that also includes the still-developing robo Marstone.
Peter, Nick, and I are excited to announce that Cloak is now part of StackPath, a still-stealthy startup based in Dallas, Texas that has bold plans for online security.
Laserfiche today announced the availability of Laserfiche 10.1. The latest enterprise content management (ECM) offering builds on the features and resources of Laserfiche 10, released in January 2016, further enhancing teamwork and collaboration, refining case management capabilities and extending business analytics.
On today’s broadcast, learn about the technology one planner selected to launch his new RIA, SigFig launches a free portfolio guidance algorithm for investors, and find out what happens when Tony Robbins mentions your firm in his best-selling book.
Today’s episode is brought to you by ITEGRIA, providers of complete outsourced technology support, security, infrastructure and IT solutions exclusively for RIAs.
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 weeks top story comes from Michael Kitces’ Nerd’s Eye View, as this week Kitces featured a guest post from financial planner Andrew McFadden. McFadden tells how he was inspired to launch his own RIA after reading a post by Gen Y planner Sophia Bera about her own experience. He recently launched Panoramic Financial Advice for roughly $7,000 and provided a helpful overview of the technology he selected to get his business up and running.
First, McFadden chose Less Annoying CRM after evaluating Redtail and Wealthbox, because of the CRM’s customization options and low price of just $10 a month. Less Annoying CRM does integrate with Google Apps and Mailchimp, but it doesn’t offer integrations to industry programs like financial planning or portfolio management software. But that’s ok, because McFadden didn’t need to buy portfolio management software, as he opted to leverage the services of third-party money manager Frontier Asset Management which uses Fidelity as its custodian.
For planning engagements, McFadden gathers client data using PreciseFP, builds financial plans using MoneyGuidePro, communicates with remote clients via Skype, and gathers electronic signatures using Adobe EchoSign.
So think about the advisors in your business: For $7,000 and a lot of hustling, practically anyone can start new RIA from scratch. So if you’re not investing in your people, your technology, and your compensation plan so that there’s upside potential in your business, don’t be surprised if you witness breakaways from your firm as advisors decide to go out on their own.] Launching a business is hard enough in any industry, but getting through the requirements for setting up an RIA and figuring out the necessary technology vendors and software to have in place when starting a firm can be especially daunting.
[Next up is news from SigFig, another player in the online automated investment service arena, that launched a new feature this week called SigFig Guidance. SigFig Guidance uses an online questionnaire and account aggregation to identify an investor’s current portfolio and risk tolerance, and then proceeds to diagnose common problems in the portfolio. SigFig Guidance looks for things like high fees, uninvested cash, excessive risk, and poor diversification, and then offers portfolio recommendations generated by SigFig’s algorithms, all for free.
So does this sound like a second opinion service or a portfolio checkup? That’s because it is. So if you’ve been using a second opinion incentive to attract prospects to your business, you might need to modify your process in light of this new competition.] SigFig, the fastest and most convenient automated investment service, today launched ‘SigFig Guidance’, a free investment tool specifically designed to analyze any portfolio in less than five minutes, offering unbiased, actionable suggestions to optimize returns and reduce fees.
[And speaking of portfolio checkups, this week’s broadcast ends with another new portfolio checkup service, only this one is offered by Stronghold Financial out of San Diego. Now where have I heard that name before? Oh, yes, Stronghold Financial is the business that motivational speaker Tony Robbins promoted in his book, “Money: Master the Game” published back in November, and the firm is led by Robbins’ own advisor Ajay Gupta, which created a bit of controversy on its own.
That aside, what happens when your firm gets mentioned in a New York Times best selling book? You get flooded with leads. In response, Stronghold now offers a free Portfolio Checkup service on its website that uses account aggregation powered by Jemstep in the back end, but instead of taking on thousands of new clients itself, Stronghold is referring those clients out to roughly 100 financial advisors who are part of the Stronghold network, and in return, those advisors pay 25% of the fees generated by each referral back to Stronghold.
So if you feel like your lead generation could use a boost from riding the coattails of Tony Robbins, this is an interesting option to consider at the least, or you could implement Jemstep on your own for a lower fee, but be totally responsible for your own lead generation campaign.] Stronghold Financial, the advisory firm that found itself at the center of controversy last fall because of its ties to self-help guru Tony Robbins, believes its robo-matchmaking service is ready for prime time.
There were no other of stories of interest this week, so enjoy an early start to your weekend!
On today’s broadcast, Upside Advisor teams up with a high-profile RIA. Will this partnership do anything to slow the growth of the $(!#-advisers? Redtail CRM previews the new version of its popular CRM. Will the design and feature changes be enough to attract advisors that are using aging systems? And, broker-dealers aren’t turning a blind eye to technology. Find out which firms are investing heavily to boost the efficiency of their representatives.
Today’s episode is brought to you by Wealthbox CRM. Version 1.6 is now available featuring automated workflows, templates for routine processes, and progress updates all on one screen!
[First up this week is an announcement from Ritholtz Wealth Management, the New York RIA headed by The Big Picture blogger Barry Ritholtz and Josh Brown, aka The Reformed Broker, who released a new web-based offering to emerging clients called Liftoff. Liftoff is a white-labeled version of the $(!#-adviser solution, uh, ok, online investment solution from Upside Advisor, which I introduced to you back in episode 136.
For around 40 basis points, Liftoff provides automated asset allocation recommendations to clients who want to get started with investing, but don’t yet have enough assets to qualify for a one-on-one relationship with Ritholtz’s advisors. Upside Advisor is just the latest $(!#-adviser, oh, right, online investment provider to join this space, as they’re going up against competing solutions like Wealthfront, Personal Capital, Betterment, Learnvest, Guide Financial, JemStep, Orion Discover; I can’t keep them all straight!
So today you’re faced with a choice: will you sit on the sidelines to see how these low-cost automated solutions play out, or will you partner with a low-cost provider to offer an investment solution for your emerging clients?] Upside, a technology company providing a digital advisor platform to investment advisors, today announced a new partnership with Ritholtz Wealth Management (RWM).
[Next up is a review of Redtail CRM and its third major product update to its software called Project Tailwag. In his October column for Financial Planning magazine, Joel Bruckenstein gives a very favorable review of the redesign and feature enhancements to the industry’s most widely used CRM.
Users will soon have access to a clean, flat design that’s easier to use, and it’s also responsive, as it adjusts to screens of any size from desktops to smartphones. Contact records feature a timeline of client interactions, and important details like contact information and activities and workflows are just a single click away.
Whether you use Redtail CRM or an alternative solution such as Junxure, Salesforce, Wealthbox, and others, these are the types of features and functionality you’re going to need if you expect to cultivate meaningful relationships with clients and differentiate yourself from the $(!#-advisers, uh, I mean, online investment providers.] Redtail Technology just released a major upgrade to its popular CRM application. Dubbed Project Tailwag, this version of Redtail — only the third upgrade in the company’s 12-year history — offers a host of new enhancements.
[And finally, Joel Bruckenstien once again wraps up this week’s top stories with a technology update from the nation’s leading broker-dealers firms. In his column for Financial Advisor magazine, Bruckenstein highlights LPL Financial’s announcement of ClientWorks, the successor to the existing BranchNet platform that I covered in episode 137, an updated portfolio reporting solution and Client Center dashboard from Raymond James, updates to Commonwealth Financial Network’s Client Household 360 Dashboard and Practice360 business dashboard, and the AIG Advisor Group’s pending release of a mobile version of Salesforce and with integrated Salesforce work flows.
Clearly these broker-dealer firms are investing heavily in technology to boost the capabilities of their representatives, especially as they face increasing competition from all of the $(!#-adviser, ugh, online solutions out there.] The pace of technological innovation has never been greater. Independent broker-dealer firms continue to invest to keep up with the competition, offering advisors and end clients a better experience.
Here are the stories that didn’t make this week’s broadcast:
Smarsh®, the leading provider of hosted archiving solutions for compliance and e-discovery, today announced the Smarsh Archiving Platform now offers enhanced support for Instagram.
For those of you with property, Personal Capital has come out with a great new feature that will help you keep track of your real estate investments with Zillow.
On today’s broadcast, find out who earned the most buzz at the industry’s top technology conference this week. Which custodian just joined the integration arms race? Which partnership will put downward pricing pressure on account aggregation costs? And who launched a new social CRM with an all-out media blitz?
[Unless you’ve been buried in snow or covered in ice, you probably know that T3, the industry’s top technology conference for advisors, was held in southern California this week. There are too many new companies and press releases to cover in just one broadcast, so here are the stories I feel are most relevant for you.] T3 2014 is the place to be and be seen for all things financial adviser technology
[First is an update from SEI, the investment outsourcing provider, who just announced a new strategic partnership to bring integrations to its SEI Wealth Platform(SM). By the end of 2014, SEI will integrate an automated workflow solution using Redtail CRM and MoneyGuidePro financial planning software, all powered by workflows customized by ActiFi. While advisors will need to subscribe to Redtail and MoneyGuidePro, workflows will be available to the nearly 6,000 advisors who work with SEI at no additional cost. This partnership will likely boost SEI’s profile among institutional custodians known for their technology integrations that help advisors run more efficient businesses.] SEI announces strategic partnerships and enters the integration arms race dominated by four leading custodians
[Next up is news from MoneyGuidePro, who told a packed house at T3 that the financial planning software program will soon provide account aggregation capabilities through a new integration with Yodlee, the largest data platform provider in financial services. When I mention account aggregation, you probably think of companies like ByAllAccounts, Fiserv’s CashEdge, or perhaps even Intuit, but these solutions are often too expensive for many growing RIAs to implement.
With the new MoneyGuidePro and Yodlee integration, advisors will be able to aggregate data from over 12,000 financial institutions for an introductory price of $365 per year. <That’s right, it’s just a dollar per day!> Expect the Yodlee integration to rollout during the second quarter of 2014.] Popular MoneyGuidePro financial planning software to aggregate held away accounts through a new Yodlee integration
[And rounding out my abridged coverage of T3 is the launch of a new platform designed to help advisors embrace social collaboration tools in their business. The platform is Wealthbox CRM, which deployed an all-out media blitz this week, including the sponsorship of this week’s broadcast, to get the product in front of advisors.
There are about a dozen CRM vendors in the marketplace, so financial advisors could stand to benefit from a few more choices among providers. And what makes Wealthbox CRM unique is the embedded realtime collaboration functions, better known under the banner of Social CRM.
Wealthbox CRM lets you tag clients and employees in status updates, just like you would when tagging friends or contacts on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. You can use those tags along with other information displayed in the CRM’s activity stream to find out what you should be doing for clients, what employees are doing for clients, and what clients are saying on their social media profiles.
The Social CRM feature is just one of many in the new product, and Wealthbox CRM’s introductory price of $29 per month per user places it squarely between the affordable CRM from Redtail and premium pricing from CRMs like Junxure Cloud and Salesforce.] CRMs powered by social collaboration and real-time updates could be the next game-changer in the industry.
And here are stories that didn’t make it into this week’s broadcast:
Raymond James Financial, Inc. has partnered with HiddenLevers, the portfolio stress testing toolkit, to provide macro research, scenario modeling and predictive risk analytics. Now, any of Raymond James’ 5,400 US-based advisors can subscribe to HiddenLevers to proactively discuss potential economic and market scenarios with clients, and gauge the impact on individual investment portfolios.
Wealthbox CRM wants to deliver “Social CRM” to financial advisers
Social CRM for financial advisers ushers in a new paradigm in managing client relationships
Your day begins with quick glance at your mobile device. Open an app and you see that six of your clients are traveling for business, two of them overseas. Another client just revealed that her daughter’s volleyball team won a regional championship.
At first it sounds like you’re checking your Facebook feed. Or perhaps you’re swiping through lists on Twitter.
But in fact, you’re checking your social CRM.
Social CRM for Financial Advisers
Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and more attract billions of users month after month by aggregating updates from your professional, personal, and social connections.
So why not build the same functionality into CRM software, the technology advisers use the most day after day?
Wealthbox CRM
One startup doing so is New York City-based Gotham Tech Labs with the introduction of Wealthbox CRM.
I reviewed the final beta version of Wealthbox CRM prior to its general release announced at this week’s 2014 T3 Conference and provided my impressions in this month’s Morningstar Advisor column.
