Some unlikely funds “overweight” Apple

September 8, 2014

You may not be the type of person who stands in line to get your hands on the first edition of every new Apple product. But if you're an investor in mutual funds or ETFs, your returns might depend on the excitement and dedication of those consumers....

How technology can transform an RIA

September 2, 2014

The investment advisory business is constantly evolving. Among the many moving parts of this dynamic industry, technology continues to alter the way advisory firms interact with and manage their client relationships. Accordingly, the services...

Will LPL's back-office technology set a new bar for adviser productivity?

August 22, 2014

LPL Financial unveils next generation ClientWorks platform for advisers at focus14 annual conference from Marketwatch. LPL Financial, the nation's largest independent broker-dealer, an RIA custodian, and a wholly owned subsidiary of LPL Financial...

Advisers arming themselves against cyberattacks

August 12, 2014

Financial advisers are changing their systems and procedures to protect clients and their own firms from the rising incidence of cybersecurity breaches. Advisers are taking such steps as verifying money requests, being more careful about passwords,...

Ready for prime time: Advisers get into launching their own video series

August 11, 2014

As adviser David B. Armstrong tells it, he really got into making movies after he produced a video a couple of years ago to talk about his firm, his military experience and his dog. The video acts as an introduction to Mr. Armstrong, a managing...

Catching the next technology wave

August 10, 2014

The convergence of broadband wireless, Internet accessibility, smartphones and all the services that get wrapped around them is dramatically changing the way consumers interact with businesses and vice versa. Known as the “mobile Internet,”...

3 questions advisers should ask themselves before buying new technology

August 8, 2014

You hear it everywhere. Technology is evolving rapidly and to stay ahead you must jump in or your business will stumble. It's true that technology available for advisers today can make an incredible difference in their businesses — from creating...

Weighing the pros, cons and costs of virtual desktops

August 7, 2014

Buttonwood Financial Advisors is a registered investment adviser with three employees, $61 million in assets under management, 105 clients and little interest in hiring an information technology staff dedicated to supporting the firm's increasingly...

Change for technology's sake and cash in the dividends

August 4, 2014

We all wish for technology that will do exactly what we want, in the way we do it now — and will be implemented effortlessly. If this wish could come true, would it be what we truly want? Maybe we need to change in order to benefit from what...

Plugging into technology was key to building assets

August 3, 2014

When Joel Shaps bought Bedrock Capital Management Inc. 13 years ago, the advisory firm's technological sophistication could only be improved. Bedrock had virtually no software products or systems, he said. Since then, Mr. Shaps, the firm's president...

The most popular adviser tech products by category

July 29, 2014

Top 25 technology products used by advisers

July 28, 2014

In June 2014, more than 1,100 advisers responded to an InvestmentNews survey on their technology usage and satisfaction. The results below show the most popopular products overall. Rank Product # of users Category 1 Redtail CRM (Redtail Technology)...

5 ways to improve your tech evaluation process

July 18, 2014

Without careful planning, your technology can become more of a “ball and chain” than a means of growing your practice. Before you know it, you'll have several very different applications, a web of data passing between systems and a list...

Wearable devices edge into the adviser space

July 17, 2014

Wearables are getting the buzz in the technology market lately, so it makes sense that a Silicon Valley-based online investment platform should be one of the first firms in the advisory world to integrate its mobile application on wearable tech...

MainStay jumps into MLP space with mutual funds

July 14, 2014

MainStay Investments is jumping into the white-hot master limited partnership space by absorbing three MLP mutual funds managed by Cushing Asset Management. The funds, MainStay Cushing MLP Premier (CSHAX), MainStay Cushing Royalty Energy Income...

Wanted: Advisers to take tech survey

July 10, 2014

Here are a few technology questions for tablet users out there: Do Android-based tablets have any chance this year of overtaking the Apple iPad in popularity among advisers? And what about Microsoft's Surface Pro 3? Is it really “a true laptop...

Making your office paperless is the way to go

July 8, 2014

I love having a paperless office. At first, I was skeptical: Was it too ambitious to try to be totally paperless? Would we sacrifice efficiency? Could everything be documented without keeping any physical files? It took only a couple of years...

U.S. companies show broad recovery as hiring pace surges

July 2, 2014

A family-run concrete business in Michigan, the U.S.'s second-biggest carmaker, the largest railroad and a solar power provider in California are all hiring as industrial companies lead a broad labor-market rebound that's on pace to add the...