Page 40 - Investment Advisor September 2021

stage; the Behavioral Financial Advice training program; and teams can do in their daily work lives — from “investing in
the Prepared Buyer program for prospective acquirors. The relationships” to “practicing blameless problem-solving” to
team also provides customized coaching and helps advisors “embracing change and growth.” Prospera kicked off the ini-
prepare for their eventual exit via the Prepared Seller program. tiative by gathering all home-office staff for off-site training. It
created physical cards notating each of the 28 fundamental
American Portfolios Financial Services behaviors, which are kept at employees’ desks, given to its
introduced the Going Paperless advisors at the firm’s annual conference and supplied to pro-
Initiative to ensure the company’s spective advisors at their home office visits.
future growth and success through
sustainable business practices. Part of this initiative involves Raymond James launched Drive +
improving the e-delivery of documents and helping investors Accelerate, a comprehensive onboard-
avoid paying statement and confirm fee charges for paper ing solution for branch associates, in
statements and other mailings. AP also produced a guide illus- May 2020. The six-month program gives new branch associates
trating ways affiliated firms can review client accounts and the tools, resources and skill refinements critical to their having
e-delivery preferences and options on how to implement a an integral effect on their teams’ successful growth. They start
paperless environment. AP also enhanced its Advisory Platform in “first gear” with Drive, a combination of interactive virtual
with a single interface to access and manage third-party man- web modules and in-person elements. After two months, they
aged and representative-directed accounts on certain pro- “shift” into Accelerate, a live workshop-style conference that
grams that default-set new accounts for going paperless. delves into applications, processes and best practices. During
the pandemic lockdown, branches across all channels onboard-
Atria Wealth Solutions’ Unio, ed new associates, using this solution to provide advisors with
Latin for “unify,” is an online, prepared, mission-critical team members.
interactive system for financial
professionals to communicate with clients and others in the The Investment Center, a broker-dealer,
digital age. The tool includes contact management, account inaugurated its TIC Talk interactive webi-
information, transaction processing, commissions, marketing nar at the onset of the pandemic to foster
and compliance information, a document and supervisory open communication between the home office and advisors on
workflow system, and an extensive report generator. With critical updates and initiatives so they could stay informed and
Unio, advisors can leverage data across every tool or vendor grow their practices. Topics included marketing initiatives and
used to activate a client’s account. Unio’s features support all best practices, Regulation Best Interest implementation and
aspects of a wealth management program within a flexible guidance, and town hall sessions with TIC’s executive team.
platform. Enhancements continually roll out as the industry, The webinar also focused on ways to manage an efficient and
regulatory environment, and client expectations and needs growing practice virtually through examples, such as a focus on
continue to evolve. utilizing the firm’s electronic signature tools.

Peak Reps LLC launched its Digital
Partnership Program in the first quarter of PRODUCTS, PROGRAMS & SERVICES –
2021 to help advisors who lack the knowl- FINTECH/TAMP PLATFORMS
edge, capacity or temperament to successfully deploy social
media marketing campaigns on their own. To accelerate the Addepar, a wealth management
learning curve, Peak committed resources to create a library of platform, specializes in data aggre-
customizable marketing campaigns. Now, its team deploys and gation, analytics and reporting for investment portfolios with
manages social media campaigns for participating advisors. In the aim of enabling financial advisors to adapt to a constantly
addition, the firm provides training so advisors will be more evolving industry, strengthen client relationships and stand
knowledgeable, proactive digital marketers. This initiative out to prospective clients. In May 2020, Addepar launched
equips advisors to leverage social media platforms to gain vis- Marketplace, an application offered through Acervus
ibility and reach new prospective client opportunities. Securities, to help provide transparency for alternative finan-
cial products. Marketplace enables advisors to buy and sell
Prospera Financial Services, a broker-dealer, alternative funds, secondary private company securities and
has identified 28 fundamental behaviors to cash deposit programs in one place. With Marketplace inte-
build on the firm’s culture of personalized grated into an advisor’s workflow, Addepar foresees friction-
service and guide employees’ everyday less asset allocation and security selection, proposal generation,
actions. These fundamentals describe the behaviors that its portfolio construction and execution.

38 INVESTMENT ADVISOR SEPTEMBER 2021 | ThinkAdvisor.com