TD Ameritrade's new online tool reaches out to breakaways

TD Ameritrade Institutional today will take the wraps off a new web-based tool designed to help potential breakaway brokers decide whether to join or start a registered investment advisory firm. The free tool, in development for the last 12 months, is already in use by TD's transition consultants to assist brokers thinking about going independent. About 1,500 advisers are already working with TD Ameritrade in planning a move to the RIA channel, according to TD. The advisers have a combined $160 billion in client assets. This new tool is used by TD consultants when meeting in person with an adviser. Generally used over the course of a series of meetings, the tool takes both parties through the dozens of decisions that must be made in setting up shop — everything from a comparison of potential business models to estimates of furniture costs. “We know this process represents a tremendous journey of self-discovery on the part of advisers, and the tool is based on both numerous interviews with advisers who have recently made the transition, as well as compiling our own experiences in the process,” Mike Watson director of practice management for TD Ameritrade Institutional, said as he demonstrated the tool. Like many modern web applications, the tool was built with Adobe Flex (a developer toolkit for building rich Internet applications), a technology that powers advanced features like the on-screen sliders used to manipulate values for on-page calculations involving potential revenues and costs. The tool was developed in partnership with the consulting company ActiFi Inc. For more information visit TD Ameritrade Institutional.