In last week’s roundup of wealth management technology news, we discussed a prominent financial advisor’s recent reading of U.S. Census and Bureau of Labor Statistics data and his lament that the pool of what he deems “desirable clients” for financial advisors is shrinking.
In that advisor’s world, which is representative of most traditional advisors, the pool of desirable clients is those between 45 and 64 years old, representing the average employee’s peak earning, pre-retirement year. That cohort of people is shrinking as a percentage of the population.
What our discussion didn’t address last week are two of the other key changes to the age distribution across the population, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics published and discussed just before Labor Day weekend.
The first is the rise of older Americans—those above retirement age—as a larger group within the population. In 2003, 11.5% of the U.S. population was over age 65. In 2033, 25.5% will be over 65.
The second is decline of younger people, proportionally, as a group in the population. In 2003, 72% of the U.S. was under age 55. In 2033, 61% will be under 55.
Keep in mind that these are the generations that figure in the impending great wealth transfer, where tens-of-trillions-of-dollars are expected to rain down from elderly onto younger people. Demographics tell us two things about this wealth transfer—it will be gradual, as older generations today seem intent on living a lot longer than their predecessors.
The wealth transfer will also lead to a concentration of wealth—a lot of this family money is going to move from large generations—with many siblings and cousins—to smaller generations, perhaps concentrating a lot of family wealth into the hands of just one or two heir.
The coming wealth transfer will also increasingly involve a lot of affluent families with no natural heirs, not just among childless traditional families but also in LGBTQ households that tend to skew wealthier than their heterosexual peers. Much of this wealth will not be left to a person, but to places and causes meaningful to the donor.
It’s here that we need to bring in the myth—embrace by many in the wealth management profession—that older people do not want to use technology. That myth stems from the generalization that humans somehow become more technologically averse as we age. While we may be most comfortable with the technologies we’ve used the most, people don’t stop learning about and using new technologies when they hit retirement age!
Our changing demographics speak to the need for different types of wealth technology moving forward to serve an aging—but still technologically literate—population, both the growing pool of older Americans who may need financial technology at their side the most as they give and decumulate, and the shrinking pool of younger Americans who may use financial technology the most as they rise in financial influence. Rather than serve the highest-earning middle of the population, wealth managers and their technology will likely need to focus more on older and younger clients, and find ways to make these clients desirable, to stay relevant.
Let’s get to some wealth tech headlines.
Altruist
Altruist, the modern custodian built exclusively for RIAs, announced the appointment of Piret Loone as its new General Counsel. Loone will lead the company’s legal and compliance functions, bringing extensive expertise in financial services, regulatory law and fin-tech matters to Altruist.
Loone joins Altruist from Series A open banking company, Link Money, where she served as General Counsel and Chief Business Officer and built the legal and compliance functions from the ground up. Prior, Piret was a key legal leader at Robinhood, playing an integral role in the company’s successful public offering. Her impressive career also includes senior roles at a Fortune 500 asset management company as well as practice at several top international law firms.
Piret holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School, an M.A. in Political Science from Columbia University, and a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Franklin & Marshall College.
Arete Wealth
Arete Wealth, a full-service Broker-Dealer (BD) and Registered Investment Advisory Firm (RIA), announced that Crux Wealth Advisors has joined its network of wealth management branches and signed a multi-year services agreement with Arete Outsource Solutions to leverage Arete’s proprietary end-to-end tech stack.
Through this strategic partnership, Arete Wealth will provide cutting-edge technology solutions for Crux’s independent RIA, and Crux registered representatives will become affiliates of Arete Wealth Management for broker-dealer, alternative investment, and insurance solutions.
As an Independent RIA, Crux has signed on to leverage Arete Outsource Solutions – an integrated tech stack and back-office service model provided by Arete. As a recognized and nationally ranked BD and RIA, Arete Wealth continues to solidify its position as the premier choice for independent financial professionals and ‘breakaway RIAs’ seeking to realize efficiencies and cost savings by leveraging Arete’s proprietary end-to-end fintech platform, Arete Navigator.
Intention.ly
Intention.ly, a growth consultancy and marketing firm offering a spectrum of services for growth-focused fintech and financial services companies, announced it has added industry heavyweights Randy Lambert and Joe Steuter to its leadership team. With nearly 50 years of combined experience, the pair will help Intention.ly continue to redefine the boundaries and impact of a fully integrated growth strategy, connecting marketing, communications, sales, partnership development, client experience, and operations to drive accelerated, sustainable growth.
The addition of Lambert and Steuter comes nearly one year after Waltrich and Intention.ly launched a new sales consulting and outsourced SDR division, spearheaded by fellow Orion alum and fintech sales leader, Kyle Hiatt. With the added breadth of experience and a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities its clients face, Intention.ly is well-positioned to offer even more comprehensive and strategic guidance to connect marketing, business development, client experience, and operational efforts more intentionally.
To his role as EVP of RIA Solutions, Lambert brings a 31-year, proven track record of leadership and growth optimization at fintech leader Orion. Lambert’s role at Intention.ly will focus on helping fast-growing RIAs streamline and scale their operations, elevate their client experience and foster impactful partner relationships. As Chief of Communications, Steuter brings over 20 years of experience in brand marketing and communications to Intention.ly, including his most recent distinguished role at Carson Group. At Intention.ly, Steuter will empower organizations to implement cohesive brand storytelling strategies that drive awareness, authority, and demand, and support broader strategic communication needs related to GTM, M&A and change management.
The Oasis Group
The Oasis Group, a consultancy for the wealth management industry, launched a new research series called Vantage Point Peaks, which provides in-depth reports and competitive analysis on a range of service providers in the wealth management industry. The reports are designed to help wealth management firms become more informed buyers when breaking away or looking for new wealthtech solutions.
The first study of the research series, available now, is the Vantage Point Peaks for Custodian Platforms, which focuses on the registered investment adviser and broker-dealer custodian market and is available to RIA and BD executives, as well as family offices and private wealth firms, interested in new custodian relationships.
While the wealth management marketplace has several opinion-based research studies, The Oasis Group’s research is based on a comparison of the capabilities of each service provider as reported by the provider and their customers. O’Connell and his team worked directly with each custodian to determine features, capabilities, strengths, weaknesses, and areas of improvement for each of the ten custodians featured in the study, analyzing their current product offering as well as their ability to execute.
RegVerse
Surge Ventures, a FinTech Venture Studio, announced that its inaugural venture, RegVerse, has expanded its Avery platform by launching the Fusion1 product suite. This new add-on to Avery provides wealth management firms with a comprehensive suite of AI-enabled compliance and surveillance tools, including audits, advertisement reviews, attestations, code of ethics and more.
Fusion1 by RegVerse enhances the Avery platform by streamlining data and file management on one platform through an easy upload that creates a single hub for all compliance-related materials. Ensuring adaptability and precision in meeting specific compliance needs is key, and Fusion1’s dynamic analytics and insights achieve this using AI-powered suggestions. Real-time progress tracking capabilities allow firms to monitor compliance progress, set up alerts and tailored notifications and efficiently manage reporting. Fusion1 simultaneously fosters seamless collaboration within compliance teams through integrated workflow tools designed to enhance communication, streamline approvals and ensure a cohesive approach to compliance tasks, all while reducing bottlenecks.
SIGNiX
SIGNiX, a provider of digital signature and remote online notarization solutions, announced the appointment of Ronny Chapman to its Board of Directors. With a distinguished career driving innovation and growth in the banking and credit union sectors, Chapman brings valuable expertise to SIGNiX’s ongoing efforts to help organizations and enterprises sign, authenticate, manage, and notarize documents securely and at scale.
Chapman’s career spans decades of leadership in the financial services industry, with a particular focus on banks and credit unions. As Senior Vice President at TruStage and CUNA Mutual Group, he developed deep insights into the unique needs of credit unions. His roles as President of Compliance Systems and Senior Vice President and General Manager at FIS further honed his expertise in financial software solutions and regulatory compliance. This diverse background has equipped Chapman with a comprehensive understanding of the digital challenges and opportunities facing financial institutions.
Chapman’s appointment comes at a significant time for SIGNiX. In April of 2024, the company announced the hiring of Karl Matthews as Chief Product Officer to innovate and expand its portfolio of solutions. Chapman’s expertise is likewise expected to play a crucial role in guiding the company’s strategic initiatives.
TIFIN
TIFIN announced the sale of its stake in Paralel Technologies to SLCT Holdings, an existing investor of Paralel. Paralel was initially founded under TIFIN in 2020 and has achieved significant milestones, reaching profitability and servicing more than $15 billion in assets across open-end fund, closed-end fund and ETF clients. Since its inception, TIFIN has been dedicated to leveraging cutting-edge technology to revolutionize wealth and asset management. This transaction aligns with TIFIN’s strategic focus on advancing its AI applications and furthering its approach to verticalizing AI for Wealth.
The sale of TIFIN’s stake in Paralel Technologies has yielded substantial returns, with TIFIN realizing more than 30 times its initial capital investment. This exponential growth underscores the strength of TIFIN’s investment strategy and its ability to identify and nurture promising new ventures in the financial services industry. The transaction adds to TIFIN’s track record of scaling and exiting successful firms, including its sale of 55ip to J.P. Morgan Asset Management in Dec 2020.
VRGL
VRGL, a Client Acquisition and Investment Proposal Management solution, announced the completion of a strategic fundraising round. The round was led by existing investors FINTOP Capital and MissionOG, with significant support from Northwestern Mutual, Flyover Capital, Fin Capital, and other key industry insiders and friends of the firm.
With this financing, VRGL will continue to execute on its industry-leading Client Acquisition and Investment Proposal Management solution, expand product offerings, and support market growth. This additional funding will enable the company to effectively serve the evolving needs of its clients in the wealth management industry.
Founded in 2021 by pioneers of the institutional wealth management software industry, VRGL has quickly established itself as a leading tool for streamlining the investment proposal process. Since August 2022, VRGL has grown its customer base over 700%, processing hundreds of thousands of investment statements for a diverse range of clients. From small Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) to top wealth management firms such as Dynasty Financial Partners, Ritholtz Wealth Management, Sequoia Financial Group, and Steward Partners, VRGL’s platform has helped accelerate time to new revenue by 50%, increase prospect-to-client conversions by 30%, and reduce the time to portfolio analysis by 75%.
Wealth.com
Gateway Financial Partners (“Gateway”), a rapidly growing hybrid registered independent advisory (RIA) firm, announced a strategic partnership with wealth.com, the industry’s leading estate-planning platform. This collaboration equips Gateway advisors with advanced, tech-driven estate planning tools, enabling them to serve clients more comprehensively and efficiently.
Through this partnership, Gateway’s advisors gain access to wealth.com’s sophisticated yet intuitive platform, which simplifies the creation of essential documents such as wills, trusts and advanced directives. Wealth.com further enhances estate planning capabilities with features like guided plan creation, visual flowcharts and reports of estate plans, document summaries and proactive insights. Its user-friendly design ensures that both advisors and clients can easily navigate and manage their estate planning needs, regardless of technological proficiency.
Wealth.com sets itself apart as the industry’s only complete end-to-end estate planning solution for financial advisors, offering a full spectrum of services only partially addressed by other providers. Its scalable technology, backed by formidable legal expertise, enables advisors to scale their services efficiently across a diverse client base and meet the growing demand for holistic financial planning.
Wilshire Advisors
Wilshire Advisors LLC (“Wilshire”), a global financial services firm, announced that it has joined forces with XTP Implementation Services (“XTP”), a tech-enabled and data-driven specialist focused on improving transparency, reducing risk, enhancing investment governance, and increasing net returns for institutional investors globally. Through this partnership, which was effectuated by an acquisition of XTP by Wilshire, with simultaneous reinvestment in Wilshire by former XTP shareholders, XTP will continue to operate independently under its existing leadership team and brand. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
XTP is a market leader in cost transparency analytics, with a 20-year history of serving public and private investors, including pension funds, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, investment consultants, outsourced chief investment officers, endowments and foundations, and family offices. With more than $3 trillion in assets analyzed across 10,000 portfolios in North America and Europe, XTP helps its clients reduce investment-related costs and risks while enhancing governance. Combining deep industry experience and proprietary software, benchmarking databases, and forensic capabilities allows XTP to identify optimization potential across the investment value chain of public and private market portfolios. XTP clients benefit from a risk-free increase in net returns.
