News

Financial Planning Software Usage By Independent Financial Advisors; Results Of A Survey Of 2,019 Independent Advisors Shows MoneyGuide Pro Is No. 1

Written by Andrew Gluck, Advisors4Advisors Thursday, 01 March 2012

Which financial planning software is most popular with independent investment advisors serving high-net-worth individuals? MoneyGuide Pro is the clear leader (29.8%) followed by NaviPlan Extended (7.9%), Money Tree Silver (5.8%), and e-Money (5.7%), according to a poll of members of Advisor4Advisors.

Seventy percent of A4A members are investment advisors with no broker-dealer (BD) affiliation—fee-only financial advisors—while 30% of those surveyed are licensed to sell securities and affiliated with a BD.Read More..

Finding errors in PortfolioCenter

Written by Davis D. Janowski, InvestmentNews Thursday, 01 March 2012

Financial advisers at the Technology Tools for Today, or T3, conference this month in Dallas were intrigued when told about a new product, ReportCheck, a third-party application designed to automate the process of checking for errors in Schwab's PortfolioCenter.

None of the advisers had heard of ReportCheck, but those with whom I spoke said that they welcome the idea and would be interested in hearing more about it.

PortfolioCenter is a product of Schwab Performance Technologies Inc., a subsidiary of The Charles Schwab Corp.

The application is one of the most commonly used portfolio management programs among advisers, irrespective of what firm they use as a custodian for their client assets. Read More..

14 Reasons Why Start-Up Advisor Technology May or May Not Be Worth the Risk

Written by Josh Meyer, The Trust Advisor Thursday, 01 March 2012

When buying new technology, advisors have the option of buying straight from entrepreneurial start-ups and bypassing what the mature tech conglomerates have to offer.

Some advisors love the innovation and the ability to challenge the status quo. Do you?

With all the acquisitions taking place in the advisor technology field, you may be wondering whether it matters whether you take the risk of dealing with a scrappy start-up or simply go with an established, capital-flush vendor.

After all, in a world where Advent can buy Black Diamond and Envestnet can swallow Tamarac, today’s scrappy start-up can become part of a stolid franchise overnight. Read More..

How Serious Are You About Securing Your Data?

Written by Dan Skiles, AdvisorOne Thursday, 01 March 2012

Advisors today have access to more client data than ever before. This includes Social Security numbers, multiple addresses of record, beneficiary information, salary, employment data, net-worth details and tax returns. Recently, new laws and regulations have been promulgated by states and federal authorities that govern how personal data must be handled. How well you safeguard your clients’ valuable data can be either a selling point or a trouble spot for your firm. Read More..