Blackberry, iPad, Macbook, iPhone, Android—these days just about everyone you meet owns some sort of digital device. "Having the world in the palm of your hand" used to be a metaphor; today it's a reality.
Every day there are new, more-efficient ways to manage your financial advisory business, from social-media tools to apps. Here are six you don't want to miss:
- Bloomberg Mobile. This free application contains the latest business news and data. Users can analyze real-time financial market data, access company descriptions and get the latest market news and stock quotes. The "my stocks" feature allows advisors to create personalized portfolios of stocks they want to follow for themselves or their clients.
- NestEgg Estimator. Rated one of the top-10 Android apps, Nest Egg Estimator projects your finances into future years, showing income, taxes, assets and debt. You have the option to enter as little or as much information as you want; more data means more accurate results. It also allows you to run different scenarios, including purchases, expenses, job changes and more.
- Flipboard Pages. Flipboard Pages offers a simple way for publishers to automatically deliver content in a classy, engaging layout on the iPad. Among the publishers whose content is already enabled on Flipboard Pages are: ABC News, All Things Digital, Bon Appetit, Lonely Planet, SB Nation, SF Gate, Uncrate and The Washington Post magazine. When an article is shared on Twitter or Facebook, a Flipboard user can simply select "read article" or double-tap to get a clean, enjoyable reading experience. Use this platform to stay up to date on the latest financial news and content.
- Hootsuite. Hootsuite is king when it comes to social-media convenience and efficiency. Instead of shifting back and forth between social-media platforms, Hootsuite allows you to oversee and access all of your social operations in one convenient place. Here, you can schedule posts and tweets for all of your social-media pages, see trending topics, track statistics and much more.
- Black Diamond Mobile for Ipad. Black Diamond for iPad allows authorized Black Diamond performance-reporting clients to access their performance data. "One of the apps our advisors love to use is Black Diamond Mobile," said Jodi Johnston, president of Financial Advisors of America. "It's a very useful performance-reporting tool that provides the team access to our clients' account and portfolio information on the go [and] offers a large enough display screen that can be used in impromptu client meetings."
- Power Presenter. Investment advisors excel at the art of persuasion. Power Presenter lets you upload PDF files using any presentation or publishing tool on your PC. After uploading, you can swipe through your various PDFs and draw on them using your finger. This gives you the chance to annotate your own presentations, providing your clients with clear illustrations of financial trends. Instead of using plain pen and paper, you can impress prospects and clients with this new app.
Whether you're preparing for a presentation or need last-minute data on stocks, mobile apps offer a savvy way for you to stay ahead of the game.
