News

Attend SOLUTIONS 2008 Workshops to Improve Efficiency

Register now for SOLUTIONS® 2008 Operations and Technology Workshops, to be held this summer in 12 cities.

SOLUTIONS workshops focus on helping you get maximum benefit from the systems and services offered by Schwab Institutional and Schwab Performance Technologies. Attendance is an exclusive benefit for clients who custody with Schwab Institutional, but to ensure that all of our clients have access to this information, the workshops will be available as on-demand Webcasts later this summer.

This year’s expanded curriculum has more for your entire operations team. The two sessions specifically for PortfolioCenter® clients will feature new content:

• Putting PortfolioCenter to Work: Data Management and Troubleshooting Techniques
• Best Practices for Billing Management in PortfolioCenter

Attendance is complimentary and open only to Schwab Institutional client firms. To learn more and register, visit www.schwabsolutions.com. You can also watch on-demand Webcasts of SOLUTIONS sessions from 2006 and 2007 online, anytime.

Junxure 7 Now Available: Enhanced Usability and Expanded Capabilities

Now available, Junxure 7 is the latest release of CRM Software's flagship Total Office Management system designed for financial advisors. Since selecting Junxure last year as our preferred CRM solution, we have successfully upgraded our former PortfolioCenter Relationship Manager clients to Junxure to provide them with a better, more powerful tool. Junxure integrates with PortfolioCenter, so firms that use both can easily have access to clients' financial and personal information in a single environment.

While Junxure is our preferred CRM solution, it is one of many that integrate with PortfolioCenter. As always, we remain committed to open architecture and encourage you to choose the best solution for your firm's needs.

Several enhancements have greatly expanded Junxure's capabilities.

• A new client dashboard that summarizes key client information and allows unlimited custom views that can be shared firm-wide.
• Extended integration with Microsoft Outlook® makes it easier to track emails and work with templates, mail merge and multiple emails attached to one action.
• Security enhancements let you control which areas of the program users are allowed to view and edit.

Greg Friedman, president of CRM Software, is excited about the improvements made to Junxure. "We've made it even easier for advisors to leverage Junxure's full capabilities, and that will help them manage their client relationships more effectively," he said.

Responses to the survey in our last issue suggest that the majority of PortfolioCenter users are already using a CRM tool.

• If you're considering a CRM system for your firm, take a look at Junxure's Web site to learn more about this solution and see an online demo.
• If you're already a Junxure user and have not yet upgraded, visit the Junxure 7.0 page to learn more about the release.
  

Support & Resources

Maximize Data Management Efficiency with Our Latest Best Practices Guide

Take full advantage of PortfolioCenter's extensive data management capabilities with our latest best practices guide, Using Data Management Tools to Work More Efficiently. The guide, which was distributed last fall, includes several practical examples you can use right away, from removing closed accounts within sets of active accounts to finding and replacing missing data. The guide covers best practices for using Smart Sets, Custom Portfolio Fields, Rules and the Data Manager, and shows you how these tools work together to improve productivity and accuracy.

Several techniques featured in the guide will be demonstrated at this summer's Schwab SOLUTIONS workshops, including an example on how to set up new accounts accurately. One tip is to create a New Accounts view using the Data Manager to quickly identify missing data within new portfolios. The view also helps you update and post data into the portfolio details section more efficiently.

To learn more about the New Accounts view and other time-saving techniques, read the PortfolioCenter Best Practices Guide, or come to one of our SOLUTIONS workshops this summer.

Product Feature

Select Service Provides Tailored Client Support

Since 2007, when we launched Select Service — our specialized offer that provides a primary technical support contact — advisors have spoken highly of their representatives' ability to zero in on issues and give recommendations tailored to their firm.

As Julie C. Chauvin of The St. Louis Trust Company attests, "It's nice to work with a dedicated person who understands our business, the challenges we've had in the past, our history and how we use PortfolioCenter."

Your Select Service representative works to understand your firm and leverages that knowledge to suggest best practices specifically for your business. Select Service participants also receive invitations to all PortfolioCenter pre-releases, overnight delivery of product upgrades and personal tours of new features. To learn more about the benefits of this personalized support, visit the Select Service page on our Web site.