Technology forum launched for those going independent
Several third-party technology providers have banded together and this week launched a new forum to help educate and assist newly independent advisers in their selection of software, hardware and other technology components to complete their back offices.
The new consortium is called the Independent Advisor Technology Forum and its site currently provides several industry white papers and articles, links to the partner companies and a nascent interactive blog.
Its creators said that in the future, the site will act as a staging area for workshops and online webinars and will host best-practices documentation, technology evaluations and requirements worksheets.
Charter members of the forum include Black Diamond Performance Reporting LLC of Jacksonville, Fla.; BLIPS Partners LLC of Miami (makers of IPS AdvisorPro); CRM Software Inc. of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.; Laser App Software Inc. of Ontario, Calif.; Laserfiche of Long Beach, Calif.; and Nexus Strategy LLC of Larkspur, Calif.
These firms represent a range of specialties including document and form management applications, customer relationship management software, portfolio accounting and performance reporting services, investment policy statement generation software and a technology consulting firm.
For more information visit the
Independent Advisor Technology Forum
Scottrade adds Portfolio Director software to its Advisor Services platform
Registered investment advisers on the Scottrade Advisor Services platform now have the option of direct access to Portfolio Director management software.
Advisers who use the custodian services of St. Louis, Mo.-based Scottrade Inc. will receive discounts on the application and will also have integrated access to many of the Portfolio Director tools, including the ability to create asset allocation models and benchmark portfolios to re-balance and analyze client accounts.
Portfolio Director offers two products for investment advisers and the following prices do not include the discount available to those enrolled in Scottrade Advisor Services.
The first option is a downloadable desktop application designed for firms that require multiuser access to client data: it costs $300 per month for the first year and $200 per month after that. The second option is a web-based version of the application that is $400 per month, with a one-time $295 set-up fee. Both options include up to 100 custodian accounts (each additional account is $2 per month extra), as well as the importing and scrubbing of data.
For more information visit
Scottrade Advisor Services and
Portfolio Director.
ING Advisors Network launches paperless processing for reps’ offices
The four broker-dealers of ING Advisors Network have, over the last month, begun rolling out an imaging system to their registered representatives’ offices that will allow them to go virtually paperless.
Integrated into the broker-dealers’ propriety ING SmartWorks platform, the system enables the advisers in the network to capture, process and retrieve both broker-dealer and non-broker-dealer documents.
All that’s needed in terms of new hardware is a scanner.
“As we move towards straight-through processing and continue to expand functionality of our systems, the staff time saved by not faxing, mailing and filing can be used to better serve clients and build their businesses. Best of all, because it is web-based, they have access from anywhere — an off-site client meeting, at home or at the office,” Kevin Laraia, chief operations officer at ING Advisors Network, said in a statement.
While supervisors and operations staff have access to appropriate documents, non-broker-dealer documents are segregated so that they are not accessible by ING Advisors Network or a broker-dealer.
For more information visit
ING Advisors.
