2001 Press Releases
FOLIOfn Launches FOLIO Advisor
01/10/2001
VIENNA, Virginia – FOLIOfn, Inc. today announced the launch of FOLIO Advisor℠, an easy-to-use, affordable alternative to existing separately managed accounts. Also today, FOLIOfn announced an exclusive partnership with Advent Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADVS).
Investment advisors can use FOLIO Advisor, the investment advisor version of FOLIO Investing℠, to offer custom stock portfolios under a variety of pricing options including a low fee with no minimums, commissions, or transaction charges. Using this proprietary platform, advisors can buy and manage entire personalized stock portfolios for a client with a few clicks of the mouse and in the same amount of time it would take to buy a single stock or mutual fund.
“We’ve talked to hundreds of investment advisors and dozens of advisory firms who are eager to offer their clients the benefits of FOLIO Investing,” said FOLIOfn founder and CEO Steven M.H. Wallman. “FOLIO Advisor makes it easy to offer customized services that used to be reserved for only the wealthiest clients. Our partnership with Advent, where we are the exclusive provider of this type of investing service, makes FOLIO Advisor even more attractive and will guarantee that we are able to reach quickly an even broader audience of advisors.”
“All evidence points to an explosion in the growth of customized, separately managed accounts,“ said Jeff Helms, Managing Director of FOLIOfn Institutional. “But until now, customized accounts just weren’t affordable for mainstream investors, and they weren’t easily incorporated into a fee-based advisory program. FOLIO Advisor combines commission-free trading and sophisticated modeling and recommendation tools to let advisors provide customized service to a broad range of clients with an affordable, easy-to-use platform.”
“With FOLIO Advisor and through our relationship with Advent, advisors can wrap together valuable customer services such as investment planning, policy development, portfolio management, performance measurement and trade execution, all in a single investment program for a single fee,” Helms added.
According to Cerulli Associates, assets in separately managed accounts were more than $1 trillion at the end of 1999, an increase from just under $300 billion in 1995. Cerulli attributed this continuing growth to demand for tax efficient and customized investing programs.
Investment advisors can use the FOLIO Advisor platform to buy for their clients whole portfolios of individual stocks—called Folios—that can be customized quickly, easily and automatically, and can also be private-labeled for firms and advisors. FOLIO Advisor offers scores of model Folios based on sectors, indexes, risk level, Wall Street Analyst recommendations and other criteria. Advisors can also use FOLIO Wizard to assist in selecting Folios for clients. Advisors can customize any of these Folios to their clients’ specific needs by adding or subtracting stocks and can update or rebalance Folios with just a few mouse clicks as often as they like with no additional cost. Advisors can also choose to create their own Folios from scratch with the help of online screening tools.
Through FOLIOfn’s exclusive relationship with Advent, investment advisors will be able to seamlessly download their FOLIO Advisor data into Advent Office, licensed by more than 6,000 investment firms around the world. In addition, FOLIOfn will have exclusive access to Advent TrustedNetwork for its newly created style of investing. Advent TrustedNetwork is the only solution for the professional investment community designed to provide consolidated, cross-institutional data to investment advisors and online financial service providers. And the next version of “MyAdvent,” a personalized home page for the Advent Office software system, will connect advisors directly to FOLIO Advisor.
FOLIO Advisor offers a revolutionary, automated tax lot tracking and tax management system that lets advisors easily manage a client’s capital gains, resulting in tax savings that can more than offset the client’s advisor fees. Also, FOLIO Advisor delivers all statements and performance reports online (with paper available if needed) to maximize the time advisors can spend with clients—instead of on paperwork. FOLIO Advisor even takes care of client billing. Advisors can also allow their clients to review reports and analysis online.
For more information regarding Advent Software, contact Kathleen Golden, Advent Software, Inc. at (415) 645-1336 or Emily Axelrad, Digital Clarity, at (415) 495-6766 x203.
About Folio Investing
Folio Investing, a division of FOLIOfn Investments, Inc., is an online brokerage that enables investors to manage stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds as integrated investment portfolios called “Folios” that deliver better control, greater transparency, and lower cost. Investors can create their own Folios, much like creating personalized ETFs or mutual funds, or invest in over 100 Ready-to-Go Folios representing market indices, sectors, geographical regions, target dates, and more. The Folio Unlimited Plan features unlimited commission-free trading in twice-daily windows for only $29 a month or $290 a year. Ready-to-Go Folios can be managed or unmanaged, are not registered investment companies, and are offered by FOLIOfn Investments, Inc., a registered broker-dealer. FOLIOfn Investments, Inc. does not provide investment, tax, or legal advice. FOLIOfn Investments, Inc., is a member of FINRA/SIPC.