Over the last year, you may have witnessed a whirlwind between PortfolioCenter, Schwab, and Envestnet. If you have not had a chance to catch up, here are the highlights:
- Andrew Salesky takes charge of technology solutions at Charles Schwab Advisor Services
- Schwab abandons plans to build a multi-custodial technology solution to compete with products like Tamarac, Black Diamond, and Orion in favor of their new PortfolioConnect, to be built directly into the Schwab custodial platform
- Charles Schwab announces they are selling PortfolioCenter to Envestnet Tamarac
- Envestnet rolls out discounted deals to advisors who are willing to sign on to multi-year commitments with Envestnet’s overlay to PortfolioCenter
So what does all of this mean for you, the advisor? Well, if you are a PortfolioCenter user, it means that there is continued support for PortfolioCenter. If you use another portfolio management software, Envestnet’s acquisition of PortfolioCenter adds new competition to the market, which means rival companies are cutting costs and looking to incentivize advisors to integrate to their service.
With any big change or market shift, advisors using PortfolioCenter may benefit from reevaluating alternatives available to them and how their current third-party vendors may align with their business models and strategies. With the acquisition of PortfolioCenter by Envestnet, other portfolio management companies, such as Orion and Morningstar, are now in a feeding frenzy with Schwab and Envestnet to acquire and retain customers. For many advisors that may equate to lowered costs, package deals, and discounted premium features.
Subsequently advisors have found upon review, that PortfolioCenter provides a solid, low cost alternative, with little reason to make changes at a time when no clear market leader has evolved. When one factors in the value of the PortfolioCenter portability of data and virtual O-type data source, there is good logic in staying with a known and dependable alternative. Estimates are that when including the Tamarac instances of PortfolioCenter, there are still 2500-3000 RIAs using PortfolioCenter. This is still multiples of the next closest portfolio accounting platform in terms of market share, all at a fraction of the cost.
If you have questions about how Envestnet’s acquisition of PortfolioCenter affects you as an advisor, or you would like more information on outsourcing and automating daily processes, give us a call at (919) 741-6104.