Envestnet Tamarac rolls out Yodlee app to show outside assets, liabilities

Envestnet's latest upgrade to its Tamarac platform for independent advisers will begin to incorporate the Yodlee consumer finance technology that the firm bought 16 months ago for $590 million. Its December tech update allows advisers to give their clients access to a widget on the client portal where they can add all their assets and liabilities, including credit card accounts, investments, loans and mortgages. (More: 8 biggest adviser tech mistakes and how to avoid them) The “Mint.com-like system” can pull out data from 15,500 sources, said Stuart DePina, president of Envestnet Tamarac. Other assets, such as an art collection, can be added by clients or advisers to the aggregated site. The adviser will have access to all the accounts' data and see a consolidated view of the client's net worth over time. “It's extremely critical for the adviser because they want to make sure when they are providing advice that they have the full financial picture of the investor,” Mr. DePina said. (More: Tech tardy advisers prepare for a late-adopter penalty) From an estate planning perspective, advisers can analyze where certain assets should be located and help decide on better ways to allocate assets between taxable and nontaxable accounts, he said. It's also useful as a business development tool to know about 401(k) or other accounts that the adviser may not manage for the clients today, but could hope to one day, Mr. DePina said. Envestnet has spent more than $800 million over the past couple years to acquire technology that the company's executives believe will help it become a one-stop shop for financial advisers' technology needs. (More: Envestnet buys analytics firm with eye toward DOL fiduciary rule) Additional Yodlee applications will come next year for the 800 registered investment advisory firms, or 6,000 advisers, that use the Tamarac platform, which is updated six times a year. Firms that use a separate Envestnet platform for broker-dealers and wirehouses will begin to gain access to the Yodlee technologies in the first of three annual updates next month, Mr. DePina said.