A new platform from TD Ameritrade Institutional offers advisers a single "dashboard" that integrates data from multiple applications and will give advisers a deeper view of their business analytics, the custodian announced Thursday at its
national adviser conference national adviser conference in San Diego.
Initially, Veo One will allow advisers to sign into their dashboard and immediately connect to their DocuSign, Laser App Anywhere, MoneyGuidePro, Orion Advisor Services and Redtail Technologies applications. By the end of 2015, Advent's Black Diamond platform and the eMoney Advisor, Finance Logix, Junxure, Laserfiche, Morningstar and Salesforce.com applications also will be part of Veo One.
"We believe it's the only platform you'll ever need," said Thomas Nally, president of TD Ameritrade Institutional. "You can customize your dashboard as new technologies become available."
(More: TD Ameritrade's Veo dashboard gets boost from big data)
In fact, adding applications to the platform will be key to making it most useful for financial advisers, technology experts said.
Using the new platform will probably save advisers hours every week that they are now spending having to log into multiple applications and moving between them, said Bill Winterberg, an Atlanta-based certified financial planner and technology writer.
"There's been frustration from advisers of having to keep two or more tabs open to look up a client's information," he said. "Now they'll be able to react and respond faster to client needs."
Mr. Winterberg said Salesforce offers a similar technology, but advisers have found it complicated and Veo One will be easier to use.
Financial adviser Mike Vickerman Jr., president of Vickerman & Driscoll Financial Advisors Inc. in Spokane, Wash., said the new platform should save time spent logging into different applications for customer relationship management, financial planning, portfolio management and others.
About 56% of registered investment advisers said they want to do a better job integrating technology at their firms, according to a survey sponsored by TD Ameritrade Institutional during the fourth quarter of 2014. It included 301 RIAs.
(More: TD Ameritrade takes DIY approach to 'robo' trend)
About 78% of advisers who wanted more integration said they expect it to improve workflows and productivity, and 63% said it would boost their ability to support more clients, the survey found.
TD Ameritrade's new adviser platform, which also is available as an iPhone app, adapts each user's preferences to the user's role at the firm, the Jersey City, N.J..-based firm said.
