Cold rain and snow are making their way across the country in this mid-December week, but advisor technology news sure is still running hot.
This week, nestled in a toasty cavalcade of wealth tech news, we have a new partnership between BetaNXT and TIFIN AMP, an integration between FP Alpha and Orion, and a bevvy of new APIs launched from Morningstar.
These are the types of stories that may not jump out at advisors as immediately changing their experiences or the way they do business, but mark the construction of the infrastructure that will support a more technologically empowered future for the wealth management industry.
Let’s get to your headlines.
Advisor360
Advisor360, a provider of integrated software and technology for enterprise wealth management firms, was selected as a 2023 LUMINARIES Award winner by ThinkAdvisor, an independent news organization that covers the business of financial advisors, registered investment advisors (RIAs) and wealth managers.
The award recognizes Advisor360 for outstanding achievement in firm thought leadership for its inaugural Connected Wealth Report. The Advisor360 2022 Connected Wealth Report surveyed 300 advisors and executives at enterprise wealth management firms on the role that technology plays in their business. The report’s key finding – that 65 percent of advisors have lost business due to outdated technology – was a wakeup call to the industry when it was revealed last year.
Broadridge
Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) announces that TMF Group, a provider of critical compliance and administration services, has enhanced its private debt and Collateralised Loan Obligation (CLO) service capabilities with the adoption of Broadridge’s Sentry PM, a cloud-based private debt and CLO portfolio management solution.
The technology enhancement will enable TMF Group to significantly scale its private debt and CLO services businesses by reducing operational risks and empowering investment managers to make more informed investment decisions. Broadridge’s platform will also enable TMF Group to launch a new service offering for CLO administration, which it plans to bring to market in 2024.
Cornerstone Advisors
Cornerstone Advisors, a management and technology consultancy for banks, credit unions and fintech firms, announced that the company has hit a historical record with the successful completion of 32 core, digital and payment system conversions within a single year. These clients represent banks and credit unions ranging from $300 million to $10 billion in assets.
Specifically, Cornerstone completed conversions for a wide range of industry solutions, including core systems from providers Fiserv, Jack Henry and Corelation; digital systems from Alkami, Lumin and Q2; and payment systems from PSCU, FIS and Fiserv.
FP Alpha
FP Alpha, an AI-driven advanced planning platform for financial advisors, announced their new integration with Orion Advisor Solutions, the premier provider of transformative wealthtech solutions for fiduciary advisors, saving advisors time so they can focus on delivering the best advice possible to their clients.
This new integration pulls in client information and data advisors already have in Orion. Every client that is imported will show up on FP Alpha’s General Questionnaire already filled out, from demographics to asset data including name, gender, family information, state of residence, occupation, net worth, and assets.
More and more clients are looking to their advisors to provide comprehensive services such as tax, estate and insurance. The FP Alpha platform assists financial advisors in doing this in a scalable and efficient way and the Orion integration saves advisors time on the set-up process that includes the inputting of client information.
iCapital
Kennedy Lewis Investment Management LLC (“Kennedy Lewis”), an alternative credit manager, announced that it has launched a partnership with iCapital, the global fintech platform driving access to alternative investments for the wealth management industry, which will initially focus on Kennedy Lewis’ core lending strategy.
Kennedy Lewis’ core lending strategy seeks to maximize total returns to investors, primarily in the form of current income, by investing in senior secured loans to middle-market companies, with a focus on non-sponsor backed transactions. The strategy leverages the firm’s deep sector expertise to pursue opportunities in industry verticals that are often underserved by traditional banks and lending platforms. As a result, Kennedy Lewis’ core lending strategy is intended to provide portfolio diversification benefits when compared to other direct lending strategies.
Kennedy Lewis has approximately $14 billion under management and has been investing in the non-sponsor backed private credit space since its founding in 2017. The firm’s senior investment team brings to bear an average of 25 years of investment management experience across economic cycles, asset classes, industries and geographies.
Morningstar
Morningstar announced the launch of Direct Web Services, a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) that packages Morningstar’s data, research, and calculation engines for financial services firms to use in their own digital solutions. Direct Web Services is complemented by a newly created global network of certified partners to seamlessly integrate API functionality for firms developing sophisticated websites and applications.
The suite of API offerings in Direct Web Services is designed to return display-ready content that can be easily integrated to power front-end applications. With these tools, firms can better support investment research and portfolio analysis activities, leverage generative artificial intelligence in their user experience, assess an investor’s preferences or appetite for risk, and more. Moreover, the integration of Direct Web Services’ APIs enables firms to elevate their brands with differentiated and engaging experiences for clients.
Among the APIs offered through Direct Web Services is the Intelligence Engine API, which debuted in September and is the set of generative AI building blocks on which the Morningstar chatbot known as “Mo” is built. Other capabilities offered by Direct Web Services include the Portfolio Analysis X-Ray and Risk Score functionality, portfolio comparison tools, fund screening, editorial summarization, sustainability screener, and more.
Savvy Advisors
Savvy Advisors announced that Jacob DuBose, CFP, has been appointed as its newest principal wealth manager. DuBose is the seventh financial advisor to join Savvy in the second half of 2023, as the firm continues its strong recruiting momentum. Anchored by Savvy Wealth’s proprietary platform, Savvy’s advisors can leverage a next-generation technology solution, complimented by back-office, operations, marketing and compliance support teams, that enable advisors to spend more time serving clients to scale their businesses.
DuBose joins Savvy after departing Empower (previously Personal Capital), where he led a team that managed more than $425 million in assets for nearly 300 high-net-worth (HNW) individuals and families, business owners and trusts. During his six years at Empower, he was a senior financial advisor on the private client services team. As a principal wealth manager at Savvy, the Denver-based DuBose will serve affluent and HNW clients who he calls “the millionaire next door,” by delivering holistic advice regarding his clients’ full financial picture, while also working with experts to assist with tax, estate and healthcare planning.
TIFIN AMP
In a collaboration that promises to revolutionize fund distribution, TIFIN AMP, the cutting-edge AI platform for Asset Management distribution, has announced a strategic partnership with BetaNXT, a leading provider of frictionless wealth management enterprise solutions, real-time data capabilities, and enhanced wealth advisor and investor experiences. This alliance will combine TIFIN AMP’s real-time, AI-driven insights with BetaNXT’s exclusive connected data capabilities, allowing asset managers to optimize their distribution efforts to financial advisors and wealth managers to enhance their data provision offerings with intelligence-driven solutions.
This collaboration will allow asset managers to leverage BetaNXT’s data ecosystem in cooperation with BetaNXT wealth management clients, enabling significantly more precise fund distribution efforts. TIFIN AMP’s modular approach, whether utilized independently or seamlessly integrated into existing CRM and marketing automation systems, ensures accessibility by asset managers of all sizes. Asset managers can now leverage a comprehensive platform that combines marketing expertise, distribution intelligence, and AI supported sales signals, enhancing their ability to engage with their Wealth management clients.
BetaNXT, renowned for powering the future of connected wealth, brings its extensive data capabilities to this partnership. Leveraging deep industry expertise, proven solutions, and a diverse client base, BetaNXT integrates TIFIN AMP’s sophisticated artificial intelligence offerings to enable Fund Managers to target Financial Advisors at Wealth Managers more efficiently, thereby increasing the effectiveness of their distribution efforts to ultimately grow faster.
TradeStation
TradeStation Group, Inc. (“TradeStation”), a Florida-based company whose operating subsidiaries provide award-winning*, self-clearing online brokerage services for trading stocks, ETFs, options, futures, and crypto that aim to offer the ultimate trading experience, announced a series of events in which it participates during the holiday season to give back to its community as part of TradeStation Cares.
TradeStation Cares is an employee-led initiative that focuses on helping those in need in and around our community by connecting with a variety of organizations and charities. Throughout the year, team members identify and select various causes to support, aiming to enrich lives, improve financial literacy, and uplift the overall health and well-being of the individuals and families they touch.
Wealth Access
Wealth Access, the leading customer data insights platform that unifies and enriches data to power hyper-personalized experiences for financial institutions, announced that it has joined the Jack Henry Vendor Integration Program (VIP). Participation in the program will provide Wealth Access with access to Jack Henry’s technical resources to enable Wealth Access’ customer data insights platform to integrate with SilverLake System®. The Vendor Integration Program is designed to help ensure that Jack Henry’s customers can easily deploy third-party products.
Wealth Access’ customer data insights platform integrates with SilverLake via jXchange, a services-based programming interface that enables third-party vendors and banks to access the platform’s core data and business rules. The integrity of data is maintained throughout any data exchange, because access to business rules and data is managed through a service layer which governs these interactions.
