• Doing Business
  • Hi Tech
  • High Touch
  • Shared Equity/Risk

Doing Business

Doing Business

AP provides you with the tools you need and the freedom to make the best independent decisions on your client's behalf. Our open-architecture environment supports any business model: strictly transactional or hybrid practice.

Fee-Based Asset Management Financial Planning and Wealth Management Tools

Advisory services is the fastest growing part of American Portfolios and enjoys a competitive edge in the marketplace as one of the industry’s most valued business solutions providers for the growing needs of investment advisors seeking flexible and varied fee-based asset management financial planning services, and wealth management tools. We are not a one-size-fits-all firm. Whether it’s doing fee-based advisory business through our corporate RIA, American Portfolios Advisors, Inc. (APA) or your own RIA, or based on your propensity to asset-manage or asset-gather, American Portfolios supports all types of practices through its exhaustive selection of programs and services.

  • Open access to several leading third-party institutional portfolio managers such as Brinker, Genworth Financial, Lockwood Financial and SEI.
  • Availability of widely-used financial planning and model management Web services and software to support any size and any shape wealth management practice; programs include, but are not limited to, AllocationMaster through SunGard, eMoney Advisor, MoneyGuidePro, NaviPlan and Morningstar Workstation.
  • Structured arrangements for fee-billing services and to support structured arrangements for flat-fee, financial planning, 401(k) open architectures and solicitors business.


American Portfolios' Advisory Services Platform

American Portfolios’ Advisory Services Platform  is for people who are inventive enough to look for new ideas, but intelligent enough to confer with the experts.  Our affiliated advisors work with clients to find investment solutions that can be assembled to create portfolios to meet any risk tolerance and investment goal.

Through American Portfolios Advisors, Inc., (APA), AP’s Advisory Services Platform currently offers four programs within two management disciplines: advisor-managed and  institutionally managed. You can choose to provide your clients professional management services as a portfolio manager, or tap into a wealth of experience using the services of institutional money managers and mutual fund/asset allocation strategists. The programs on the platform have created a comprehensive advisory solution,  combining an array of investments; more than 100 money managers and strategists; billing, performance reporting, research, block trading, rebalancing and model management services and tools—to name a few, all intended to satisfy any financial practice need.


Transactional Business Solutions

Since the beginning, we’ve set out to be the best–not the biggest–provider of business solutions for independent financial professionals. This core focus frees us to think “small,” down to the individual needs of our customers. Despite this trend away from traditional investing, transactional business remains an integral solution for advisors running hybrid practices and for long-standing relationships with clients who have very specific financial service needs and expectations. American Portfolios will continue to offer what still remains a very widely-used choice of financial products and instruments in the following investment areas:

  • Non-proprietary product selections from over 140 mutual fund companies.
  • More than a dozen NAV transfer programs and a no-transaction-fee mutual fund platform for more than 5000 funds within 230 funds families.
  • Full-service brokerage through our clearing relationship with Pershing LLC, a subsidiary of The Bank of New York Mellon.
  • Fixed income solutions delivered through a live, secure and highly efficient trading infrastructure that supports the collection, management, display and execution of fixed-income security offerings.
  • Variable annuity product agreements from more than 65 insurance carriers.
  • Variable life products through agreements with over 20 top insurance carriers.
  • Carefully reviewed alternative investments.
  • Insurance business resources, offered in coordination with multiple IMO relationships, providing access to hundreds of carriers for: term; whole and fixed universal life; disability and long term care insurance; variable life; and fixed and indexed annuities

Lending Services

As your clients depend on you to manage their assets and address all of their financial needs, there may be opportunities that exist on the debt side of their balance sheet that will enhance the level of service you provide, attracting and maintaining new relationships. Through American Portfolios and its partnership with Pershing LLC, LoanAdvance and Fully Paid Securities Lending are two such solutions available to clients under the right circumstances.


Initial Public Offerings (IPO)

Where and when we can—and we are always searching—we’ll get you access to investment opportunities at the ground level.  Through our existing relationships with Bank of New York Mellon and Pershing LLC, as well as other investment banking or institutional trading firms that have chosen to partner with American Portfolios, the fast-paced world of IPOs is at your disposal. Whether it is a new equity, closed-end fund or municipal bond note, American Portfolios, in any given week, promptly keeps its advisors apprised of available offerings, accepting any indications of interest on a first-come, first-serve basis.


Transition Support

With years of experience working in transferring thousands of accounts through multiple platforms, we’re confident we can make your transition to AP as seamless as possible. You’ll enjoy the services of a dedicated affiliation services and transition team, who will be at your disposal before, during, and after your transition.


Hi Tech

Hi Tech

The ace up our sleeve, American Outsources LLC (AO), is rich with intellectual capital and IT know-how. It's more than extending the firm's business technology platform; AO integrates the resources and builds the mechanisms to support AP in providing business solutions to its affiliates, ultimately supporting client acquisition and retention as well as amassing more assets.

Workflow Operations

Systems and processes are only as good as the people who use them. Since its inception, American Portfolios has implemented business workflow functionality, the genesis of which has arisen from the demands and needs of our advisors in the field. That is the foundation on which STARS, AP’s business processing workflow Web application, was built.

Essentially, STARS becomes the control center—if you will—for your back office and all your business processing activities. Functions such as establishing new client account information, opening a Pershing account, systematic supervisory approval of transactions, storing client documents and submitting  promotional material requests for compliance approval, are taken care of all in one centralized location. What’s more, the integration of other Web services such as Albridge Wealth Reporting to review client-associated accounts, ready-access and completion of AP and product company forms mapped with your client account details, and due diligence Web tools for proper vetting of annuity and alternative investment products, are accessible without having to leave STARS. At AP it’s all about creating efficiencies that make the work easier and more streamlined so that you can focus on serving clients and bringing in more assets.


Cash Flow Operations

In order to maintain and grow a business, the first thing you’ll  want to know is how much cash is being generated from revenues in any given month, week—even day. As it is our prime function as a broker/dealer to pay timely commissions and fees to our affiliated investment professionals, through the services of Xtiva, a leading provider of sales management software for financial services, combined with the firm’s participation in NSCC’s commission settlement program for daily downloads from Pershing LLC and hundreds of participating product vendors,  AP has fully integrated into its infrastructure, a compensation reporting management system steeped in operational efficiencies.  As a result, multiple data resources of record are turned into accurate, consistent and reliable intelligence, and delivered to our advisors 24/7 through this powerful, yet simple, on-demand query reporting Web application—CommissionWeb—to support the day-to-day decisions of a business owner.


Data Management and Reporting

Wealth reporting has never been so accessible and simple than through AP’s highly available and secure networked infrastructure to bring reliable client accounting and performance reporting solutions right through to an advisor’s business and back office.

Available at no additional cost to our advisors, wealth reporting through Albridge Solutions evaluates holdings and tax data, tracks portfolio performance with a choice of return calculations, and even integrates an advisor’s client data with other third-party CRMs and/or financial planning software programs they may currently use.

Simple solutions are made not just elegantly, but efficiently.

Clearing Firm Access

With the firm belief that an infrastructure backed by strong technology is critical to the sustainability of a broker/dealer and its advisors’ businesses, our partnership with  Pershing has reinforced this with its powerful Web-based interface that is designed to be integrated into a thriving and active practice. Through the NetX360 portal, access to account information, trading activities, market data and research, tools and analytical capabilities is seamless. What’s more, NetX360’s open architecture configuration allows an advisor to easily integrate their CRM, performance reporting tool and/or market data online resource of choice with NetX360. Furthermore, the client experience of having full, 24/7 online access to their accounts and associated documentation through NetExchange Client is  hugely important in establishing transparency, credibility and long-lasting relationships.

Web Services

Web services are the enhanced capabilities that take broker/dealer-provided consolidated account data and portfolio holdings, bringing them into other essential applications within an investment professional’s financial practice.  Through agreements with many Web services firms, the combination of data aggregation services through Albridge Wealth Reporting and other financial service software companies that integrate Web services into their applications, allows APFS to offer its affiliated professionals access to highly sophisticated financial analytical tools.

American Portfolios currently has agreements with several Web service providers and products included, but not limited to:

  • eMoney Advisor
  • MoneyGuidePro
  • Morningstar Workstation
  • NaviPlan
  • Pareto Systems
  • Redtail
  • SunGard Planning Station

High Touch

High Touch

We are looking for ways to connect with one another. At AP there are a number of ways we do that. Our advisor information channels and service support tools ensure the proper intel and access is available at all times, enabling our team to make the best decisions for themselves and their clients.

Accountability

AP Support, powered by Salesforce, is an intelligent ticketing and tracking tool that tackles the questions and concerns presented by our advisors in the field. AP Support ensures accountability to those at the home office who must address issues assigned to them in an informative and timely manner so that advisors can be responsive to the needs of their clients at any given time.


Accessibility

Want to know there’s always someone on the other end you can talk to? With the Advisor Support Center, a call-in hub for advisors and support staff, our branch offices in the field receive immediate assistance when calling into the home office. Even more, our top advisors have concierge services with dedicated support personnel assigned to their office.


Connectivity

We are all looking for ways to connect with one another. At AP there are a number of ways we do that:

The Independent: A weekly e-newsletter that distributes newsworthy, timely company and industry content in a distilled, efficient, and unobtrusive way.

FREE: Our quarterly in-house journal that delivers invaluable investment, financial and practice management insights from internal staff, affiliated professionals and partners of the firm.

The American Forum: An interactive information system that allows our advisors to directly ask questions of AP department heads, our focus companies, or fellow colleagues who are subject matter experts.

Studio 454: Our in-house digital production studio that produces and delivers Web-based industry-expert interviews, bi-weekly company reporting, and recaps of industry-related current events. Production services are also available to any advisor interested in creating video content for their practice.


Marketability (Practice Management)

As a business owner in today’s fast-paced digital and ever-changing world, staying relevant is the number one challenge; so, as big ideas are delivered in ever-shrinking wrappers, always remember, it’s not the size but the source that matters.

Branded Materials: With the support of business partner, Broadridge, a leading provider of sales, education and client communication services, AP gives advisors free access to thousands of digital and printed resources. Each can be branded with personal pictures, logos and contact information to deliver and keep any client informed.

Social Networking: There is no better place to strengthen relationships and seek new prospects than through social networking. American Portfolios has both the expertise and compliance mechanisms in place to help advisors build strong online presences for their practices.

Succession Planning: When you build your own business, it’s heartwarming to know that your hard work will be appreciated and its integrity maintained once you move on. At American Portfolios, we’ll partner with you to prepare for whatever comes next. For all affiliated colleagues whose gross commissions and/or advisory fees exceed $225,000 for the trailing twelve months, we pay an additional 50 percent fees for valuation, purchase and sale of a practice, provided that practice comes to or remains at American Portfolios.


Shared Equity/Risk

Shared Equity/Shared Risk

With trust comes loyalty, with risk comes reward. We reach for invisible networks suspended around us, entrusting personal mementos to a cloud we can't see.

Shared Equity

You can work for the company who owns you.  Or, you can own the company you work for. In the event of an acquisition of the firm, a merger, or the establishment of American Portfolios as a duly organized publicly traded entity, it is the intention of management, through the “Capital Units Program,” to share equity with its partners, managers and sales associates.


Shared Risk

At American Portfolios the goal of risk management is very simple: protect our clients, protect the careers of our advisors and principals, and protect the firm to ensure its continued viability as an independent broker/dealer.

How do we do this? It begins with some very basic rules:

  • Get to know a prospective advisor
  • Vet products that are mutually expedient for both advisors and the firm
  • Keep current with changing regulations
  • Assess current business activities through compliance approval, ongoing surveillance and regularly held risk committee meetings
  • Whenever possible, represent members of the firm during an arbitration, mediation or regulatory proceeding
  • Ensure the best protections are in place against reputational risk

Truth be told, that at the foundation of any strong risk management structure are the trusted relationships forged between client and advisor, advisor and broker/dealer. When you have that, the risk to all is minimized.


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