I’ve spoken with many advisors over the years. Some owned their own one-man advisory shop and others worked for a smaller firm. Whenever the subject of an audit came up, many said they hadn’t been audited in years, and some even said they’d never been audited. Well, as luck would have it, I’ve drawn the short straw. I’ve received notification of an audit.
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Archive for February, 2008In this blog, I’d like to follow up on an article I wrote for Investment Advisor magazine’s January issue. In it, I discussed four different software packages. As a result, I’ve received several e-mails from advisors who were in the process of selecting a package for themselves, so I thought I’d go into a little more detail about my choice. For years I used Morningstar Principia to prepare portfolio analysis reports and to research investments. Then, earlier this past year, I began using Morningstar Advisor Workstation. After a few months with this, I switched back to Principia, only to finally settle on Advisor Workstation at the beginning of 2008. Now you may be thinking, “Can’t this guy make up his mind?” I began to wonder the same thing myself. The problem is, with so many nuances of each tool, it’s difficult to choose the very best one. Ultimately, you have to go with the one that best suits the type of business you do. Large organizations consist of many layers, from the CEO and the board of directors down to the client-facing advisor. Just like the game of telephone we all played as kids, very often the messages that were crafted at the top are substantially altered by the time they reach the advisors who interact directly with clients. This “disconnect” is extremely commonplace in today’s corporate world and presents a great opportunity for the independent advisor. Let me explain. |
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