Perhaps the most appealing thing about eWebPortfolio is the pricing. With prices starting at $2,500 for one custodial interface, eWebPortfolio is an affordable solution for smaller firms. Pricing for larger firms is equally attractive, starting at $400 per month for unlimited access and multiple custodians with no per-seat charge. Of course, your greatest savings is likely to result from reduced staffing needs, since eWebPortfolio will handle the back-office work.

Before you throw down this magazine and rush to contact eWebPortfolio, a few cautions are in order. As of late September, interfaces for Schwab, Waterhouse and Fidelity were not yet in place, although the company indicated that producing them is a priority. I also think the program's interface, while powerful, could use a little polishing. Reports, though numerous, are not as plentiful as some other programs provide. (They can be exported for further editing, however.)

As with IAS, I consider eWeb-Portfolio to be a new, promising product worth following; but implementation entails the same new-company risk. While it is not quite ready for prime time yet, eWebPortfolio could prove to be a low-cost alternative to Advent and Centerpiece in the not-too- distant future.

AdvisorSites BackOffice 4.0,

FANS, ACES and FASERS

AdvisorSites, a leader in the field of Web design and hosting, and written content for independent financial advisors, recently launched enhancements and additions to their service offering.

BackOffice 4.0 represents a significant enhancement for those currently using AdvisorSites as their Web hosting service. The new WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor makes creating new Web pages, or reformatting old pages, a much simpler process. The interface, which resembles a pared down version of MS Word, allows users to format paragraphs, change fonts, create bulleted or numbered lists, insert tables, insert links, and spell check from one toolbar, among other things. If you prefer to work from within MS Word, you can create pages there and then cut and paste them into the editor. The new version also grants users more control over the way AdvisorSites- supplied content is displayed.

BackOffice 4.0 now includes an image library. Stock photos are filed by subject (Wall Street, Retirement, Abstract, etc.), so they can be viewed and uploaded with minimal fuss.

FANS, an e-mail list server available for $500 per year, automates e-mail communications with clients and prospects. The service produces customized, privately labeled e-mail newsletters with teasers and links to an advisor's current Web content. The service also includes a weekly market wrap-up, so you can send a nice mix of general financial planning information and market news. Subscribers to AdvisorProducts newsletter service have access to additional free content that can be used in conjunction with FANS at no additional cost. Andy Gluck, president of AdvisorSites, is particularly proud of this service, proclaiming it "the most important Internet marketing tool ever developed for independent financial advisors."

AdvisorSites Compliance Engine Snapshot (ACES) is another new add-on; and at $150 per year, it is a bargain. ACES allows advisors to take a "snapshot" of their site whenever changes are made and to store a compressed version locally (on a CD-ROM, for example) for compliance purposes.