Stock says Intuit will focus in 2006 on making PortfolioMinder better
and is not ready to explore integrating other applications with its PMS
system-not just yet, anyway. Stock hinted where Intuit was headed when
I asked him if the company has plans to add a financial planning
application to PortfolioMinder. "At this point, we don't have specific
plans we've announced, but we are looking at a variety of things,"
according to Stock.
What will be interesting to see in coming months is how much staying
power Intuit will have. With $2.2 billion in revenue and 7,000
employees, Intuit is competing against companies like AssetBook, which
has just four employees and operates on a shoestring budget.
PortfolioMinder, which was launched in January, has attracted 27 users.
If a year from now there are only 100 or even 200 users, is that enough
to make Intuit happy? Can the giant become a dominant player in the
market, as it likely will need to do to satisfy shareholders? Can it
net enough profit competing against tiny, efficient companies?
Intuit initially set up PortfolioMinder so that advisors would run
their own downloads and reconciling themselves. Intuit quickly realized
advisors did not want to be doing these chores daily and is automating
the process of downloading from different custodians. In March, an
automated download from Schwab was rolled out and this month downloads
will be automated for the new company formed out of the old Ameritrade
and TD Waterhouse systems, even as their separate back offices prepare
to merge onto Ameritrade's clearing platform. An automated download of
data from Fidelity's RIA system is also on its way.
Like most Web-based PMS systems, PortfolioMinder provides wizards to
help you make sure data come in cleanly. If needed, you can manually
enter data to change automated download entries, and scrub your data.
Intuit will partner with outside firms to scrub data and handle
conversions from other PMS databases.
PortfolioMinder generates 37 types of reports, including several
graphic reports. You can add your logo and your own disclosure to a
report, but further customization is limited. The system offers the
full array of tax-lot accounting methods. It has no trading module,
however, and is not yet integrated with any planning or CRM
applications.
A first-year license is being discounted from $995 to $495, and the annual license fee is $150 a month.
"We'd like to be a major provider of solutions to the advisor market," says Stock.
Andrew Gluck, a longtime writer and
journalist, is CEO of Advisor Products Inc., a Westbury, N.Y., a
marketing company serving 1,500 advisory firms.