Real UMH platform on the way?

Financial-services technology firm Fiserv, Inc., announced that it is putting together a system that will enable unified managed household accounts. Indeed, the tech company says that their full UMH platform will be available later this year.

Financial-services technology firm Fiserv, Inc., announced that it is putting together a system that will enable unified managed household accounts. Indeed, the tech company says that its full UMH platform will be available later this year.
With the platform, advisers will be able to integrate family investment strategies that take into account the assets of both spouses across multiple accounts, different asset types — including (401)K, IRAs, savings and real estate — and financial institutions.
Fiserv is building its offering in three stages: Last summer, it acquired AdviceAmerica and its front-office financial planning, retirement income planning, CRM, proposal-generation and plan-marketing capabilities, now available as Financial Advice Solutions from Fiserv.
The second part will be implemented this summer, when Fiserv will move mutual fund advisory and exchange-traded funds on its UMH platform. The platform will support rebalancing across multiple asset classes, and systematic contributions and withdrawals.
Additionally, on its “product-agnostic” platform, clients will be able to transition from single-sleeve products (SMA, ETF, and MFA) to multi-sleeve ones.
Finally, Fiserv will combine its front-and-back office applications, integrating its financial advice, portfolio-management, trading and performance-reporting solutions onto its Unified Wealth Management service, allowing advisers to plan, trade, and report on one system.
Fiserv also claims that the platform will be capable of offering an aggregated account view; qualified and non-qualified account types; household-level and goal-based portfolio management, and finally trading that fits within household execution strategies.
To see for yourself, visit www.fiserv.com.

SmartDraw VP gets a makeover

SmartDraw unveiled its fourth update of its VP suite, a “visual processor” that helps even non-art-department staffers create professional visual presentations.
The user interface is now based on, and compatible with, the format developed by Microsoft for Office 2010. The new SmartDraw also works with older versions of Office.
VP improvements include PowerPoint integration, allowing for the quick creation of a presentation using the Office program. SmartDraw also offers its own visual outline templates for brainstorming and project planning.
Its flow and organization charts are now automatically sequenced, and visuals automatically saved while you work. In addition, the program’s new templates are customizable, with enhanced collaboration and improved SharePoint integration. Users can import a text outline from an outside source and convert it to a mind cap, as well as separate flow- and organization charts into hyperlinked documents with a simple “split” command.
The Enhanced Project Management function even promises to help users get projects done by deadline and under budget For screen shots, visit SmartDraw online.

Cheshire plans for retirement

Cheshire Wealth Manager now includes long-term care costs and insurance planning. The feature adds notes receivables as an asset type, models asset liquidation over time using installment sales, illustrates payouts from a unitrust based on the percentage of the account’s value, and incorporates this year’s changes in tax law with 2013 sunset provisions.
The upgraded wealth manager is available for download at
Cheshire.com
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TechCheck is a weekly column showcasing new IT products and services that may be of interest to financial advisers and their firms.
(InvestmentNews technology reporter Davis Janowski provided additional reporting for this story.)

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