Even during a holiday week, there were plenty of wealth management headlines to report.
Sure, Juneteenth is relatively new as a federal holiday and some companies are probably not yet in the habit of scheduling their news around another holiday week, but to have so many wealthtech announcements on what should have been a forgettable week news-wise seems worth mentioning: the advisor technology momentum continues.
As does the evolution of the various professions that deem themselves financial advisors. For those involved in individual wealth management, the value proposition made to customers is continuing to change, in part due to technology and in part due to changing consumer preferences. As technology has taken over more of the technical and operational tasks that once consumed advisors’ time, the profession’s focus has gradually shifted away from serving assets and towards serving clients.
Part of this shift over the past 20 years has been the inclusion of a greater behavioral management role for financial advisors, inspired by the work of Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, among others. In recent years, wealth management firms have hired behaviorists into different roles, even as CEOs of very large national firms. Wealthtech companies have followed suit, hiring their own stable of behavioral scientists in hopes of better serving advisors and their clients with practical solutions.
Many advisors have come to see their role increasingly as a behavioral one. Yet consumers—and their clients—already have the ability to access a range of behavioral services, from behavioral health professionals with years of education and perhaps decades of experience, to technology designed to address their needs on an individual, household, family and business level.
What’s more, crops of behavioral finance professionals, growing every year, are emerging into the industry from specialized programs focused on concepts like financial therapy.
Advisors have to ask themselves whether behavioral finance is really a good place to focust their value proposition. For one thing, most incumbent advisors are not equipped with the knowledge or skill to serve this role and will probably not be able to orient themselves as the best options for consumers demanding some sort of behavioral assistance. For another, technology is proving capable of serving as a behavioral guide—up to the point of establishing hard-and-fast behavioral guiderails to protect individual clients and consumers from self-harm.
While behavioral finance is still important due to its ability to inform the work of the wealth management industry, becoming a financial behaviorist is unlikely to work as a value proposition for advisors. Advisors are not the best equipped professionals to hold consumers’ hands when they need it.
Furthermore, most consumers don’t really need behavioral guidance from their wealth management provider: They need technical help saving, investing and protecting their assets.
The answers are not in behavioral finance. Advisors will need to find something else to do when technology takes most of their work away from them.
Let’s get to some wealth tech headlines…
Capco
Capco, the global technology and management consultancy, appointed Karl Canty as a new Partner within the company’s US Insurance practice, based in Hartford, CT. Karl will focus on building client relationships, driving sales and delivering value for insurers, including a number of Capco’s key Life & Annuities clients.
Canty brings over 20 years of insurance product, technology, and transformation experience to his new role, and has worked extensively on scaling data, analytics, and operations strategies for the world’s largest financial services organizations.
Canty joins Capco from data analytics and digital operations & solutions company EXL, where he was Vice-President for Insurance Data & AI. Prior to that role, Canty spent five years within EY’s Insurance Advisory Services business, leading teams focused on operational transformation and strategy. Prior to EY, he worked on process, organizational design and process initiatives during his five years with PwC’s Financial Services Advisory division.
Digital Future
Digital Future (“the think tank”), a new public policy and advocacy think tank dedicated to promoting the development of the next generation of the financial services industry, announced its emergence from stealth.
Led by CEO Michelle Bond, a former SEC senior counsel, Digital Future seeks to advance the interests of the financial services industry, consumers, investors, and the broader public by promoting transparency and efficiency in the evolving financial markets, and by facilitating capital formation and innovation. The think tank will work together with policymakers, stakeholders, and the public about issues impacting the financial services industry, and to advocate for policies that enhance the integrity and stability of the marketplace.
Bond brings over 20 years of experience in financial policy and is an expert in securities, derivatives, banking, and fintech regulation. Most recently, Bond has served as the CEO of the Association for Digital Asset Markets (ADAM). Prior to ADAM, Bond served as global head of policy and regulatory affairs at two fintech companies, where she developed and executed global regulatory strategy for digital assets, blockchain, global payments, and fintech. Bond also worked at Bloomberg LP as head of global regulatory affairs.
Empower
Empower announced that Casey Craig has been appointed executive vice president of Empower’s Large, Mega and Not-for-Profit (LMN) segment.
Craig joined Empower in 2009 as a Regional Sales Director and has most recently been leading the LMN sales organization, consultant relations, as well as participant engagement and communication. He replaces Bill McDermott, who will be retiring July 1.
The LMN segment consists of more than 1,600 plan sponsor clients on behalf of whom Empower administers $824 billion in assets and serves nearly 8 million retirement plan participants. For corporate clients, Empower defines “large” and “mega” as clients who have retirement plan assets over $75 million. The LMN segment serves not-for-profit clients of all sizes, including healthcare, religious and non-governmental organizations.
Future Capital
Future Capital, a tech-enabled registered investment advisor (RIA) specializing in personalized retirement solutions, announced the launch of Construct, an innovative tool designed specifically for growth-focused financial advisors to manage held-away 401(k) assets which they previously were unable to directly manage.
Construct stands out for its ability to seamlessly combine advanced digital tools, customized managed account solutions, and personalized guidance from advisors into one comprehensive platform. This all-in-one approach equips advisors to confidently navigate the complexities of workplace retirement plans, efficiently managing assets without the burden of cumbersome technology, compliance obligations, or staffing requirements. With Construct, advisors can build custom allocations for their clients’ 401(k) assets and maintain their role as a fiduciary, ensuring that their clients’ best interests are always prioritized.
Given the median American family holds the majority of their net worth in workplace retirement plan accounts, it is crucial for advisors to have the necessary tools and resources to manage these assets as part of a comprehensive wealth management strategy. Construct gives advisors everything they need to deliver personalized retirement strategies that align with their clients’ holistic financial goals.
MyVest
MyVest, a provider of enterprise wealth management technology, has partnered with Income Discovery, a leading enterprise grade retirement income platform, to enable personalized, tax-smart withdrawals for retirement income, building a more effective bridge between retirement planning and execution.
Retiree numbers are growing exponentially; by 2030, the total number of U.S. retirees is on track to reach 72 million. The need for a retirement income solution that can sustain this population, increase firms’ and advisors’ capabilities, and provide the best outcomes for retirees is also growing. Through this partnership, MyVest’s Strategic Portfolio SystemTM (SPS) and Income Discovery’s Paycheck will address the disconnect between retirement income planning and implementation to ensure optimal retirement outcomes.
The integrated solution provides advisors with a clear view into retiree(s) household finances and tax-optimized planning features to explore systematic withdrawal recommendations. Then, it offers the ability to execute those withdrawals through tax-efficient trade order generation, in bulk across the client base if necessary, all through an integrated experience. A bi-directional data connection allows advisors to effectively monitor and manage client retirement plans, ensuring they remain on track and adaptable to changing circumstances.
Provenir
As the financial services world becomes increasingly digitized and consumer demands evolve, fraudsters and their methods are becoming more sophisticated. Provenir, a global leader in AI-powered risk decisioning software, is helping organizations fight back by detecting these emerging threats via sophisticated decisioning tools and advanced analytics to increase fraud detection while minimizing friction in the customer journey.
Identity theft and synthetic identities continue to be major concerns and will account for roughly half of all financial services fraud cases by 2025. Also, in a global survey of financial services executives, 43 percent said identifying fraud is a top challenge, yet only 7 percent report their anti-fraud measures are completely effective. This emphasizes the need for powerful fraud solutions that offer flexibility, putting control in the business user’s hands.
Provenir is on a mission to help businesses navigate this increasingly complex landscape and has collaborated with best-of-breed third-party providers to bring a fraud onboarding solution to market. Provenir’s AI-Powered Decisioning Platform enables organizations to stay ahead of fraud threats, with readily available data sources that can be easily integrated into decisioning workflows, AI model creation and monitoring, to continuously optimize fraud risk models, with configurable rules to respond quickly when new threats arise.
Smartria
In conjunction with TradePMR’s Synergy 2024 conference in Las Vegas, Smartria and TradePMR announced that the companies have partnered to integrate their platforms and deliver TradePMR custodial data into Smartria’s compliance software.
TradePMR, which celebrated its 25th year during its annual Synergy conference in May, is a custodial services company focused on meeting the specific needs of registered Investment advisors (RIAs). Created by a former RIA for RIAs, TradePMR delivers its technology, support, and services to its advisors under the guidance of Founder and CEO Robb Baldwin and TradePMR’s executive leadership team.
The partnership allows joint customers of both Smartria and TradePMR to connect their accounts on each platform so that employee, client, and account custody data appears in Smartria. Compliance teams can then use TradePMR data for employee trade monitoring as well as client account holdings for annual reviews, quarterly transaction reports, and other key compliance activities.
SMArtX Advisory Solutions
SMArtX Advisory Solutions, an innovator in managed accounts technology, announced the appointment of Daniel (“Dan”) Phillips as Chief Investment Officer (CIO). The newly added CIO role signifies SMArtX’s commitment to delivering customized turnkey investment solutions and services to its clients.
Phillips, a seasoned investment professional with nearly two decades of experience, will spearhead the ongoing evolution and expansion of SMArtX Investment Solutions. Pascal Roduit, SMArtX Chief Investment Strategist, will report to Phillips and continue to manage existing SMArtX Investment Solutions relationships, overseeing the quarterly-produced SMArtX Manager Select List. Together, Phillips and Roduit will build upon these existing services, delivering new capabilities such as turnkey investment solutions and overlay management services, including multi-asset portfolio management. SMArtX Investment Solutions will offer a concierge level of service to support advisors with their investment needs across the spectrum – from asset allocation and manager selection to client communications. Phillips will also implement and chair the SMArtX Investment Policy Committee.
Prior to SMArtX, Phillips was Director of Asset Allocation Strategy at Northern Trust Asset Management. There, he was responsible for Northern Trust’s asset allocation process, including capital market assumptions, strategic portfolios, tactical positioning, and multi-asset funds, models and custom portfolios. Recognized for his industry insights, Phillips also writes on a wide range of investment topics and is a frequent presenter at industry conferences and client events.
TIFIN
TIFIN Give, a modern philanthropy platform serving families, employees, and other cause-based communities, announced a new strategic relationship with AssetMark, a prominent wealth management platform provider. This collaboration will empower financial advisors and their clients with a modern donor-advised fund (DAF) solution, designed to streamline the charitable giving process and enhance the impact of philanthropic and tax planning endeavors.
Under this arrangement, TIFIN Give’s digital-first donor-advised fund technology will be integrated into the AssetMark platform, providing a seamless and efficient way for financial advisors and their clients to manage and optimize charitable contributions. This collaboration will provide AssetMark’s network of financial advisors with an innovative tool to facilitate more effective philanthropic and tax planning across multiple generations of their clients and their families. AssetMark clients will have access to TIFIN Give’s advanced DAF technology, which simplifies the process of setting up, managing, and distributing charitable donations, making it easier for individuals and organizations to support the causes they care about. Through seamless integration, AssetMark advisors can now incorporate philanthropy as an integral part of their clients’ overall financial and legacy plans.
This strategic relationship between TIFIN Give and AssetMark is set to revolutionize the way financial advisors and their clients approach philanthropy. By combining TIFIN Give’s innovative technology with AssetMark’s wealth management expertise, this collaboration will empower individuals and organizations to give back more effectively and make a lasting impact on the causes they hold dear.
Wealth.com
Wealth.com, an estate planning platform, unveiled its latest innovation: Family Office Suite, a cutting-edge collection of estate management technologies designed for highly complex estates. The Family Office Suite is specifically tailored to the needs of firms that service high-net-worth (HNW) and ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) individuals and families, enabling their advisors and in-house wealth strategists to deliver incredible estate planning value to clients, while reducing manual work through automation and processes that are both scalable and repeatable.
With Family Office Suite, advisors gain the ability to quantify tax alpha, organize and collaborate with clients and other professionals, visualize complexities and nuances and deliver refined reports.
As wealth.com strives to revolutionize the estate planning experience for advisors and their clients, it is continually developing creative solutions that are underpinned by legal excellence and rigor. In support of these efforts, the company has appointed David Haughton, JD, CPWA®, as senior corporate counsel. Drawing from his experience as team lead of Advanced Planning at Commonwealth Financial Network (“Commonwealth”), in addition to his legal acumen, Haughton will aid in developing sophisticated yet intuitive products. Collaborating closely with the broader wealth.com team, he will work to ensure that all offerings are of the quality and caliber that advisors expect.
