Part of Ticoon's beauty is that it lets firms and advisors create comprehensive, customizable portals for their clients. These professionally designed interfaces give investors unprecedented control over their own financial futures and let them interact with their advisors in any way they choose. Clients are not only able to control what information is captured, but also how it's used.

Clients who prefer a full-service approach can opt to have their advisors take care of everything for them. Others can take a more active, "self-serve" role in which they create their own virtual team of financial professionals and customize views for these advisors and other parties, like spouses and dependents, who have an interest in how their financial affairs are managed.

Putting this kind of power and flexibility in clients' hands can help firms and advisors build and solidify relationships, which in turn can translate into improved customer acquisition and retention as well as higher shares-of-wallet.

Among Ticoon's features for clients are:

• The ability to monitor all accounts in a single view and add off-book, personal holdings that aren't independently managed but are nonetheless essential components of their financial assets.

• A private document repository that lets clients safely store important information in secure online location.

• The ability to communicate securely and selectively with their advisors and other interested parties.

• The ability to create consolidated reports from this information whenever they want.

• A personal financial organizer where they can view, track and store information about all the products and services they use.

• A life goal planner that helps them prepare for events like retirement, travel and major purchases, and track their progress towards those goals.

• A budget/cash flow management tool to help them better manage savings and expenses.

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