[Photo: TD Ameritrade Park  /  Omaha World Herald]

New TD Ameritrade CEO Tim Hockey said the firm is boosting its technology spending by around 25% in an effort to increase the speed and scope of technological innovation. The move comes as "fintech" firms attempt to shake up the financial services sector through new technologies - blockchain, cloud computing, robo-advisers – and by offering cheaper alternatives to traditional money management.

While one of Hockey’s top goals is to "speed up the metabolism of the place," that task could be complicated by TD Ameritrade's deal to buy smaller rival Scottrade for $2.7 billion. That deal potentially gives it a combined $1 trillion in assets and 10 million client accounts, with around 600,000 trades executed per day. Hockey is hoping the takeover will not distract too much from his technology plans.

Hockey has been working since mid-summer to find existing funds within the firm to allocate to his technology team to do things like create new interfaces that allow investors to use TD Ameritrade more seamlessly. For instance, the company plans to announce next week a new feature available on Amazon.com's voice-controlled Echo home assistant Alexa that gives users market updates from TD Ameritrade.

To pay for the increased technology spending, departments across the firm were asked to scrap ongoing projects that were not proving to be successful. It turned out there were plenty. One was a program related to robo-adviser unit Amerivest that rebated some fees for new clients whose portfolios performed poorly. Although the promotion was expected to attract new investors, it didn't move the needle, Hockey said