IN Tech
May 2, 2013
Envestnet levering HiddenLevers onto its platform
I am always happy when some technology offering I have gotten enthusiastic over during a demonstration -- or one that I've kicked the tires on -- ends up being adopted by larger providers.So I was able to experience a bit'o happiness this morning when it was formally announced by Envestnet president Bill Crager that third-party macroanalytics technology provider HiddenLevers is being added as an integrated partner to the firm's platform. While not yet directly accessible through the Envestnet wealth management platform, development work is underway and will be fully production-integrated in June.What that means is advisers on the Envestnet platform will be able to perform portfolio or security-level stress tests to measure macro-level risk on them.Praveen Ghanta, founder, chief executive and programming guru at HiddenLevers, has, in a nutshell created a series of dozens of hypothetical macro-level risk formulas based on world events... Read full post
May 1, 2013
Finect: They have built it (more or less). Will advisers come?
I really want to like Finect, the new social-media network that was launched into open beta Tuesday.In an overly simplified nutshell, it purports to be an open, inherently compliant social network for the financial services industry and its constituents.That includes advisers, product companies, broker-dealers, all their ilk and relatives and, of course, end clients.Again, in an overly simplified explanation, the network is meant for you, the adviser, to share with and connect to your clients in a secure, compliant, archived environment with analytics tools on the back end that eventually will allow rich examination and analysis of traffic and the parties on it.And that is the key: Getting a critical mass of large users.Right now, Finect needs advisers a lot more than advisers need Finect — that is if advisers already are in a social media comfort zone (see below).OriginsI met and spoke with the service's president, Jennifer... Read full post
Apr 29, 2013
Making Social Security claiming strategies a little easier
With all of the interspersed factors to consider when helping determine a client's best Social Security claiming strategy, software can be a godsend. But which tool offers the best output for the cost? I looked into and ran test scenarios through two of the most popular Social Security software options, and found some interesting results. Although Social Security Analyzer (from Social Security Solutions Inc., ssanalyzer.com) is, without a doubt, the Lamborghini of tools for analysis in this area, many advisers will need something less sophisticated and less expensive. But if an adviser plans to make Social Security analysis a mainstay of their practice and is pretty sure they will encounter innumerable exceptions in client scenarios, Social Security Analyzer is your choice. Currently priced at $1,200 per year, Social Security Solutions Inc. will be coming out with lower-cost versions of its software May 1.For those who need to do less... Read full post
Apr 26, 2013
Pershing to introduce second generation of its mobile platform
I made my way to nearby Jersey City, N.J., yesterday to visit with the folks at Pershing LLC.After a few minutes' ride on the PATH train from New York beneath the Hudson River, there I was, sitting in a big conference room with many of the custodian's key senior technology executives.There were co-chief information officers Ram Nagappan and Lucille Mayer as well as Steve Dunlap, who is president of the firm's managed investments arm and Michelle Gutierrez, director of customer engagement and marketing for technology products and services.Patrick Yip, director of advisory market technology strategy and Marc Butler, managing director at Pershing affiliate company Albridge were there too.Pershing's overall annual technology budget this year is in the neighborhood of $400 million, a decent chunk of parent firm BNY Mellon's overall $2 billion in technology outlay.Perhaps that seems like a lot but to add a bit of perspective as of the end of ... Read full post
Apr 24, 2013
Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services to offer completely cloud-based desktop to RIAs
Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services announced a cloud-based virtual desktop offering for financial advisers today — the first of the four major custodians to do so.It will become generally available to financial advisers custodying with Fidelity IWS in July and should allow advisers to run their offices without the need for maintaining their own local software.While not available generally until July, Fidelity has enlisted a handful of advisers to work with them in pre-production testing during the remainder of the development process.The offering combines the Fidelity IWS WealthCentral platform, already in use with 3,200 firms, and adds a variety of office productivity applications including the full suite of Microsoft Office, among other software.“This is a natural progression on our roadmap,” said Edward O'Brien, head of RIA and family office technology at Fidelity IWS. “We envision it as a place advisers... Read full post
Apr 19, 2013
Advisers plan to use tech to kick client experiences up a notch
In the results of its 2012 Wealth Management Study, announced last week, Ernst & Young LLP reported findings that will come as little surprise to many regular readers of InvestmentNews. Primarily, the fact that leveraging technology to provide a better experience for clients — as well as advisers — will be a strategic focus among wealth managers over the next two to five years.Entitled “Enhancing the advisor and customer experience through technology,” this second annual installment of the study focused on current and future industry trends related to how wealth management firms manage their technology and operating platforms.Firms included in the survey varied greatly. Assets under management, for example, ranged from “several billion” dollars to more than $500 billion. Similarly, there was large variability in terms of number of clients; 18 of the firms had more than 100,000 clients while 16 had... Read full post
Apr 18, 2013
Pershing integrates with Redtail Technology
Pershing and Redtail have gone and gotten all cozy.That's right, custodian Pershing LLC today announced its integration with the extremely popular customer relationship management application from Redtail Technologies. Pershing has integrated Redtail's CRM system into its NetX360 platform, which is meant to help advisers onboard new clients and get accounts open more quickly. In simplest terms, the integration should allow the adviser to populate the client account application at Pershing with prospect data present in their Redtail CRM system. Any adviser using both Pershing as a custodian and Redtail will have access to the integration, and that includes both advisers working with independent broker-dealers and independent registered investment advisers.According to today's prepared statement, Pershing currently has 140 clients using Redtail Technology for other software requirements. Three of them already synchronized their CRM with... Read full post
Apr 17, 2013
Comply or die: NRS upgrades 'manual' to the 21st century
National Regulatory Services announced availability Tuesday of their new Policy Architect Module.Sounds like one sexy beast does it not?That was just to keep the eyes from glazing over among any fair-weather readers of this blog.So perk up. Here's another reason to pay attention.In July 2012, more than 1,000 advisers responded to our second annual InvestmentNews survey on technology usage and satisfaction.Among respondents, 68.1% said they used no compliance software at all.Getting back to the new module, it is a component of NRS's ComplianceGuardian suite and is fully integrated with its other existing components.Simply put, Policy Architect is meant to help both registered investment advisers and those affiliated with a broker-dealer stay compliant by allowing for more frequent updating of a firm's compliance manuals (it helps, of course, if you keep yours digital as opposed to cutting down trees for a binder).“Many firms just... Read full post
Apr 12, 2013
Street appeal: Motif Investing attracts the interest of Goldman Sachs
Motif Investing has raised an additional $25 million in Series C financing from a number of investors, including, for the first time, Goldman Sachs & Co.Goldman's undisclosed investment in the firm joined existing investors including Foundation Capital, Ignition Partners and Norwest Venture Partners.Darren Cohen, a managing director of principal strategic investments at Goldman, is joining Motif's board as an observer. Goldman Sachs spokesman Michael DuVally confirmed Mr. Cohen's role but declined to disclose the amount of its investment.In an interview Thursday, Motif chief executive Hardeep Walia explained that the Goldman investment represented a strategic deal for the investment bank.“It is the biggest deal for us though; these are the smartest guys on Wall Street and it is a way for us to get access to some very smart people,” he said.I have written about Motif a number of times but for those who need a reminder or... Read full post
Apr 11, 2013
Security top concern when choosing cloud service provider: Survey
Just about every conference I attend these days has a session or sessions on cloud computing.While it is almost certain the word 'cloud' will disappear from that phrase at some point in the years to come, I remain uncertain what verbiage will replace it exactly.I received results from a survey on cloud computing last week; it is multi-industry and somewhat international in scope (international being limited to the UK).The research itself was conducted by UK-based technology research firm Vanson Bourne in collaboration with the Manchester Business School and sponsored by Rackspace Hosting, a very widely-known open source technology company.There were 1300 respondents from as many companies; half from the US and half from the UK. A wide range of vertical industry sectors were represented including financial services of which there were 169 participants.The survey was carried out during December of 2012 and was followed by qualitative... Read full post
All content in the IN Tech blog was created by third-party author who is solely responsible for the content contained therein. Posts in the IN Tech blog do not necessarily reflect the opinion or approval of InvestmentNews.
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