At its seventh annual technology summit this week in Dallas, TD Ameritrade Institutional revealed the latest developments for its advisor technology platforms, as well as what is coming on the horizon.
One new development unveiled at the summit was Veo Open Alerts (known among technology developers as the “message bus”), a new system for third-party technology vendors to develop automated workflows that are shared across the various tools integrated with Veo. For example, if an advisor uses a CRM to change a client’s address, Advanced Alerts will automatically update the information in financial planning, portfolio management or any other tool the advisor has connected with Veo.
“The goal here is true automation,” said Chris Valleley, the director of TD Ameritrade Institutional Technology Solutions. “What are all of those tasks in [a] firm that need to happen to have cash invested? It’s not just about integrating data; it’s about doing it in a smarter way.”
TD also gave an update on Veo One, its next-generation platform designed to give advisors access to their entire technology suite from a single digital location. Veo One provides deeper integration with a select group of wealthtech vendors (14 rather than the 105 companies on Veo Open Access), bringing portfolio management, financial planning, CRM, risk analysis and performance reporting into a single dashboard screen.
Each connected vendor also has a tab in Veo One, so advisors can work within a single program if necessary with just a single click rather than loading a new application. Advisors can also drag and drop widgets from various vendors to customize their Veo One dashboard.
Valleley revealed an enhanced search function in Veo One, allowing advisors to search for clients and household accounts as well as research and thought leadership from TD. Eventually, Veo One will also be able to search through every integrated app and all of TD’s information.
Jon Patullo, the managing director of TD Ameritrade Institutional Technology Solutions, said the firm wants to add analytics from FA Insight, which TD acquired in February, to Veo One, so advisors can see how they stack up to comparable firms.
Veo One, first announced in January 2015, is now in beta testing with a group of 100 or so advisors. To accelerate innovation and development, TD announced to the 25 companies that attended the tech summit a new “co-creation” process that gives vendors more control over the integration process.
“We’re always working to improve the technology experience for RIAs, and this community of innovators has had a major impact on our strategy and success in building a leading custody platform,” Patullo said. “We encouraged technology leaders to innovate alongside us through co-creation.”
“It’s a combination of Veo One, vendors’ APIs and our APIs along with Advanced Alerts to bring them all together,” Valleley added. “It’s not just a website; it’s not just another website. It’s an integration ecosystem.”
TD also gave three awards to vendors for their integration with Veo Open Access. Junxure Cloud’s CRM was recognized for innovation, and MoneyGuidePro received an award for advisor satisfaction. Riskalyze was named “newcomer of the year” for Autopilot, its online advice solution for advisors.
