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On today’s broadcast, find out who earned the most buzz at the industry’s top technology
conference this week. Which custodian just joined the integration arms race? Which partnership
will put downward pricing pressure on account aggregation costs? And who launched a new
social CRM with an all-out media blitz?
So get ready, FPPad Bits and Bytes begins now!
Hey everyone, I’m Bill Winterberg, and thank you for joining me for this week’s technology
news broadcast.
Today’s episode is brought to you by Wealthbox CRM. Wealthbox is collaborative, social, and
outrageously simple CRM for financial advisors. Sign up for a free trial today by visiting
fppad.com/wealthbox
Unless you’ve been buried in snow or covered in ice, you probably know that T3, the industry’s
top technology conference for advisors, was held in southern California this week. There
are too many new companies and press releases to cover in just one broadcast, so here are
the stories I feel are most relevant for you.
First is an update from SEI, the investment outsourcing provider, who just announced a
new strategic partnership to bring integrations to its SEI Wealth Platform(SM). By the end
of 2014, SEI will integrate an automated workflow solution using Redtail CRM and MoneyGuidePro
financial planning software, all powered by workflows customized by ActiFi. While advisors
will need to subscribe to Redtail and MoneyGuidePro, workflows will be available to the nearly
6,000 advisors who work with SEI at no additional cost. This partnership will likely boost SEI’s
profile among institutional custodians known for their technology integrations that help
advisors run more efficient businesses, so for more information, visit fppad.com/120
for the link to the full story.
Next up is news from MoneyGuidePro, who told a packed house at T3 that the financial planning
software program will soon provide account aggregation capabilities through a new integration
with Yodlee, the largest data platform provider in financial services. When I mention account
aggregation, you probably think of companies like ByAllAccounts, Fiserv’s CashEdge, or
perhaps even Intuit, but these solutions are often too expensive for many growing RIAs
to implement.
With the new MoneyGuidePro and Yodlee integration, advisors will be able to aggregate data from
over 12,000 financial institutions for an introductory price of $365 per year. That’s
right, it’s just a dollar per day! Expect the Yodlee integration to rollout during the
second quarter of 2014.
And rounding out my abridged coverage of T3 is the launch of a new platform designed to
help advisors embrace social collaboration tools in their business. The platform is Wealthbox
CRM, which deployed an all-out media blitz this week, including the sponsorship of this
week’s broadcast, to get the product in front of advisors.
There are about a dozen CRM vendors in the marketplace, so financial advisors could stand
to benefit from a few more choices among providers. And what makes Wealthbox CRM unique is the
embedded realtime collaboration functions, better known under the banner of Social CRM.
Wealthbox CRM lets you tag clients and employees in status updates, just like you would when
tagging friends or contacts on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. You can use those tags along
with other information displayed in the CRM’s activity stream to find out what you should
be doing for clients, what employees are doing for clients, and what clients are saying on
their social media profiles.
The Social CRM feature is just one of many in the new product, and Wealthbox CRM’s
introductory price of $29 per month per user places it squarely between the affordable
CRM from Redtail and premium pricing from CRMs like Junxure Cloud and Salesforce. To
read my full review of Wealthbox CRM in this month’s Morningstar Advisor column, visit
fppad.com/120 for the link.
Remember, Bits and Bytes exists because of the support of our sponsors, so visit Wealthbox
CRM to see how social activity streams can improve the efficiency of your business. Sign
up for a free trial today by visiting fppad.com/wealthbox
Did you follow the T3 Conference hashtag on Twitter? What technology do you think deserves
advisors’ attention. I want to know!
Send me a message on Twitter using @billwinterberg or search for me on Google+
For FPPad.com, I'm Bill Winterberg, see you next time!