A consortium of financial-industry technology providers today announced the launch of a new forum enabling advisors, who have recently left Wall Street firms to become independent, to exchange ideas.

To fill these advisors' needs for back-office technology, the Independent Advisor Technology Forum serves as a conduit for advisors to obtain information, exchange ideas and share experiences concerning the challenges of setting up their new businesses.

Also, the forum will hold workshops and webinars to help advisors develop their independent business models, says Timothy D. Welsh, CFP, president of Nexus Strategy, a strategic, technology and marketing consulting firm for independent advisors that is a charter member of the forum.

"We were getting a lot of phone calls from advisors who never had to deal with these challenges," Welsh said. "The site steers them to different topics, starting with the things they need to know first in terms of best practices."

Charter members of the forum include Laserfiche, document management; Junxure, customer relationship management; Black Diamond Performance Reporting, portfolio accounting and performance reporting; IPS AdvisorPro, investment policy statements and asset allocation); and Laser App, form-filing technology.