(Plan Advisor) - Schwab Advisor Services has announced a range of functional enhancements and a redesigned user interface for iRebal, TD Ameritrade Institutional’s tax-aware, customizable portfolio rebalancing and management solution. Schwab first announced last year that iRebal would be retained as part of the combined Schwab Advisor Services and TD Ameritrade Institutional adviser custody platform.
“At a time when independent advisory firms are growing rapidly, and as we are working carefully to bring together our two leading custody platforms, we saw an important opportunity to innovate and deliver a new version of iRebal that is more modern, user-friendly and scalable,” says Jon Patullo, digital adviser solutions managing director. “Our goal is to create more efficiencies and make sure that advisers have the information they need at their fingertips, and we are confident the enhancements we have made are intuitive and easy-to-use and can add immediate benefits to adviser’s day-to-day operations.”
The firm says iRebal reduces the legwork in complex investment management and rebalancing processes and offers advisers more effective portfolio management designed for tax-efficient rebalancing, dynamic cash management and tax-loss harvesting, among other capabilities.
Current enhancements include a dashboard view, which was the No. 1 thing advisers had said they wanted. iRebal now has a new widget-based homepage dashboard view that gives advisers faster access to information and the ability to toggle deeper if required. The dashboard summarizes portfolio information and proactively surfaces items for attention, allowing advisers to see their most valuable data at sign-on and letting them take immediate actions as needed.
It also has a new grid interface aimed at giving advisers greater flexibility with data with enhanced filtering capabilities and the ability to easily copy and paste data directly to other programs. The interface has been designed to maximize large and widescreen monitors so that it reduces the need to scroll.
The introduction of improved navigation, editing, reporting and new side sheets means advisers can now make edits within pages without losing their place. They will now have access to new reporting features, including new cash and allocation reports that allow for quick review of accounts. These reports show the status of portfolios, and advisers can quickly trigger a workflow with a reduced number of clicks.
Included in the homepage dashboard is a new Model Market Center widget, which alerts advisers to changes in any portfolio models and allows them to drill down and act to rebalance client accounts as needed.
The updates to the iRebal platform are available immediately to advisers who currently custody with TD Ameritrade Institutional, both existing users who have already begun to transition to the new interface and those who are interested in starting to leverage iRebal in their firms.
Schwab is currently planning to extend access to iRebal to interested Schwab Advisor Services clients in early 2023.
“Choosing iRebal for rebalancing and trading needs can help advisers increase the efficiency of their investment operations and bring more consistency to their client service,” says Justin DiFilippo, digital adviser solutions director. “With this evolution of the platform, we’re enabling advisers to do this on a bigger and better scale, at no additional charge. We’re excited for advisers on both platforms to ultimately be able to experience the benefits of this powerful technology.”
By DJ Shaw
October 29, 2021
