Folio Institutional Rolls Out State-Of-The-Art Technology To Transform The Way Advisors Do Business

MCLEAN Va., Aug. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Folio Institutional, a division of Foliofn Investments, Inc., today announced Advisor Connexion, a unique technology platform that gives advisors a powerful new competitive advantage – a wholly automated client offering that will also substantially lower the advisor's operational costs –allowing firms to vastly expand the markets they currently serve.

Advisor Connexion is a transformative technology that seamlessly integrates a new suite of online interactive tools with the existing Folio Institutional brokerage system, a platform that has become extremely popular with advisors over the past ten years.

In an industry where expense management is so important, Advisor Connexion will also lower an advisor's cost of servicing accounts, thus enabling firms to compete much more effectively against robo-advisors. In addition to offering the full web-based account management suite, it allows advisors to attract smaller accounts with lower minimum requirements due to lower firm expenses, and expand the services currently provided to their advice relationship clients.

"Advisor Connexion is quite unique in the RIA space, and far more comprehensive than anything now being offered in the industry," said Greg Vigrass, president of Folio Institutional. "Our institutional clients are already viewing it as a game changer in how they service existing clients, while opening significant new growth opportunities for their business."

Advisor Connexion is completely adaptable to how the advisor and client want to transact business. For example, it can quickly reduce the time spent on required, but often time consuming procedures like account opening, and completing the Investor Questionnaire that generates the Investment Policy Statement, which determines how funds are allocated.

If the client wishes, this can now be done completely online, with portfolio adjustments made automatically, putting client assets to work without delay. In addition to the advisor's own proprietary model-based portfolio management, the adviser can grant clients access to hundreds of professionally constructed portfolios developed by third party investment managers, or even use other advice engines.

Given its unique modularity, an advisor can also easily customize a mix of online, plus in-person advice, or allow more traditional clients to do online some of the things they might want to do on their own, all without having to involve an advisor's back office. 

Professional advice and personal attention is at the core of an advisor's offering, and Advisor Connexion allows this to continue seamlessly with existing accounts. Most importantly, a firm can run and maintain multiple offerings to best suit their varied clients' needs.  

"Folio recognizes that the investment advice industry is in rapid flux. Client needs are changing, from what type of advice they want, to how they receive it," said Vigrass. "A personal relationship is still highly valued and advisors will continue to provide that unique service. But technology has changed the way consumers shop, interact with their service providers and communicate with each other. Advisor Connexion does that for investment management. We're giving firms the ability to quickly adapt to evolving market dynamics and compete effectively and win against competitors with a powerful online platform and suite of their own."

Additional Advisor Connexion benefits include:

• Full integration with existing platform: Folio Institutional currently makes available a state-of-the-art system that provides a full spectrum of services including trading in mutual funds, ETFs and equities, portfolio model management, cash management, performance reporting, and even state-of-the-art tax lot management tools. Advisor Connexion is a seamless add-on.
• Streamlined back office costs: Because advisors can capture client assets more easily, and reduce manual account set up and activation costs, the platform is very cost effective.
• Ability to create new business channels:  RIAs can now serve untapped client segments, including lower minimum investment accounts with an automated, highly personalized experience that requires significantly fewer resources and less direct service time.
• Full oversight of client accounts:  Advisors can automate as much or as little of the account opening, management and trading process as they prefer. They are also able to extend their expertise to all clients, regardless of account size.
• Elimination of geographic barriers that prevent account activations: Advisors can attract and engage clients when it's most convenient for both parties, even if this is after standard office hours. Additionally, by offering an online experience, it allows advisors to extend their reach far beyond their physical footprint.

About Folio Institutional

Founded in 2000, FOLIOfn Investments, Inc., was the first brokerage firm to offer themes-based, fully-customizable baskets of securities, called Folios (available to retail investors at www.FolioInvesting.com), as well as flat-fee pricing, fractional share, dollar-based investing and other innovations to encourage smarter, diversified investing. Folio also provides a state-of-the art platform for advisors, introducing broker dealers, and securities issuers through www.FolioInstitutional.com that currently services hundreds of firms. That platform allows advisors and others to manage thousands of accounts with a few clicks, service smaller accounts in the same manner as their largest accounts, and fully integrates billing, performance reporting and other services. Beyond advanced brokerage, custody and clearing services, Folio also runs a state-of-the-art web-based private placement and public offering platform available to firms raising capital, and maintains a variety of alternative trading systems for secondary market trading of listed and unlisted securities.

SOURCE Folio Institutional