Covestor’s goal: to empower the individual investor and level the playing field with the wire houses, all in a transparent, accessible and fair environment. In my opinion, the CVIM platform will forever change the financial services industry.

Investors care less about investment performance and more about how you are supporting them and communicating with them according to JD Power and Associates. That’s great news! Isn’t it easier to pick up the phone to reach out to your clients than to generate 5%, 10% or 20% returns?

American’s spent $92.3 billion on legalized gambling during 2007 while only saving $57.4 billion. Recognizing this statistic, banks are getting creative and offering option-like investment vehicles.

With portfolio performance across the board plummeting, one of the few differentiating points for brokerage houses is customer service. A recent Consumer Reports survey revealed that discount brokers significantly outperformed “full-service” brokerage houses in the area of customer service.

iThryv has launched a platform that fully integrates into your existing website and offers all the benefits of customization with none of the drawbacks of building your own site. In addition to superior banking functionality, the iThryv founders have incorporated financial education, believing that the point of a transaction is the best teaching moment.

A survey of “rich Americans” by the Harrison Group found that 63% had lost faith in financial institutions. So how do we build trust? We believe that the underlying mechanisms of the solution must lie in customer education. Customer education not only means transparent fees, but also education of the products, strategies and risk-reward tradeoffs.

YoungInvesteneur conducted a survey of 300 young adults ranging in age between 15 and 26 in order to better understand the relationship between young adults and financial advisors. The results of the survey are astonishing and indicate that financial advisors are missing a significant opportunity to leverage intergenerational referral business.

Web 2.0 has allowed developers to create sophisticated online tools which offer effective solutions for investing and managing money and creating a financial plan. You have no choice but to embrace these technologies into your practices and figure out complementary methods of adding value for your customers.

W!SE recently released its six year study on the effectiveness of financial education in high schools. W!SE has created a Financial Literacy Certification Program and has administered the program to more than 70,000 students. Of the 70,000 students participating in the program, 51,000 (or 74%) passed.

in 2009, Charles Schwab published a “Young Adult and Money” Survey which revealed that 52% of young adults believe that the most important issue facing Americans is “making better choices about managing money”. Furthermore, more than half are “very concerned about their financial future”. How are you capitalizing on this sentiment?