Mobile portfolio reporting comes to the UHNW client

The latest mobile app is designed to help clients access portfolio information — like asset allocation and performance — right in the palm of their hands.

That’s if the advisor's clients are in the ultrahigh-net-worth crowd.

Addepar, a portfolio management software platform, launched its first mobile application with an emphasis on giving UHNW investors the opportunity to look at their portfolios in real time. The average well-heeled client could have waited weeks for portfolio information while advisors entered the data by hand, says Addepar CEO Eric Poirier.
“The answer to the client is almost always late and it’s almost always wrong as well,” says Poirier.

Founded in 2009, the Mountain View, California-based fintech manages data for over $1.3 trillion in assets. Addepar aggregates portfolio, market and client data.

Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg

The app also gives clients access to the aggregated data, while previously, the advisors were the primary users of the technology.The app is currently available on the iPhone only.

According to Financial Planning’s tech survey, less than 1% of advisors surveyed use Addepar as a portfolio management tool.

Poirier says the purpose of the app is to give investors quick answers to quick questions, such as, how did their portfolio perform in the given week, how did market events affect their assets or what is their net worth?

The mobile launch expands Addepar's reach beyond the advisor to the client, Poirier explains. Both the client and the advisor have access to the app, though the advisor is more likely to use their desktop for day-to-day work, he adds.

Mobile apps are expected to create the most change in the wealth management industry, 40% of advisors told Financial Planning in the survey. But wealth management apps struggle to satisfy customers and were ranked last in a J.D. Power study of 10 trades. Mobile advisory platforms are likely to have an outdated look.

Poirier agrees that wealth management apps struggle to be adopted but says these trends were kept in mind for development. Addepar’s app is designed to be intuitive, even for those who aren’t technologically-advantaged, he said.

Another key feature of Addepar’s app is security.

“There are a number of security concerns when you’re manually logging into portals and emailing excel sheets around,” Poirier says. Addepar directly sources data from banks over encrypted channels. The app also has a two-factor authentication and advisors can enable turnkey access to their clients.

In addition to serving family offices and RIAs, Addepar is focusing its growth on serving the wealth management division of banks, in particular Morgan Stanley. The fintech company works with more than 350 firms.