By: Gerelyn Terzo
Financial advisors are doing deals, strengthening their technology offerings and battening down the cybersecurity hatches.
- Brookstone Capital Management: RIA firm Brookfield Capital Management (BCM) has inked a deal with SmartAsset, an independent marketplace that matches consumers with financial advisors, to increase the marketing solutions for BCM advisors. Brookstone’s stable of more than 1,000 independent financial advisors will gain access to SmartAsset’s SmartAdvisor platform for client acquisition. BCM President Darryl Ronconi touted the new partnership for delivering “consistent lead generation” for advisors. SmartAsset Chief Revenue Officer Dave Frisone said the firm is looking forward to facilitating client acquisition growth for BCM.
- iCapital Network: Fintech company iCapital Network has revealed plans to purchase Axio Financial, which specializes in the U.S. structured notes market. Axio helps financial advisors to evaluate, choose and buy structured notes to diversify clients’ investment portfolios, harnessing “real-time data, analytics and reporting interfaces” tied to the lifecycle of these products. The deal expands iCapital’s ability to support fund managers and strengthens its toolbox across “alternative investment strategies, technology stack, educational offerings, and support services for financial advisors.” Axio CEO Marc Paley and his whole team will join iCapital.
- iCapital Network has also partnered with investment manager Neuberger Berman. As a result of the deal, iCapital will deliver its “customized technology, service, advisory and distribution solution for financial advisors and their high-net-worth clients seeking access to the NB Crossroads Private Markets Access Fund.” The Access Fund makes private equity accessible to a wide swath of investors. iCapital’s technology streamlines the process of investing in alternative assets by automating the “subscription, administration, operational and reporting processes.”
- RIA in a Box: Cleveland, Ohio-based SaaS company RIA in a Box has launched its “cloud-based Virtual Desktop and MyRIACompliance Dashboard for RIA firms” for better cybersecurity. The dashboard gives RIAs the opportunity to guard against bad actors as well as bolster productivity in a regulatory-compliant way. The Virtual Desktop gives RIAs access to features including “a faster, more secure environment focused on mobility and flexibility and access to automated compliance and cybersecurity reporting.” RIA firms control which users have access to which data and can also “manage devices, files, and applications” in a streamlined way.
- Sawtooth Solutions: Simplicity Group, a financial product distribution company, has scooped up Sawtooth Solutions, a Minneapolis-headquartered firm that is behind a tech-enabled platform for independent wealth advisors. Sawtooth brings “delivering outsourced investment management services to the independent advisory space,” which fits with the vision that Simplicity chief Bruce Donaldson has for the future of wealth management. As a result of the deal, Sawtooth will take on the Simplicity Group brand as it continues to serve its existing clients while also gaining advisors from the Simplicity Group’s network.
- SupraFin: D Dover, Del.-based SupraFin, a digital asset-focused wealthtech platform, has launched its SupraFin app in the U.S., giving individuals the opportunity to invest in a cryptocurrency portfolio with a minimum $100 allocation. The app uses “smart crypto investment algorithms” to analyze the “relative value of thousands of cryptocurrencies” and offer recommendations on the best way to diversify a portfolio based on the user’s risk/reward profile.
