Professional Adviser Awards – 2010
Last Thursday I had the pleasure of attending the Professional Adviser awards at the Park Lane Hilton. The event was well attended, especially considering the difficult times we are living through.
As always the food was fantastic, the entertainment (a lady with a Monkey!) was good and the networking opportunities invaluable. The focus of the night however were of course the awards themselves. These were many and varied but I thought it worth mentioning a few that stood out from a technology perspective.
The first award worth mentioning was the award for Best Software Provider. Shortlisted for this award were 1st The Exchange, IntelliFlo, Prestwood and CCL. While I have written much about Prestwood and their software Truth in the past this was always going to be a battle between the two giants of the IFA Software market, IntelliFlo and 1st The Exchange. The battle has been going on for some years and feels a bit like the best soap opera awards at National Television Awards where the winners oscillate between Eastenders and Corrie. This year the honours at the Professional Adviser awards went to IntelliFlo, with 1st The Exchange getting an honourable mention.
IntelliFlo has made big strides in the last couple of years and grown their user base considerably. As one of the first IFA software solutions to embrace the world of SaaS (Software as a Solution) and still the leading SaaS world, their award is well deserved.
The award for best Online Tool was another battle involving IntelliFlo and 1st Software. This time however they were both pipped to the post by MorningStar. I have always found the Morningstar team professional and helpful and their application is gaining some major traction in the market at the moment. Other online tools consider were the TCF Centre from FinQS, a nice customer surveying tool, Trustnet and tools from Scottish Widows, AEGON and Skandia.
The award for best data provider saw 1st The Exchange go up against Assureweb, Morningstar, Trustnet and Lipper. This time 1st The Exchange came out winners with Assureweb getting an honourable mention. AT8 are just completing our annual survey of the portal market and while we continue to be impressed with the progress Assureweb are making, it is clear that Exweb from 1st The Exchange still leads this market providing the widest coverage of products and dominating in terms of market share.
AT8 have Infoblogs (factsheets) on Assureweb, Exweb, IntelliFlo, 1st The Exchange are available in or library section.
Written by Mark Loosmore - Visit Website