What Are The Most Downloaded Asset Manager iPad, Android Apps?

Mostly, I just want to call your attention to App Annie, an app analytics site that I learned about last week. If you've ever been frustrated trying to get app download data, this site is a dream come true. There are other sites out there, but this one provided what I was looking for, at no charge.

App Annie aggregates data from the iTunes (reporting on iPhone and iPad apps) and Google Play (reporting on Android operating system apps) stores, and ranks apps. Data from the Amazon and Windows app stores is in beta but irrelevant to the asset management app space today anyway. 

USAA On Top Of The Charts

The USAA app (with investment content and functionality as well as banking, mortgage and insurance content) sits at the top of what I'd consider relevant investment apps in the Finance category. Note that App Annie publishes rankings, not numbers. According to the USAA app download screen in the Google Play store, USAA has more than 1 million downloads.

Here’s a screenshot of the rank history of USAA’s Android app. You can see that the app has consistently ranked in the top 10 of Finance apps and since mid-2012 has been in the top 500 Android apps overall. The bubbles on the x axis mark new releases. Similar graphs are available for iPad apps. Well done, USAA!

When I visited App Annie, I couldn’t resist using it to build a ranking of asset manager apps in the Finance category and thought I’d share the list with you. 

If you check out the table below and then proceed to the site (free registration required) and browse the individual app pages yourselves, you'll see added information that will be helpful when conducting your own research.

Relative Rankings May Matter More

Here are a few observations:

• The Finance category in both stores is big and broad, including media, banks, brokerages, online financial management sites, etc.
• Only USAA (#11 in iPad apps and #8 in Android apps), Fidelity (#13 in iPad apps and #24 in Android apps) and Vanguard (#23 in iPad apps and #62 in Android apps) are serious contenders in the Finance category. No matter, the rankings can provide insights on your competitive set or subset. While you wouldn't expect a financial advisor app to place high among all Finance apps, you'd be interested in how it does relative to other advisor apps, for example.  
• In the weeks leading up to the April 15 tax filing deadline, the rankings of the tax preparation and financial management apps were probably enjoying a boost.
• A spokeswoman told me that App Annie ranks only apps that are in the top 1,000 of their category. The apps with No data shown don't make the cut.
• I could find mention of only seven Android asset manager apps and only four with reported data. According to Comscore earlier this month, Android has 52% share of the smartphone platform. I fear that some of you are overlooking and underleveraging the platform.
• Almost all asset manager app rankings drop over time. I can think of at least two possible explanations for their declines: 1. More apps are being launched, and they are more compelling. 2. Most asset managers do a sorry job of consistently promoting the availability and value of their apps. 
• The higher ranking asset management apps tend to update more frequently. Chicken or egg? 

What are your reactions? Are there other asset manager apps that should be part of this list? (Seriously, is this all there is?) Your comments are welcome below.

Asset Manager iPad App Rankings

Asset Manager Android App Rankings

This Financial Mobile App Initiative Is Missing You

Interesting.

Do you all know about the MyMoneyAppUp Challenge? It’s a contest offering cash prizes “intended to motivate American entrepreneurs, software developers, the public, and students to propose the best ideas and designs for next-generation mobile tools to help Americans control and shape their financial futures.”

It's sponsored by the U.S. Treasury Department in partnership with the D2D Fund and Center for Financial Services Innovation. The content submission form asks contestants to specify how their app would promote financial capability and/or financial access but that's not presented as a primary focus.

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Are You Planning For Text Alerts And Push Notifications?

As long as you can overlook a little rah-rah for the email channel, you might want to check out the 2012 Channel Preference Survey, a 36-page research report published last week by email provider ExactTarget.

It offers a good discussion of what ExactTarget identifies as the six factors that frame consumer preferences for a channel:

• Content
• Immediacy
• Accessibility
• Privacy
• Formality
• Initiation (the channel where the consumer initiated communication, a factor that ExactTarget says has the power to trump the other factors)

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The State Of The Art Of Version 1.0 iPad Apps

Users who download asset manager iPad apps also download apps like CNBC Realtime and Bloomberg, according to Apple’s App store. Gulp. That sets the bar fairly high for a Version 1.0 app from a mutual fund or exchange-traded fund (ETF) company.

Three asset manager iPad apps have launched in the last few weeks. Since it’s been almost a year since I blogged about an iPad app (PIMCO’s), I thought I’d take a look at how the state of the art has evolved, as demonstrated by the apps from OppenheimerFunds, Franklin Templeton Investments and RidgeWorth Investments.

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Are Today’s Mutual Fund, ETF Communications Enough To Engage And Re-Engage Investors?

Today’s post draws its inspiration (if you will) from three influences:

• A Prudential study I saw yesterday reporting that 44% of investors are reluctant to ever put more of their money back into the stock market (download The Next Chapter: Meeting Investment and Retirement Challenges report).
• The 289-point market (Dow) drop yesterday. This morning I heard on Twitter that yesterday was the third time this year that the Dow has moved 200-plus points compared to nine times in 2010. There’s nothing like market volatility to shake the confidence of someone whose commitment is tenuous.
• My touch-up painting yesterday afternoon of some trim at a Wisconsin lake house (the spiritual center of Rock The Boat Marketing).

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