Outsourcer prospers from independence trend

FWR Staff

19 April 2006

Black Diamond surpasses $2-billion-in-assets-processed mark. A side effect of the new trend of affluent people turning to independent financial advisors to help with investment strategies is the growth of outsourced performance reporting. Witness the rise of Jacksonville Beach, Fla.-based Black Diamond Performance Reporting, which has brought in more than $2 billion worth of assets under process since its launch in 2003.

"An increasing number of successful financial advisors with larger investment houses are blazing their own by going solo, and our product allows them to provide high-touch, sophisticated service to their clientele and to focus on tasks that drive revenue," says Black Diamond president and CEO Reed Colley. By outsourcing performance reporting, advisors can focus on their own core competencies and "provide best-of-breed features and functionality to their clients."

Black Diamond offers services include daily data reconciliation, customized reporting and cost-basis and tax-lot analysis. The independent advisory channel is the fastest growing outlet in the financial service arena, says Chip Roame, managing principal of Tiburon Strategic Advisors a Tiburon, Calif.-based consultancy. Fee-only independent brokers set the pace in terms of the number of new practitioners; registered investment advisors in terms of asset growth.

A recent article in Financial Advisor magazine called Black Diamond's performance reporting application "clean well-designed...the most aesthetically pleasing interface encountered to date."

Savannah, Ga.-based Draughn Partners, Boston-based Old North Advisors and Southfield, Mich.-based Telemus Capital Partners have recently outsourced performance reporting to Black Diamond. -FWR