The companies, based in Fort Lauderdale and San Francisco respectively, have been fighting an uphill battles against larger competitors. They said in a press release Tuesday that the merger will create a firm, with the scale and resources to provide an alternative for independent investors.

If you think social media investing is about pajama-wearing day-trading amateurs, Covestor aims to prove you wrong.

Financial firms can ‘outsource’ almost any operation, from reporting to trade processing to customer support, to the computing cloud, anywhere in the world.

Mutual fund operators are beginning to use cloud services offered by NYSE Euronext, in its 10-month old launch of a platform for worldwide use of computing resources by financial firms.

Brokerage firm Benjamin F. Edwards & Co. is expanding its virtual presence as it continues to hire new financial advisors, adding a new Twitter presence, corporate blog and YouTube channel.

The new platform, introduced by Beverly Hills Wealth Management, enables RIAs and advisors to streamline access and usage of cloud-based service applications and IT security

More than five million high-net-worth investors are using social media sites to inform their financial decisions and nearly three in four use LinkedIn for investment research.

Personal financial management tools were supposed to differentiate banks and improve customer retention, but many institutions are struggling to make the most of the enhanced online banking technology.

It has always been important for advisors to build and manage their brand. But the proliferation and popularity of social media makes minding your online reputation more essential than ever.

At a time when many advisors are cautiously stepping into the social media scene, Fidelity Charitable has launched a LinkedIn group called The Giving Strategies Network which aims to help planners coordinate philanthropic planning.

Genworth Financial this week debuted a free, web-based mobile app that lets investors and advisors calculate their expected long-term care expenses from their iPhones or iPads and, simultaneously, get down to the business of adjusting their long-term financial planning goals to meet these rising costs as they age.

The Vanguard Group was recognized as the most effective full service investment advice brand online by Heardable, a firm which measures corporate online performance.

J.P. Morgan has been on a two-year push to set itself apart by developing a trading system that works with almost any execution management system on any asset. But it only matches orders that matter.

In a partnership with the micro-blogging platform Twitter, Dataminr said it has developed and is launching “an early warning system” for traders, based on tweets.

Facebook, preparing what would be Silicon Valley's largest IPO, has picked Nasdaq over the New York Stock Exchange for its listing.

The market research arm of Standard & Poor’s said it acquired QuantHouse, a supplier of high-speed trading technology, including market data feeds.

In May and July, another 45%—or 3.2 million accounts—will come onto the joint venture's platform.

Here's an interactive slide show featuring nine advisors who have found ways to connect with thousands of people on Twitter.

Here's an interactive slide show featuring nine advisors who have found ways to connect with thousands of people on Twitter.

Multi-asset manager Virtus Investment Partners has launched a mobile app designed to give users access to what the firm has to say about the latest developments in the financial markets.