Whether you’re a tablet or smartphone user, you’ll be looking for software applications to help turn your mobile device into a business asset. Here are five apps that financial advisors will find themselves unable to do without.
WebExpenses
Financial advisors spend a lot of their time on the road, and in many cases, this means that they need to track their expenses. WebExpenses is a mobile app that collects expenses information in various ways. Instead of trying to organize a pile of receipts after a busy week of client meetings, you can take pictures of your receipts with your phone, and send them to a web-based application that stores them online.
Advisors can also use their phone’s GPS tracking capability to check the mileage that they are submitting for travel claims. The application software automatically pre-checks claims as soon as they are entered, and investment advisors on the move can also be notified if their claims exceed company policy.
WebExpenses: BlackBerry, Android, iPhone, iPad
Cost: Free
www.webexpenses.com
Logmein
Out on the road, but need access to your office computer? LogMeIn is a tool that lets you remotely control a PC or Mac computer from your iPhone or iPad. Use the free version to log in and get access to your desktop, controlling your mouse and keyboard, opening applications and editing files. The paid version, called LogMeIn Ignition, has additional features, such as streaming high-definition video, remote printing, and transferring files between the remote PC and your own device.
LogMeIn: iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry
LogMeIn Cost: Free
LogMeIn Ignition Cost: $99.99
www.logmein.com
OmniFocus
OmniFocus is a task management system designed to help you get your “to-do” list out of your head and into a manageable list. Users can then categorize their tasks into projects, and set contexts for each task, linked to locations such as “office” or to people such as clients or colleagues. When you come within close proximity to one of the locations that you’ve identified in the app, its internal map will show you the relevant tasks for that location. The best part? A ‘forecast’ feature that helps you plan your day by showing you all of your tasks and meetings for the coming day.
OmniFocus: iPhone, iPad
iPhone Cost – $19.99. iPad Cost – $39.99.
www.omnigroup.com/
Bloomberg Mobile
When it comes to accessing financial information from mobile devices, Bloomberg Mobile is the perennial favourite. It provides financial news and audio downloads with insights from key analysts. The program also lets you track equity indices and custom stock portfolios. The stock finder lets you access individual stock information with graphs, charts, and quotes. Bloomberg also offers a separate radio app, and a TV app for the iPad, which offers video clips from Bloomberg.
Bloomberg Mobile: iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry
Cost: Free
www.bloomberg.com
Power Presenter
Savvy investment advisors excel at the art of persuasion. If you have an iPad and you’re not using it as a presentation tool, then you’re not using it to its full potential. Power Presenter lets you upload PDF files created using any presentation or publishing tool on your PC. You can then swipe through the various pages of the PDF, and draw on them using your finger. This gives you the chance to annotate your own presentations, providing your clients with clear, graphical illustrations of financial trends. Instead of using plain old paper, why not wow them with an iPad?
Power Presenter: iPad
Cost: $1.99
www.ifomia.com
This is the second in a three-part series on technology and productivity. Tomorrow: How to keep your data synched in a world of multiple devices.