"Schwab Institutional strives to provide advisor businesses with the industry's broadest and most comprehensive technology solutions," said Dan Skiles, vice president of Schwab Institutional. "The enhancements to both PortfolioCenter and PortfolioCenter Relationship Manager were made to further improve advisor productivity and efficiency, enabling them to make more effective management decisions, and grow their practices more profitability."

PortfolioCenter, the next generation of Centerpiece, is a powerful, scalable desktop platform built on industry-standard Microsoft SQL Server technology. The latest enhancements available for download in early September expand the capabilities of the PortfolioCenter Export Wizard, providing greater access to data that advisors can use to streamline trading operations. The Export Wizard, originally introduced last fall, will feature new and expanded exports for accessing key trading data including portfolio information, trade lot and rebalancing data.

These enhancements, used in conjunction with PortfolioCenter's rebalancing tools, will help advisors identify the difference between a portfolio's investment holdings and its target allocation and enable them to more efficiently prepare trade instructions with their custodian. For advisors working with Schwab Institutional, PortfolioCenter will generate trade order instructions that can be uploaded directly to SchwabInstitutional.com, eliminating the errors and inefficiencies associated with re-keying data. In addition, PortfolioCenter will feature a specialized trade data export that will facilitate seamless integration with trading solutions from leading third party providers including Etelligent Consulting, iRebal, Lync.NET, Smartleaf and Tamarac.

In early August, the latest version of PortfolioCenter Relationship Manager will be released. Key features of the new version include search capabilities for incoming and outgoing emails and improved navigation and filtering of action lists. The new version also allows for tighter integration with form population systems, including Schwab Institutional Web Forms and the Quik! Forms Library, providing access to automated form entry with over 100 broker dealers. This release is also supported by a new learning guide, structured specifically to address a firm's needs and to help new clients effectively implement the software.

Listen and Deliver: Successful PortfolioCenter Rollout to Centerpiece Clients

More than two-thirds of Centerpiece clients have received PortfolioCenter, and the rollout is on track to finish by the end of September. Feedback from the more than 700 firms that have completed the transition has been overwhelmingly positive, with many clients reporting that the transition was a smooth, well-supported process.

"Advisor reception to the rollout of PortfolioCenter continues to be extremely positive, with advisors responding favorably to the increased business efficiency, the open architecture, and our dedicated client support team," said Skiles. "Our main priority with this rollout has been to listen to advisor feedback and to deliver on those areas most crucial to their business."

Firms using PortfolioCenter are finding value in Schwab Performance Technologies' investment in the open architecture portfolio management platform-specifically PortfolioCenter's enhanced system performance and scalability, streamlined data exports and better security.

Many clients have reported being more efficient because of faster system performance with PortfolioCenter, up to 10 times faster for daily reports. Christopher Snyder, Evensky & Katz Wealth Management, reported his firm's experience: "Every day we continue to see improvements over Centerpiece. Downloading and posting takes about 30 percent less time. Day-to-day reports are completed in one-tenth the time."

An optional Rights & Roles Module is offered for customizable security, and clients have found it useful for their firms. Elena Graves of DeSERANNO Wealth Management said: "The Rights and Roles enhancement is definitely the aspect we are using the most. The new module allows us to give our staff different levels of access to PortfolioCenter based on their role in the firm. We added five users to our PortfolioCenter who would not have been able to use the program without it. Rights and Roles safeguards our data making it an incredibly valuable enhancement for us on a daily basis."

To ease the transition to PortfolioCenter for Centerpiece clients, Schwab Performance Technologies offers online resources and a dedicated support team trained to answer specific questions. About SPT Technical Support, Michael Altschul of Kochis Fitz Wealth Management, said: "They were there for me during the transition; the team was dedicated to resolving any concern or complication that I voiced, and typically, resolution came quickly with great follow-through."

In addition to technical support staff, Schwab Performance Technologies offers training and support resources for its products:

• Best practices guides - PortfolioCenter tips and recommendations to help advisors get the most from their investment.
• Hands-on training - Intensive training in cities across the country available to clients new to PortfolioCenter who want to learn the program quickly and effectively.
• Free Web Seminars - A convenient way for multiple employees in a firm to train at their convenience.