Everything You Need to Know About PortfolioCenter Discounts for RIA Firms

It’s been two weeks since Envestnet announced it was acquiring PortfolioCenter.

Since the announcement, seemingly every competing tech firm has released some kind of offer to entice PortfolioCenter advisors to move away from the software and onto their own platforms.

By now, you’ve read the opinion pieces about what the acquisition means for advisor technology and RIA firms (Wealth Management Today has a particularly good article).

But if your attention span is short and you don’t want to sift through 1,000+ words just to figure out what goodies all the portfolio management software vendors are offering, here’s the quick summary of everything you need to know.

Morningstar Office

By my tally, industry behemoth Morningstar was the first software vendor to offer advisors a package to entice system switching, releasing their discount just three days after the acquisition announcement.

Here’s the Deal:

• Up to 12 months of Morningstar Office at no charge

• Two free passes to the Morningstar Investment Conference every year the firm remains subscribed to Morningstar Office

• Access to Morningstar.com Premium for 12 months at no charge, for up to 250 clients

• Morningstar magazine subscription

Orion

Not to be outdone, Orion Advisor Services tossed its hat in the ring with nine months of free access to its portfolio management platform, plus access to its trading and rebalancing system (which the 2019 T3 Software Survey just listed as the trading system more advisors are thinking about switching to than any other).

Here’s the Deal:

• Nine months of access at no charge

• Access to its Eclipse trading and rebalancing software at no charge

• Conversion, onboarding, training, and ongoing support all included

• Free registration for Ascent on the Road, Orion’s 2019 version of its annual user conference

FinFolio

FinFolio’s all-in-one portfolio management system rolled out a more limited offer compared to Orion and Morningstar, paring down the free access to three months.

Here’s the Deal:

• Three months of system access for free with a three-year contract

• One-week, free data conversions for firms that are not “extremely large or complicated” (From appearances, it looks like this offer is always-on and not tied to the recent acquisition)

SS&C | Black Diamond

Black Diamond’s offer is a little more complicated than the others. Rather than simply offering free system access, Black Diamond ties their offer to an advisor’s AUM.

Here’s the Deal:

• One year of free service, plus free implementation using its conversion tool for firms with AUM over $100 million

• Free one-year subscription to ModestSpark, its client portal and reporting solution, for firms with less than $100 million in AUM

Advyzon

Advyzon, recently listed as the highest rated All-In-One vendor and second highest Portfolio Management system by user rating in the T3 2019 Software Survey, has a simple offer of its own.

Here’s the Deal:

• Free conversions through the end of 2019

Portfolio Pathway

Portfolio Pathway is another comprehensive wealth management platform that includes trading, billing, and client experience tools in addition to the usual reporting capabilities. During my attendance at this year’s T3 Advisor Conference, I heard a lot of positive chatter about the firm from the advisors I spoke with there.

Here’s the Deal:

• No setup fees

• Free transactional conversion for up to five years of data

• Platform fee reduced to 0.5 basis points on total AUM for the first six months (the fee goes up to 1 basis point after those six months)

Envestnet | Tamarac

Rounding out the offers is Envestnet itself, which seemingly realized it might need a boost of its own to keep some firms around given the level of competition coming out. Envestnet has not publicly announced its retention offers, but advisors discussed the terms with Financial Planning and voiced their opinions on its attractiveness.

Here’s the Deal:

• One year of Outsourced Solutions for free with a four-year contract

• Two years of Outsourced Solutions for free with a seven-year contract

If you’re an advisor who’s currently using PortfolioCenter, I’m curious to know which package is most appealing to you. Do any of the offers affect your decision to stick with PortfolioCenter or start looking elsewhere? Hit me on Twitter to chat about the options you’re exploring.

 

 

Looking for someone to help you refresh your marketing strategy, write a new website, or speak at your next event? Click here to get in touch.

Featured Image: Photo by Federica Galli on Unsplash

I’ve worked in the financial services industry for many years, and articles may at times contain references to either past or current clients.