Our New Client Dashboard Is An Advisor’s Client Portal

Since January, we have been developing a new client portal for advisors.

The new client portal is built into AdvisorVault, which is used by hundreds of RIAs. AdvisorVault is a highly customized version of Microsoft SharePoint explicitly designed to meet the needs of financial advice professionals.

We are replacing traditional Windows Explorer folders used to navigate vaults with a Windows 8 and Apple design aesthetic — a major leap forward in the look of our client vaults. More important than the look, however, are new data feeds into AdvisorVault of popular performance reporting, financial planning and CRM apps used by RIAs. The data feeds transform your client vaults into a client portal — a single place for UHNWIs to go to manage their wealth in collaboration with a financial professional.

Data fed by your CRM, planning, and portfolio accounting apps show up as “Web parts” or "widgets" in a client dashboard. Settings for which widgets are displayed in your client dashboards, and where, are controlled by you.

One widget fed by your portfolio reporting app will display a client’s asset allocation by asset class (utilizing asset classes you’ve set in your portfolio management software (PMS) system). Another widget displays total returns. Point is, an app can feed multiple widgets.

At the end of October, we will enable widgets displaying data from portfolio reporting apps -- PortfolioCenter, Advent, AdvisorsAssistant, and AssetBook, followed by Albridge two- to four-weeks later.

At the end of November, you'll be able to display a widget showing a client’s MoneyGuide Pro “Plan Confidence Meter” along with a net worth bar chart.

At the end of December comes the widget most special: You'll be able to display a list of tasks (activities) in Redtail CRM that will populate widgets in your client dashboard. From Redtail, you'll share clients’ to-dos. They automatically feed client dashboards. No uploads or imports needed — it’s a Web service using Redtail’s application programming interface. Advisors can assign clients tasks, like, "Please send me your 1099," or, "Please fill in this risk profile.” In the widget, tasks assigned clients are listed as “incomplete” until the client responds, at which time you use your Redtail CRM to mark the task as “Completed.” Anytime you add, comment on or complete a task in Redtail, the client is emailed a link to the update in his portal. The portal is displayed in HTML5, making it viewable on any device.

You can display “Completed” tasks in a client’s dashboard. That’s incredibly powerful! Listing all of the tasks you completed for the client in the last year presents a clear statement of the value you provide to each client. Assigning clients tasks and tracking them in their personal portal is a new, highly transparent way of practicing for financial professionals. In the first quarter of 2015, widgets will let you display Advisor Products videos and articles in client portals, feeding clients with financial ideas consistent with best practices articulated by thought leaders. The potential to educate clients and prospects continually is an exciting and humbling goal we share with you.