Products April 18, 2014

Envestnet Revamps CRM Software

Envestnet Tamarac, a division of Envestnet, Inc. that provides integrated portfolio software for independent advisers, has released the next generation of its client relationship management (CRM) application.
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The new CRM system features a completely redesigned user interface and new integrations throughout the company’s proprietary Advisor Xi platform for registered investment advisers (RIAs) and wealth managers. Known as Advisor CRM 2014, the enhanced client management application serves as the central integration point for the various components of the custodian-agnostic Advisor Xi product suite.

The software is built on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform and can enable smoother navigation and mobility across desktops, Android phones, iPhones and iPads.

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“There are a lot of CRM applications in the marketplace,” admits Stuart DePina, group president of Envestnet Tamarac. “Advisers choose our solution because it’s deeply integrated with the rest of their core portfolio management applications, it’s designed specifically to support the client life cycle at independent RIAs.”

Advisor CRM 2014’s features include the following:

  • Intuitive Technology Integrations – Advisor CRM 2014 has built in a contextual link integration that allows users to enter and update client account data accessible through Envestnet Tamarac’s portfolio management tools, including Advisor Rebalancing and Advisor View.
  • New integrations – The system now interacts directly with Skype, enabling advisers to call clients and prospects from Advisor CRM and efficiently notate records of their conversations.
  • Additional flexibility – The new version of Advisor CRM also includes a tool that connects advisers to their client accounts and critical financial data and allows them to make updates and send messages.
  • Streamlined Dashboard and Navigation – Advisor CRM 2014 introduces streamlined navigation that allows advisers to quickly create new account records from any screen in Advisor CRM and auto-save what they have done every 15 seconds. Envestnet says this vastly improves data accuracy while decreasing the amount of clicks during navigation.
  • Customized Client Workflows – New personalized communication options include “My Wall,” a social media message board where users can post activity assignments and reminders, as well as account notes and updates to be viewed by colleagues on other teams. Advisers can also upload client photos that correspond to household-level account records.

For more information on Envestnet Tamarac and the new CRM system is available here.

Products April 18, 2014

Arnerich Massena Expands Fiduciary Education

Investment advisory firm Arnerich Massena has expanded its fiduciary education program to include retirement plans.
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The program, Blueprints, was previously available only to fiduciaries or investment committee members of endowments and foundations (see “Arnerich Massena Offers Fiduciary Education”). The expansion now allows new investment committee members of employer-sponsored retirement plans to take advantage of this program for their own custom fiduciary needs.

The formal curriculum of the program is available to all clients of Arnerich Massena and is designed to provide new committee members with the fundamental knowledge needed to act as prudent fiduciaries for their respective retirement plans.

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Materials for the program include information about fiduciary responsibilities, retirement plan governance and plan investment menu construction, as well as benchmarking and performance evaluation.

“Being an investment committee member for a retirement plan brings with it a great deal of responsibility and accompanying liability. Gaining an understanding of the responsibilities and the background knowledge required to execute those responsibilities is often challenging and time consuming,” says Scott Dunbar, senior managing director of the Portland, Oregon-based Arnerich Massena.

Dunbar believes that committee education, like the Blueprints program, has the potential to improve committee discussions, decisions and long-term outcomes for retirement plan participants.

More information can be found at www.arnerichmassena.com.

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