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Portfolio > Portfolio Construction

American Portfolios Completes TrustFort Acquisition

By Danielle Andrus

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American Portfolios announced on Friday that it has finalized its acquisition of IT firm TrustFort.

“This technology acquisition enables us to operate according to an entirely new standard of excellence,” American Portfolios CEO Lon Dolber said in a statement. “Our proprietary advisory technology platform, Portfolio Insight, benefits investment professionals who conduct fee-based business by allowing them to tailor their back offices and create operational efficiencies that afford them more time strengthening and forging existing and new client relationships.”

American Portfolios was voted by its reps as Investment Advisor’s Broker-Dealer of the Year in 2015 and 2016 in Division III, which recognizes firms with between 500 and 999 reps.

“I don’t want to live in anybody else’s technology bucket, so we acquired a company called TrustFort. It allows us to control development. If I want to go down the road of offering a robo type of scenario, I’ll be able to do that. To me, to be independent you have to be technology independent,” Dolber told us in 2015.

The Holbrook, New York-based firm started its relationship with TrustFort in 2014 when it integrated the two firms’ platforms to provide reps with research, due diligence, product support and in-house model management. It formed a limited liability company in 2015 to partner with TrustFort and control the intellectual property associated with an online wealth management software tool.

Gary Gordon, president of American Portfolios Advisors, AP’s RIA firm, noted that as the industry moves more toward a fiduciary standard, firms have to have technology in place to “accommodate that type of business model.”

“We occupy a very important and tactical position within the financial advisor chain, as we’re the closet service provider to the advisor. Therefore, we must leverage our unique position and provide our advisors with the most compelling advisory platform. This is why we have devoted the time and resources into developing Portfolio Insight with the needs of our clients — and the end-clients — in mind,” he said in a statement.

Portfolio Insight offers reps affiliated with AP, as well as outside RIAs, create and manage model portfolios, with detailed fee summaries, the ability to lock and hold positions or add cash buffers within accounts, and mapping from one holding to another. AP anticipates improved onboarding and a client portal in the coming months.

— Read Facing Off: The 2016 Broker-Dealers of the Year on ThinkAdvisor. 

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