For their part, how do vendors who service such virtual office clients
juggle so many balls in the air? How do they manage multiple clients,
multiple deadlines, and at the same time protect their clients-and
their clients' data-in a society rife with identity theft concerns?
The way they do it, says Szebo, is by "keeping things as uniform as
possible so they don't have to go in and tweak and do extra pieces for
you. They also work on volume a lot."
eTelligent Consulting, for example, has made
outsourcing portfolio management services easy for advisors like
Kirchenbauer, a client of the firm. It can define a process once and
spread its application out through 50 or more clients, says Jim
Starcev, managing principal. "We do that with corporate actions and
downloads. We process work throughout the quarter. A lot of people [who
do it] in-house may put that off and do it once or twice a quarter, for
example. We do it daily."
Security is always a concern with the Overland Park,
Kan., firm. The accounts and reports that clients access are controlled
by a password. Clients have their own databases, and can customize them
for billings, specific asset classes, report settings and other
functions. Employees are fully screened. There are backup sites for
redundancies. All data is stored in a single location and controlled by
passwords. "By contract we guarantee that the client owns their data
and guarantee privacy of that data, as well," says Starcev. "It's their
data, not ours."
Total Office Inc. of Akron, Ohio, handles some of
Greenhill's account administrative and paperwork, mails his birthday
and holiday cards and helps maintain his database. The firm, which
juggles such duties for about 50 clients, also checks e-mails and phone
messages. It has the capability to confirm trades, transfers and make
client withdrawals. It can set up appointments for meetings and
seminars, and design Web sites and PowerPoint presentations.
"It's really a balancing act," says Sherry Carnahan,
Total Point's ebullient president, "because we never know what's going
to come in and how long each task is going to take, except for the
recurring tasks. Those are easy to plan and schedule and are done
regularly."
Sometimes the transition from doing everything yourself to working
virtually can be a bit rough. "We try to give them as much instruction
on how to transition as possible," says Carnahan. "Sometimes we have to
hold their hand at the beginning because they're new. A lot of advisors
have a hard time letting go and giving work to us."
Bruce W. Fraser, a freelance financial writer in New York, can be reached at [email protected]. Visit him at www.bwfraser.com.