January 2015
My William Blair
Investment Portal User Guide and FAQs
Contents
2
3
Introduction
Using the Dashboard
3
Dashboard Elements
3
View Options
3
4
4
Menu Bar
Dashboard Reports
Announcements
5
Customizing the Dashboard
5
Viewing Full Reports
6
Minimizing Reports
5
5
6
8
8
9
9
Adding Reports
Removing Reports
Changing the Layout
Viewing Reports
Viewing a Report
View a Report for a Specific Account
View Report by a Different View
10 Working with Documents
11
11
11
11
12
12
13
13
Viewing Documents on the Vault
Filtering and Searching Documents
Filtering and Sorting the List of Documents
Search Documents
Posting and Updating Documents
Posting a Document
Updating a Document
Accessing Archived Statements, Confirms, and 1099’s
14 Changing Your Password
15 Frequently Asked Questions
1 | My William Blair Investment Portal Guide and FAQs
Introduction
Welcome to My William Blair, your online portal for viewing information about your investment accounts at
William Blair & Company. The portal is customizable, meaning that your William Blair financial advisor can
configure the portal to show the reports and information that he or she believes would be most useful to you.
My William Blair doesn’t replace the printed reports and in-person meeting with your financial advisor, but it
can enhance the traditional portfolio review process and create better communication between you and your
financial advisor.
When you sign in, you begin on the dashboard. The dashboard shows at-a-glance reporting information about
your portfolio, as well as any announcements or new documents that have been posted for you.
You can customize the layout of the dashboard reports to suit your preferences. You can rearrange the
reports on your dashboard, minimize or remove reports, or add additional reports.
Some common dashboard reports types include overall asset allocation, account holdings, and transactions.
Once you view the high-level dashboard version of any report, you can open a full version that provides more
detailed information. These full reports can be opened directly from the dashboard or by navigating to the
Reports page.
2 | My William Blair Investment Portal Guide and FAQs
Using the Dashboard
The dashboard is your portal to the information shared with you by your financial advisor. You can view
reports that display your data in real time, view announcements from your financial advisor, view and post
documents, and view your accounts.
Dashboard Elements
The dashboard contains four main elements:
• Menu bar
• View options
• Dashboard reports
• Announcements
Menu Bar
The menu bar provides access to all the content shared with you by your financial advisor.
•
•
•
•
•
Home - Access the dashboard
Accounts - Display your accounts
Reports - Access all available reports
Documents - Access all the documents posted to you by your financial advisor as well as the documents
that you have posted to your financial advisor, in addition to archived statements, confirms, and 1099’s
for your accounts held at William Blair
Setup - Change your password
View Options
This view area (highlighted in light blue) is available for the Dashboard, Reports, and Documents pages and
enables you to filter the displayed information.
On the Dashboard and Reports areas, you can view data for all your accounts or select a specific account from
the Find data for list. On the Documents page, you can view all documents or select from the list of predefined filters.
3 | My William Blair Investment Portal Guide and FAQs
Dashboard Reports
The dashboard is a collection of reports shared with you by your financial advisor. You can customize the
layout of the reports on your dashboard in either a one- or two-column display. The reports on your
dashboard provide an at-a-glance view of the reports available on the Reports page.
Announcements
The Announcements area is available on the dashboard. This section displays any announcements or new
documents posted by your financial advisor. In most cases, you can delete an announcement by clicking the
Delete Announcement link for each associated post. If the announcement is for a new document posted by
your financial advisor, you can open the document directly by clicking the document link. If you delete the
announcement for a new document, the document will not be deleted and will still be available on the
Documents page.
4 | My William Blair Investment Portal Guide and FAQs
Customizing the Dashboard
You can customize the layout of your dashboard to ensure that the information shared with you by your
financial advisor is displayed according to your preferences. You can determine which of the shared reports
you want to display and where on the dashboard they are located.
Adding Reports
To add a report to your dashboard, follow these steps:
1. On the Dashboard, click Add Report.
2. In the Choose a report list, select the report that you want to display, and then click Add. The report is
added.
3.
Click Close.
Viewing Full Reports
The reports that display on the dashboard provide an at-a-glance view of the reports available on the Reports
page. To access the full reports, click the Reports menu or open them by clicking the magnifying glass button
on the dashboard.
Removing Reports
You can remove any of the reports that appear on your dashboard. Removing reports from your dashboard
view does not delete the report from the client portal.
To remove a report from your dashboard, follow these steps:
1. Click the close button in the upper-right corner of the report you want to remove.
2.
On the confirmation message, click Remove. The report no longer appears on your dashboard. You can
add the report back to your dashboard at any time by following the instructions in Adding Reports.
5 | My William Blair Investment Portal Guide and FAQs
Minimizing Reports
If you do not want to view a report each time you access your dashboard, but also do not want to remove it
from the dashboard completely, you can simply minimize the report. To view the report at any time, you can
maximize it.
To minimize a report, follow these steps:
1. Click the minimize button in the upper-right corner of the report you want to minimize.
When minimized, the report displays as follows:
2.
To maximize the report again and view it on the dashboard, click the maximize button.
Changing the Layout
You can change the layout of the reports displayed on your dashboard. For those reports you have selected
for your dashboard, you can use the drag-and-drop method to arrange the reports on the page.
To change the layout of your dashboard, follow these steps:
1.
For the report you want to move, left-click the move handle on the left corner of the top bar.
6 | My William Blair Investment Portal Guide and FAQs
2.
Drag the report to the desired location. A dashed line highlights the new location.
3.
Drop the report by releasing the mouse button. The report will snap into place.
Note: References to any securities or portfolio asset allocations are provided for illustration purposes only and are not intended as a
recommendation of any investment or trading strategy.
7 | My William Blair Investment Portal Guide and FAQs
Viewing Reports
The Reports view enables you to view the full reports shared with you by your financial advisor. Reports are
point-in-time snapshots of your portfolio.
Viewing a Report
The Reports menu enables you to select from the reports that have been shared with you by your financial
advisor. By default, the report displays data for all your accounts. You can sort the data in the report or view
the report for any single account.
To view a report, follow these steps:
1. On the Reports menu, click the report you want to view.
The report displays on your screen.
8 | My William Blair Investment Portal Guide and FAQs
View a Report for a Specific Account
By default, the selected report displays data for your portfolio. You have the option to view the report for a
specific account in your portfolio.
To view data for a specific account, in the Find data for list, select the account for which you want to view the
report, and then click Change.
The report changes to display only data for the selected account.
Note: References to any securities or portfolio asset allocations are provided for illustration purposes only and are not intended as a
recommendation of any investment or trading strategy.
View Report by a Different View
If your financial advisor has shared more than one version of a report, you can use the Select [report name]
view list to change the report view for the selected report.
To view data for a different view, in the Select [report name] view list, select the view you want to use for
the report, and then click Change.
The report changes to display data according to the selected report view.
9 | My William Blair Investment Portal Guide and FAQs
Working with Documents
The Documents feature provides a secure channel for you and your finanical advisor to share documents with
each other, as well as access archived statements, confirms, and 1099’s for your accounts held at William
Blair. For example, let’s say your financial advisor posts a document that requires your signature. You can
open the document, sign it, and send it back to your financial advisor within My William Blair.
On the documents page, you can select either “Vault” or “Statements, Confirms, and 1099’s.”
On the Vault page, you can sort, filter, and search for the specific documents. When you post documents to the
Vault, your financial advisor is automatically notified by e-mail.
Viewing Documents on the Vault
There are two ways to view documents. New documents posted by your financial advisor will often be
accompanied by an announcement that appears on your dashboard. You can click the document link on the
announcement to open the document.
You can also open documents by selecting “Vault” from the Documents menu. Each document is opened on
your computer by clicking the file name link. The Documents page includes an icon for each document that
represents the document type. For example, a Microsoft Word document is accompanied by a Word icon .
10 | My William Blair Investment Portal Guide and FAQs
You can expand any document in the view to get more information about the file, such as the labels applied
and file type.
Filtering and Searching Documents
There are two ways in the Documents Vault view to locate a specific document or type of document: filtering
the list of documents or searching.
Filtering and Sorting the List of Documents
You can filter the list of documents by the labels that have been applied to each document. Your financial
advisor can create the labels and apply more than one label to any given document. For example, your
financial advisor may create a label called Review Documents that enables you to separate review-specific files
from general documents.
Use the View list to select the label and then click Filter to display only the documents that are posted with
the specified label.
You can sort the displayed list of files using the column headers. By default, the view is sorted in ascending
alphabetical order by file name. Click a column header to sort the view by that column. To reverse the sort
order, click the column header again.
Search Documents
You can search the list of displayed documents by entering terms into the Search documents box. The search
capability searches for documents with those terms in either the File Name or the Description column. If
you have a filter applied, the search terms will only apply to the documents in the filter criteria.
For example, if you have a filter set to display only reports and you try to search for a review document, the
search will not locate the document because of the filter. In most cases, it is best to clear all filters on the
Documents page before searching for a document.
When you are finished with your search or want to change the filters or search terms, click Clear.
11 | My William Blair Investment Portal Guide and FAQs
Posting and Updating Documents
In My William Blair you can post and update documents for your financial advisor to see. When you post or
update a document, your financial advisor receives an e-mail notification and a link to view the document.
Posting a Document
To post a document, simply select a file from your computer and enter a description. While the description is
optional, it is important to provide some context about the document’s purpose. You can only post one
document at a time. Once you post a document, you will not be able to delete it.
To post a document, follow these steps:
1. On the Documents page, click Post Document. The file upload area will expand.
2.
•
•
In the expanded file upload area, perform the following actions:
Click Choose File and select the file you want to post.
In the File description box, type a description of the file.
3.
Click Post.
12 | My William Blair Investment Portal Guide and FAQs
Updating a Document
If you already posted a document, you can update the file description or upload a newer version of the file.
To update a document, follow these steps:
1. For the document you want to update, click the + to expand the document details, and then click the
Update link located beneath the file information.
2. In the expanded file upload area, click Choose File. Double-click the file in the dialog that appears, and
then click Update.
3.
When you receive a confirmation message that the document has posted, click Close. When you post or
update a document, your financial advisor is automatically notified by e-mail.
Accessing Archived Statements, Confirms, and 1099’s
To access archived documents for accounts held at William Blair, select “Statements, Confirms, and 1099’s”
from the Documents menu.
To access your archived documents, simply:
1. Select the document type you are looking for (Statements, Confirms, or 1099’s),
2. Select the account
3. Enter the date range
4. Click “Update” to display the requested documents, and then select the specific document to open it
on your screen
13 | My William Blair Investment Portal Guide and FAQs
Changing Your Password
Your financial advisor will provide you with an initial password to sign into My William Blair. It is
recommended that you change your password periodically. Your password must meet the criteria listed
below:
To change your portal password, follow these steps:
1. On the Setup menu, click Change Password.
2.
3.
Type your existing password, and then enter and confirm your new password.
When finished, click Set Password. When your password is set, you are redirected to your dashboard.
14 | My William Blair Investment Portal Guide and FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
What is My William Blair?
My William Blair is your online portal for viewing information about your investment accounts at William
Blair & Company. The portal is customizable, meaning that you and your William Blair financial advisor can
configure the portal to show the reports and information that are most useful to you. My William Blair
enhances the traditional portfolio review process and fosters improved communication between you and
your financial advisor.
Why did William Blair decide to replace Investor Annex with My William Blair?
My William Blair is a part of an ongoing technology enhancement initiative to provide William Blair clients
with industry-leading account management and client service.
How is My William Blair different than Investor Annex?
While the screen layout and user interface in My William Blair are different than Investor Annex and it may
take time to learn how to navigate the new site, My William Blair provides an enhanced user experience and
more powerful reporting tools, while still offering the same level of core functionality that Investor Annex
provided.
What new functionality does My William Blair provide? What are the benefits?
My William Blair’s industry-leading comprehensive reporting capabilities include:
• Electronic delivery of reporting packets
• Dynamic reporting and charting
• Secure document vault for securely exchanging documents, such as statements, confirms, and tax
forms, with your financial advisor
• Customizable dashboards that can be shared in real time with your financial advisor
• Enhanced mobile and tablet capabilities
Is my information safe and secure?
My William Blair uses world-class SAS 70 II and SSAE-16 Type II compliant data centers to ensure our
systems are continuously available and secure. The portal also uses strong password requirements and
session timeout limits to further protect your information. It is important to remember that you should not
send e-mails with personal information or account numbers.
What are some of the most commonly used reports that My William Blair provides?
• Asset allocation: a pie chart of an account or a portfolio’s assets with a legend that displays the actual
percentages for each asset category
• Holdings and portfolio appraisal: all holdings for an account or portfolio, grouped by asset class
• Transactions: all transactions for an account or portfolio over a specified time period
• Comparative review: consolidated totals for an account or portfolio over a specific date range
• Accounts: list of accounts and their market values included in your My William Blair relationship
How do I view those reports?
All reports can be accessed from three locations:
1. Expanding the dashboard view of the report from the magnifying icon in the top right of the
dashboard widget
2. Selecting the reports listed under the reports tab
3. Selecting the specific report from the account-specific drop-down on the accounts page
Can I personalize the information that appears on my dashboard?
You can customize the layout of your dashboard to ensure that the information shared with you by your
financial advisor is displayed according to your preferences. You can determine which of the shared reports
you want to display and where on the dashboard they are located.
15 | My William Blair Investment Portal Guide and FAQs
How do I post documents to My William Blair?
After selecting the “Upload Document” button from the Document -> Vault screen, simply select a file from
your computer and enter a description. When you post or update a document, your financial advisor receives
an e-mail notification and a link to view the document.
How do I integrate My William Blair with tools like Quicken, TurboTax, and Mint?
We will have a separate document containing detailed instructions for Quicken and Mint integration.
TurboTax integration will be available at a future date.
Where do I find information about cost basis and 1099s?
Cost basis and 1099s for accounts held at William Blair are located in the “Statements, Confirms, and 1099s”
section under the Documents menu.
How do I arrange for third-party access to My William Blair for my accountant, lawyer, or other
advisor?
Contact William Blair’s client services at +1 800 730 6003, Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Central, or e-mail us at [email protected].
What should I do if not all of my accounts are showing up on My William Blair?
Contact William Blair’s client services at +1 800 730 6003, Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Central, or e-mail client services at [email protected].
What should I do if I have forgotten my password?
Click on the “Forgot Password” link on the login page and follow the instructions presented, or contact
William Blair’s client services at +1 800 730 6003, Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Central.
What should I do if I have forgotten my e-mail/login ID?
Contact William Blair’s client services at +1 800 730 6003, Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Central, or e-mail client services at [email protected].
Who do I contact for help?
Contact William Blair’s client services at +1 800 730 6003, Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Central, or e-mail client services at [email protected].
How often is the data about my accounts updated?
Transactions are updated as of the close of the last business day.
What browsers work best for accessing My William Blair?
Google Chrome is recommended for using My William Blair, but My William Blair also supports the latest
releases of Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE 10 and 11) as well as Apple Safari and Firefox.
16 | My William Blair Investment Portal Guide and FAQs
How far back can I search for statements, trade confirmations, and other information about my
account?
The time period available for viewing historical information about your account varies depending on where
you are within My William Blair and how long your account has been active. Statements and trade
confirmations are available for a minimum of 18 months, but this time frame may vary for other types of
information and reports.
Can I view statements and trade confirmations about accounts that are “held-away?”
Held-away accounts are those accounts that are managed by your William Blair financial advisor, but
William Blair is the not the custodian. Custodial statements and trade confirmations for held-away accounts
can be obtained directly from your custodian.
How do I sign up for paperless delivery of statements and confirmations?
You can sign up for paperless delivery of statements and confirms online at www.williamblair.com/paperless
or by contacting William Blair’s client services at +1 800 730 6003, Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to
5:00 p.m. Central or via e-mail, [email protected].
17 | My William Blair Investment Portal Guide and FAQs