Terry Thorsen knows all about mom-and-pop shops. As the founder of New York-based Automated Financial Services, which provides front-office software, Thorsen knows first hand how important it is to build a product from the ground up, especially one that reps will want to use.
A computer programmer by trade, Thorsen originally launched his firm with the online brokerage company K. Aufhauser & Co. in the 1990s. But after Aufhauser was sold to Ameritrade, Thorsen began licensing AFS to other broker/dealer businesses, which then farm the platform out to their own reps.
Because the platform is entirely Web-based, advisors don't need to spend as much time managing the technology, says Thorsen. "Some have a fear that if they don't have the data stored on their own hard drive, they can't get it," he says. "But that's a little paranoid. We don't ever block access."
