First Allied Launches Guided Portfolio Solutions

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--First Allied Securities, Inc., a leading independent broker/dealer, announced today the unveiling of Guided Portfolio Solutions (GPS), a comprehensive wealth management platform designed to provide financial advisors a seamless and streamlined approach to conducting fee-based investment management, from the client proposal, through account implementation, trading, performance reporting and ongoing support.

“Today we are helping advisors simplify and increase the efficiency of their advisory business”

“This open-architecture system is the first step in a series of advisor-driven services that will set First Allied apart in the financial services industry,” said Frank Campanale, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Advanced Equities Wealth Management, Inc. (AEWM), First Allied’s wealth management unit. Mr. Campanale was formerly president and CEO of Smith Barney Consulting Group, where he was noted as one of the pioneers in the development of the fee-based investment management consulting industry. “Today we are helping advisors simplify and increase the efficiency of their advisory business,” Mr. Campanale said. “Next, we will expand the platform’s capabilities to eventually culminate in a complete wealth management solution suite.”

Adam Antoniades, First Allied President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “GPS provides First Allied advisors with a strong position when competing with advisors from the largest wire houses and other independents by providing the quality and consistency that their discerning clients have come to demand.” Mr. Antoniades added, “This platform represents yet another example of First Allied’s commitment to delivering our independent advisors with state-of-the-art technology and investment expertise that is second to none.”

Joseph Mrak, CEO of FolioDynamix (FDx), said, “We are extremely pleased to have partnered with First Allied. It’s a great opportunity to work with a market innovator such as First Allied to deliver a comprehensive, cost-effective advisor platform for their fast-growing advisory business.

“With our FDx platform, their advisors will have all the tools necessary, from proposal to rebalancing and performance, through one solution. We look forward to working with First Allied as they expand their wealth management platform and vision,” Mr. Mrak said.

First Allied advisors are able to tailor client plans based on individual risk tolerance and goals and objectives in a consistent manner across all investment products residing on the platform. GPS leverages world-class asset management firms and strategies, and will allow a significant degree of customization at both the product and client levels. In just a few quick and easy steps, advisors can use an intuitive Web interface to generate customized proposals based on their individual client recommendations. Additionally, the same interface allows for individually customized, consolidated performance reporting across all client accounts into a single deliverable for each and every client.

GPS debuted today at First Allied’s national conference with the introduction of Fund Allocator. Fund Allocator is a managed mutual fund program that leverages proprietary market models from Advanced Equities Asset Management, Inc., (AEAM), First Allied’s in-house money management firm. The models drive recommended asset allocations utilizing multiple mutual funds within each asset class that have been screened and ranked by AEAM.

Following the debut of Fund Allocator, a host of additional products and services will be unveiled on the GPS platform throughout the remainder of 2009. These will include a separately managed account (SMA) program that can leverage AEAM’s proprietary asset allocation models or be customized to satisfy a client’s single asset class investment management needs. These SMA capabilities will offer access to a wide array of world class investment managers representing a variety of style-specific investment methodologies.

Unified Managed Account (UMA) capabilities will include overlay management services of: ongoing tactical asset allocation; ongoing manager search and selection; and, continuous investment and tax management. The combination of AEAM tactical asset allocation with the optimized selection and blending of underlying managers will provide advisors with truly expansive and differentiated asset management capabilities.

“We look forward to developing the new standard for fee-based investment management consulting to help drive the success of First Allied advisors and their clients by blending our vision of the future of the advisory business with industry-leading technology from FolioDynamix,” stated Mr. Campanale.

About First Allied Securities, Inc.

First Allied Securities, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Advanced Equities Financial Corp., a diversified financial services organization. In addition to providing a wide range of financial services, Advanced Equities has distinguished itself as a leading intermediary in the placement of late-stage venture capital for companies seeded by the country’s premier venture capital firms. AEFC is one of the industry’s most progressive financial services firms. Focusing on retail, institutional securities and venture capital investment banking businesses, AEFC has a rapidly growing network of brokerage and wealth management firms.

About FolioDynamix

Headquartered in New York, NY, with offices in Sacramento, CA and Philadelphia, PA, privately held FolioDynamix is changing the way sponsors, managers and advisors conduct business, efficiently and productively, in wealth management. With its FDx and FDx Advisors value propositions – a wealth servicing platform and registered investment advisors, respectively – FolioDynamix offers a seamless, scalable solution for any fee-based product. Providing daily oversight of more than 3.8 million accounts, FolioDynamix is also recognized as the industry’s leader in wealth servicing innovation, platform technology modernization, as well as the singular provider of a bundled or unbundled turn-key asset management program (TAMP). For more information on FolioDynamix, please visit www.foliodynamix.com.

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