Tag Archives: Bits & Bytes

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.

 

FPPad Bits and Bytes for February 3

Posted on February 3, 2012 by in Bits & Bytes

Today is the final day of the TD Ameritrade Institutional 2012 National Conference. I’m appearing on an all-star technology panel along with Davis Janowski of InvestmentNews, Joel Bruckenstein, Publisher of Technology Tools for Today, and Andy Gluck, President & Editor of Advisors4Advisors.

Follow the #TDAI2012 hashtag on Twitter for real-time conference updates. Will there be some fireworks emanating from this event? We’ll see.

But in the meantime, enjoy this week’s best technology stories from around the financial planning industry:

Laserfiche user conference draws a big crowd that wants to toss filing cabinets from RIABiz.com

[You saw my updates from the conference last week, so add this review from Nexus Strategy’s Tim Welsh to round out the perspective of Laserfiche’s annual user conference.] Showing off the user-base muscle of the firm’s 30,000 customers, the Laserfiche Empower 2012 conference convened at the Anaheim (Calif.) Marriott over three days, Jan. 25 to Jan. 27.

inStream, in the Moment from Financial-Planning.com

[The secret’s out on one new tool that has the potential to change most financial planners’ value proposition. Instead of reacting to the planning needs and questions of clients, startup inStream Solutions offers ways planners can be proactive with clients.] While it’s early in the game, inStream Solutions might be next in this line of financial planning software innovators. It’s a free, goal- and cloud-based planning solution for financial professionals. That’s right, free.

FPPad Bits and Bytes for January 27

Posted on January 27, 2012 by in Bits & Bytes

Today is the final day of Laserfiche Empower 2012, where I’m taking in all I can regarding the company’s latest updates to their document management platform. See my prior posts on the event here:

I also created three mini broadcasts of conference highlights from my phone. Listen to them on my FlipZu page: http://flipzu.com/billwinterberg

 

In the meantime, I’ve been collecting the best stories in financial planning technology from around the web this week. Here are this week’s stories of interest:

Mobile Apps: Clients Want Them, Wealth Managers Are Developing Them from Financial-Planning.com

[You can’t ignore the impact mobile devices are making in the way you run your business. I bet over half of your clients have some kind of mobile device, so are you ready to provide service to them using these new channels?] The wealth management industry is adjusting to clients who increasingly expect that they should have anytime, anywhere access to their account information, according to a new study.

Another tool to help re-balance the books from InvestmentNews.com

[Next to document management software, rebalancing software is likely a guaranteed triple-digit ROI for any financial planning firm performing decent trading volume. Here Davis Janowski scoops a new product called RebalanceMax that’s priced well below the market dominators like Tamarac and iRebal.] Financial adviser Rich Chambers set up a side business, Advisor Innovation Inc. (advisorinnovation.com), to finish development of RebalanceMax and begin selling it to advisers on a commercial basis.

10 Top Tech Trends for BDs: FSI OneVoice 2012 from AdvisorOne.com

[James Green provides a decent, but short, list of ten tech trends discussed in a heavyweight panel discussion at FSI OneVoice 2012. Some trends are succinct and all-too-familiar to RIAs, but it’s a good list to keep in the back of your mind. “Integration” appears twice, and Salesforce Chatter is not a social media tool for use with clients; rather, it’s for internal discussion with firm team members.] At the annual Financial Services Institute’s OneVoice conference in Orlando, Fla., on Tuesday, Spenser Segal, CEO of ActiFi, moderated a discussion meant to inform the attending independent broker-dealer executives about the 10 top technology trends that are affecting IBDs already and those that are likely to do so in the near future.

FPPad Bits and Bytes for January 20: Google Plus edition!

Posted on January 20, 2012 by in Bits & Bytes

It’s “G-Day” for advisers, so today’s Bits and Bytes update has been posted to Google+.

Go see it: https://plus.google.com/109199896143956110609/posts/gwbgaSU3F8T

FPPad Bits and Bytes for January 13

Posted on January 13, 2012 by in Bits & Bytes

Atlanta, Omaha, Las Vegas, Los Angeles…

That describes my homes away from home for the week leading up to and following today. While I didn’t have time to address some of the news that’s come across my wires, I still put together my Bits and Bytes list so you can quickly scan what’s going on in financial planning technology.

Here are this week’s stories of interest:

Erado Shatters 2011 Growth Projection from MarketWatch.com

[I’d like to say I played a part in Erado’s success, what with all the mentions here on FPPad and in my social media compliance presentations delivered across the country. Even so, all the marketing and buzz does nothing if the product fails to deliver on a fundamental need: automated, no-thought capture and archiving of social media messages posted by registered investment advisers and broker-dealer representatives.] Erado, the nation’s leading compliance and archiving firm in electronic communication, formally announces their record-shattering growth in 2011. Amongst many other key milestones, Erado added over 30 new broker-dealer clients and partners, provided social media compliance services to over 40,000 advisors, and will be hiring more employees from the area.

Keeping Files In The Cloud from the Wall Street Journal

[This is a preview of a larger story to which I contributed several ideas on best practices advisers should follow when deciding to use cloud services for file storage. You can view the full article with a free trial to Dow Jones NewsPlus.] Advisers are increasingly turning to Web-based services to hold business-related information, for the convenience of accessing it from anywhere. Some use simpler storage sites, while others are contracting a comprehensive document-management system based in the cloud, which may actually make it easier for advisers to meet some regulatory obligations.

Mercer Advisors Due Diligence Team Selects Orion Advisor Services as Portfolio Accounting Service Partner from MarketWatch.com

[With just one client, Orion effectively boosted its assets under administration by almost 6%. The competition is getting serious between the industry’s top service providers!] Orion Advisor Services, LLC was selected as the outsourced portfolio accounting partner by Mercer Advisors, a total wealth management firm with $3.5 billion in assets under management as of September 2011. The Mercer Advisors due diligence team includes 10 individuals that made on-site visits to a number of portfolio accounting service bureaus, including Orion.

FPPad Bits and Bytes for January 6

Posted on January 6, 2012 by in Bits & Bytes

Happy New Year! I’m on the road already, traveling to Atlanta and Omaha over the next week, followed by Las Vegas for the AICPA Advanced PFP conference. Here are this week’s stories of interest:

The Largest RIAs Race to Scale from Financial-Planning.com

[So you want to be a $1 billion firm: what do you need to do to get there? Hire great talent, differentiate yourself from your competition, and scale your technology. Easier said than done, based on feedback from some of the largest RIAs in the industry gathered by FP’s Ann Marsh.] Over the past 30 years, the fee-based RIA space has grown by leaps and bounds, from zero to close to $2 trillion in cumulative assets under management. That number is still dwarfed by the $9.3 trillion that research firm Cerulli & Associates estimates is in the hands of full-service brokerages, insurers, trust companies and banks. But the figures look poised to eventually flip as RIAs work to address their top challenges: boosting their efficiency, customizing their technology and differentiating themselves from the competition.

LPL makes big advance into the RIA business with Fortigent acquisition from RIABiz.com

[Why should RIAs cater to high-net-worth individuals? Well, that’s where the money (e.g. revenue) is. Let us hope that after LPL’s acquisition of Fortigent, the company can truly apply its newly-acquired service model ‘down market’ in the words of Brooke Southall.] After a month of rumblings, LPL Financial made official its intent to acquire Fortigent, LLC, a top outsourcer of high-net-worth solutions and consulting services to RIAs, banks and trust companies.

Who’s Afraid of Social Media? from Financial-Planning.com

[Look, satisfying compliance requirements when using social media does not require a degree in rocket science. Yes, regulatory requirements might be ambiguous, but by applying common sense principles and some clever uses of technology (e.g. automated archiving services), advisers can successfully engage in this new dialogue without fearing the regulatory hammer.] Social media compliance is a subject that elicits a range of reactions from planners, from groans to cautious, curious questions. But Leia Farmer, the deputy chief compliance officer at Securities America, is excited about it.

FPPad Bits and Bytes for December 30

Posted on December 30, 2011 by in Bits & Bytes

Happy New Year!

Here is this week’s story of interest:

Early adopters of social media, RIAs are growing disenchanted with its power to drum up new business from RIABiz.com

[I said it on Twitter and I’ll repeat it here: advisers looking for a quick score on social media should look elsewhere. Social media is an extension of brand awareness and relationship building that firms have been doing for decades.] Registered investment advisors have embraced the world of social media earlier and with more zeal than their competitors in the last couple of years. But as a result, they are more quickly discovering its limitations.

FPPad Bits and Bytes for December 23

Posted on December 23, 2011 by in Bits & Bytes

I hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday. Here are this week’s stories of interest:

How Black Diamond is faring as a unit of Advent Software from RIABiz.com

[So if you’re a disgruntled adviser on Advent’s legacy software, which new provider are you going to consider? Now that Advent owns Black Diamond, it seems like a no-brainer that advisers will make the transition to the web-based solution with little or no transition cost.] Since the Jacksonville, Fla.-based up-and-comer in portfolio accounting software was purchased back in early June by the San Francisco-based market leader, it has increased the number of advisory practices it serves to 330 from 270, an increase of about 22%.

TD to work on workflows for third-party technology partners from InvestmentNews.com

[This is a good, mid-week submission from Davis Janowski about TD Ameritrade’s efforts to provide sample workflows to advisors using Veo Open Access.] TD Ameritrade Institutional has completed an agreement with technology consultancy Actifi Inc. to help it build automated workflows for TD’s Veo Open Access platform.