linkedFA and LiveOffice Partner for Integrated Messaging and Social Networking Solution
Companies Join Forces to Empower Financial Advisors with Enhanced Tools for FINRA and SEC Compliance
BALTIMORE, MD. – May 26, 2010 – Today at the FINRA Annual Conference, linkedFA (www.linkedfa.com), the first social networking site designed specifically for financial professionals to communicate with investors and peers in a fully compliant and secure environment, announced a multiyear strategic partnership with LiveOffice, the number-one provider of software-as-a-service (SaaS) email archiving, email compliance and email continuity solutions, to help streamline financial professionals’ regulatory compliance process by enabling preapproval and archiving of social media posts and RSS feeds.
Since the financial services industry has adopted social media as a form of communication, the need for compliance and oversight continues to challenge broker-dealers and registered investment advisors (RIAs). A recent study of financial professionals by American Century Investments confirms that 44 percent of advisors who use social media solely for business or for business and personal use agree that it is an emerging trend with significant potential for their businesses like theirs. In fact, 71 percent reported they have one or more future business uses planned for social media.
When advisors want to post comments or RSS feeds on the “wall” section of social media websites, such as linkedFA, they must be reviewed and approved by their compliance department or officer prior to posting (this process is also known as “pre-review”). The partnership makes pre-review possible by integrating financial advisors’ social media activity, generated via linkedFA’s unique compliance feature, into LiveOffice AdvisorMail, the financial services industry’s leading cloud-based archiving and compliance solution. As outlined in FINRA Regulatory Notice 10-06, all communications must be fully captured, securely archived and available for review, using existing compliance workflows within AdvisorMail.
“We are delighted to announce our partnership with LiveOffice during this critical time in the evolution of social media adoption in the financial services industry,” said linkedFA President and Founder Jason Bishara. “LiveOffice is one of the most innovative and well respected cloud-based archiving firms, used by more than 10,000 companies worldwide, and it is a great fit for us from a strategic perspective. Our clients will benefit from the combination of linkedFA and LiveOffice's leading technology and services, providing them with an easy and compliant way to leverage social media as a way to grow their businesses and build stronger relationships.”
“Independent broker-dealers and registered investment advisors are struggling with the unique challenges of harnessing social media as a business tool, while at the same time meeting FINRA’s new guidelines,” said LiveOffice’s COO Matt Smith. “This strategic alliance provides the first truly holistic approach to social media compliance by balancing financial professionals’ communications needs with regulatory guidelines, while adhering to existing compliance workflows and processes.”
About linkedFA – www.linkedFA.com
linkedFA is a privately owned, independent company, founded in November 2008. It is the first and only social networking site for the financial community, evolving the way financial professionals and investors connect, inform and interact. linkedFA enables financial professionals to adhere to FINRA required compliance, supervision and recordkeeping features.
About LiveOffice – www.advisormail.com
LiveOffice is the number-one provider of software-as-a-service email archiving, email compliance and email continuity solutions, with more than 10,000 clients and a 97-percent client-retention rate. Founded in 1998 and backed by leading private-equity firm Summit Partners, the company has more than 150 employees with deep experience in messaging, including executives and board members from Symantec, Microsoft, FrontBridge and Postini. For more information, call 800.374.2032 or visit www.liveoffice.com. Visit the LiveOffice Blog at http://blog.liveoffice.com or follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/liveoffice.
LiveOffice and its logo are trademarks of LiveOffice LLC. All other company names and products may be trademarks of their respective companies.
