News

Cloud version of Junxure on the way

Written by David Janowski, InvestmentNews Monday, 25 June 2012

Junxure, a CRM application popular among registered investment advisers, is heading to the clouds.

The new version of the customer relationship management app, called Junxure Essentials, answers the long-held concerns of many advisers about when a cloud-based version would be available.

In the most recent InvestmentNews technology survey conducted lastsummer, 21% of advisers said that they used Junxure, making it the No. 1 CRM app among respondents. Read More..

Schwab moves to keep 3,500 desktop-bound RIAs from walking onto somebody else's cloud

Written by Brooke Southall, RIABiz Monday, 25 June 2012

In a bold counterstroke aimed at neutralizing software providers looking to chip away at its giant franchise, Schwab Performance Technologies will offer a way for RIAs to enjoy most of the advantages of a local environment and a hosted, private cloud-based one.

The Raleigh, N.C.-based technology subsidiary of The Charles Schwab Corp. is creating a means by which the 3,500 advisors who use Schwab PortfolioCenter — and that includes about half of Schwab’s RIAs with $1 billion-plus in assets under management, including Aspiriant — can continue to use the software as it is currently configured but without having to host or maintain it. It’ll be called PortfolioCenter Hosted. Read More..

Addepar means to be the only technology platform RIAs will ever need -- and has MIT minds and PayPal money to back it up

Written by Kelly O'Mara, RIABiz Friday, 15 June 2012

Addepar’s mission statement, laid out on its website, is relatively straightforward: “We are poised to revolutionize the wealth management industry by creating a new standard for financial technology.”

Planning to revolutionize the financial advisor industry is not new. But with 65 employees, extensive backing from venture capitalists such as Peter Thiel and David Blumberg, and demos that have wowed all the advisors who’ve seen them, Addepar LLC might actually do just that. One high profile believer is Iconiq, the newly formed RIA serving Mark Zuckerberg and other Facebook execs. See: How the Facebook IPO is creating the mother of all RIAs, Iconiq, and what an in-your-face it is for Wall Street.

“It’s a cloud solution that has multilevel data on mobile devices and offers on-demand access to anything and everything,” says Bill Winterberg, principal of Dallas-based FPPad.com. Read More..

One Tool With Six-Figure Savings Potential

Written by Bill Winterberg, Morningstar Advisor Friday, 15 June 2012

Managing investment portfolios on behalf of clients is a core service offered by nearly all financial advisory businesses. Regardless of whether a passive or active investment philosophy is followed, advisors can spend considerable resources aligning portfolios with their clients' needs and goals. The resources required to manage portfolios can grow considerably as a firm acquires more clients and gathers more assets under management.

Advisors at growing firms want efficient portfolio trading and rebalancing solutions that not only save time and overhead, but also considerably cut down the rate of trading errors that can directly impact the firm's bottom line. One solution that offers the potential for a significant return on investment for advisors is Total Rebalance Expert. Read More..