FPPad Bits and Bytes for November 4, 2016

FPPad

On today’s broadcast, Brian Shenson updates Schwab’s technology roadmap, Riskalyze raises $20 million in capital, SS&C acquires Salentica, and more.

So get ready, FPPad Bits and Bytes begins now!

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Today’s episode is brought to you by eMoney Advisor, who just announced their Fiduciary Framework initiative to help advisors and firms comply with the recent DOL Fiduciary Rule. The framework weaves DOL-friendly solutions into each stage of the advisor-client lifecycle—like client acknowledgments, event logs, best interest workflows, and more—all within the existing integrated wealth management platform.

For more information on Fiduciary Framework, visit fppad.com/emoneyadvisor

Here are the links to this week’s top stories:

Riskalyze Raises $20 Million Growth Equity Investment to Accelerate Risk Number® and Robo Platforms for Independent Financial Advisors from PRNewswire

[Now first up, I attended Schwab IMPACT 2016 in San Diego last week and posted a few videos about Schwab’s technology updates, including a detailed discussion with Brian Shenson about the phase out of Integrated Office, new providers in OpenView Gateway, and the much anticipated timeline of Portfolio Connect. It’s an informative interview, and stick around for the tour of OpenView MarketSquare where I Brian and I practiced our sprints in the massive exhibit hall.

And then on Monday this week, Riskalyze announced that the company secured $20 million in capital from FTV Capital to fuel its future growth. Here’s CEO Aaron Klein on how this additional capital will help Riskalyze execute on its mission.

Aaron Klein: “Our mission every day is making sure that we’re empowering those advisors to really build fearless investors, to align the world’s investments with each investor’s Risk Number, and you know, for us finding the right partner to allow us to continue the incredible growth we’ve seen so far was the right move.”]

SS&C to Acquire Leading Advisor CRM Solution, Salentica from PRNewswire

[Next up is news from SS&C Technologies, which you should recognize as the company that acquired Advent Software for $2.7 billion earlier this year. Last week, SS&C announced it acquired Salentica, a professional services firm known for customizing Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics CRM for institutions and large RIAs. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

So this acquisition is important for its vertical integration, as thousands of advisors who already use Advent or Black Diamond for portfolio management today should soon benefit from better integrations of Salesforce and Dynamics CRM all from the same provider.
This also helps SS&C close the gap with a competitor like Envestnet | Tamarac, who has offered an all-in-one technology solution to advisors for several years.

But on the other hand, not all advisors want to be captive to an all-in-one provider, and prefer the best-of-breed approach to their technology, so with Salentica now under the ownership of SS&C, we’ll have to see how the political aspects of this relationship play out in the near future.
Nevertheless, I’m optimistic that SS&C will support Salentica’s integrations with a variety of portfolio management providers, but I definitely would proceed with a little more caution if my business used a solution other than Advent and Black Diamond.] SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc., a global provider of financial services software and software-enabled services, today announced its acquisition of leading CRM solution Salentica.

TD Ameritrade to Buy Scottrade in $4 Billion Deal from the New York Times, and

TD Ameritrade Announces Essential Portfolios Robo-Advisor from BusinessWire

[And finally, I’m wrapping up with two updates involving TD Ameritrade, starting with the announcement of the acquisition of Scottrade for $4 billion dollars, then followed up by the soft launch of Essential Portfolios, the company’s own automated investment service for retail investors.

First, the Scottrade acquisition is likely to affect advisors with under $10 million in assets under management, as Scottrade has historically been welcoming of advisors with smaller accounts. So over the next year or two, I’d expect smaller advisors to be under pressure to grow their assets under management, or find another custodian altogether like Shareholders Service Group, or join a membership group like the XY Planning Network that leverages the size of its network to facilitate business with TD Ameritrade Institutional.
Either way, I think it means structural changes are on the horizon for dozens of smaller advisory firms.

And the second story about Essential Portfolios adds yet another retail-facing automated investment solution to the crowded marketplace. It features a $5,000 account minimum, fees of 30 basis points, and offers just five model portfolios, each made up of five ETFs, with allocations recommended by Morningstar Investment Management that are automatically rebalanced.

Look, clients are getting bombarded with all this marketing about low-cost, automated, intelligent investing services from nearly every provider in the business. So unless your marketing pockets are as deep as theirs, you’re going to have to craft a message that your technology rivals that of the automated services, and that you offer advice and services that go way beyond what the low-cost solutions provide. Not only do you have to say it, but you have to do it.] TD Ameritrade announced on Monday that it would acquire Scottrade Financial Services, a rival discount brokerage, for $4 billion, in a bid for scale at a time when small investors are losing their taste for stock trading.

Here are the stories that didn’t make this week’s broadcast:

Web Design Pros Enter the Financial Advisory Industry with the Public Launch of Twenty Over Ten from MarketWired

Twenty Over Ten, an unparalleled, compliant website-builder, today announced its formal public launch. Cofounded by Penn State Associate Professor of Graphic Design Ryan Russell and Designer and Developer Nick Dimatteo, Twenty Over Ten helps financial advisors create beautiful and compliant websites tailored to their unique brands.

PIEtech℠, Inc. to Complete Deep Integration With Riskalyze Creating the Most Powerful Client Risk Analysis Experience from PRWeb

PIEtech℠, Inc., creator of the leading financial planning software, MoneyGuidePro®, announced today that it is building a multi-faceted, deep integration with Riskalyze, the risk alignment platform founded upon the Risk Number®.

Junxure Cloud, Riskalyze Announce Integration from PRNewswire

Junxure, the industry leading CRM solution and technology company for financial advisors, this week announced new enhancements to its cloud-based CRM platform, Junxure Cloud®. As part of its ongoing work to integrate with leading platforms serving advisors, Junxure Cloud has partnered with Riskalyze, the industry-leading risk alignment platform and inventor of the Risk Number®, to integrate the two popular systems.

Get LastPass Everywhere: Multi-Device Access Is Now Free! from LastPass

I’m thrilled to announce that, starting today, you can use LastPass on any device, anywhere, for free. No matter where you need your passwords – on your desktop, laptop, tablet, or phone – you can rely on LastPass to sync them for you, for free.

Passing the Baton, Again from Wealthfront

After an amazing tour of duty, Adam Nash is handing the baton back to me [Andy Rachleff]. While Nash will be transitioning out of an operating role at the company, he will continue to play a strategic role as a member of our Board of Directors.

FOLIOfn, Inc. Acquires Leading Responsible Investing RIA, First Affirmative Financial Network from PRNewswire

FOLIOfn, Inc. announced today that it has acquired First Affirmative Financial Network, one of the nation’s most prominent registered investment advisor firms specializing in sustainable, responsible, impact (SRI) investing.

Invessence and PrairieSmarts Partner to Arm Advisors with Better Risk Assessment Tools for Easier DOL Compliance from PRWeb.com

Digital wealth management technology provider Invessence announced today that it has partnered with PrairieSmarts, an innovative risk analytics firm, to provide risk assessment tools for financial advisors and their clients. Enhancing Invessence’s comprehensive digital wealth platform, the robust risk tools from PrairieSmarts will assist advisors in calculating, documenting and managing the alignment of a client’s risk profile with a compliant portfolio recommendation.

Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes for November 4, 2016