Hello and welcome to yet another very busy edition of Advisor Tech Talk. Despite a truncated week, due to sifting through just four headlines from the double shot of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and inauguration day, a lot was happening in the wealthtech universe.
The biggest news this week was probably the naming of a new, permanent CEO for Envestnet, where Chris Todd will take over from interim CEO Jim Fox. Recall that Envestnet was taken private last year by Bain Capital.
A few big wealth management firms also added or replaced executives, including Coldstream, which named a new CIO this week, and Merit Financial, which added a new VP of Strategic Partnerships. There were a few big M&A deals and strategic investments going down, as well, but not as many as earlier in January.
We had several big growth announcements from RIAs, too, particularly those crossing multiples of billions of dollars in assets managed.
I remember when I started writing about this space, we thought that a firm with $100 million or more AUM was worth writing a story about. Now we’d hardly blink at a $100 million AUM firm—and the firms with only a billion dollars or so under management look less interesting every day.
We have some new research from the CFP Board regarding the distribution of new CFP professionals. According to their study, six firms added at least 200 newly minted CFP professionals in 2024: Edward Jones (1,084), Fidelity (414), Northwestern Mutual (265), LPL Financial (244), Merrill Lynch (239) and Charles Schwab (216).
That’s out of approximately 6,541 new CFPs in 2024. The big are getting bigger, according to the CFP Board, with bigger firms accounting for much of the growth in new CFPs.
Also, we’ll call your attention to the announcement of a new website and tools from Rocket Companies. We’ll keep bringing you the occasional update from consumer-facing firms like Rocket and Robinhood, because they are increasingly becoming real competition for human advisors, especially for next-gen clients. The technology tools offered by these companies are gradually evolving into automated wealth management and financial planning offerings.
Let’s get to those headlines.
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Apex Fintech Solutions
Apex Fintech Solutions Inc. (“Apex”), an innovation launchpad for the global investment ecosystem, is excited to announce a collaboration with WealthRabbit, an RIA that has rolled out the first and only fully digital solution for managing SIMPLE IRA plans. Leveraging Apex’s brokerage and custody services, WealthRabbit has created the first and only fully digitized platform dedicated to SIMPLE IRA management. This collaboration combines Apex’s robust infrastructure with WealthRabbit’s streamlined platform, delivering small businesses and their advisors a modern, seamless, and highly efficient way to manage SIMPLE IRAs.
WealthRabbit emerges as a game changer in the fintech landscape with the launch of the first fully digital solution dedicated to managing SIMPLE IRA plans more efficiently. By combining WealthRabbit’s innovative technology with Apex’s expertise in brokerage and custody services, this collaboration delivers a fully digitized, streamlined solution that helps maintain regulatory requirements while offering a seamless user experience.
Capital Group
Capital Group has announced that ICanRetire, the firm’s award-winning employee engagement program1, will now be available for financial advisors to offer to small business owners alongside its 401(k) plan solutions, PlanPremier® and RecordkeeperDirect®.
Capital Group is one of the leading providers of retirement plans2 for small businesses, offering a range of 401(k) plan solutions and investment options to help small business owners and their employees pursue their retirement savings goals. Advisors can now offer Capital Group’s ICanRetire program to small business owners alongside PlanPremier, a 401(k) plan solution with bundled plan administration or the option to collaborate with a third-party administrator, and access to American Funds® and other investment managers; or RecordkeeperDirect, a 401(k) plan solution designed for start-ups and smaller businesses with the flexibility to select a third-party administrator. The ICanRetire program can complement either offering to help improve participant outcomes and increase contributions at no additional cost to the financial advisor or the small business owner.
The ICanRetire program is already available to employers that have American Funds Target Date Retirement Series® in their investment lineup (in 401(k) or 403(b) plans). The ICanRetire web experience is available to Capital Group’s PlanPremier and RecordkeeperDirect clients.
DriveWealth
DriveWealth, a leading financial technology platform providing Brokerage-as-a-Service, today unveiled its partnership with Moment Technology Inc. (“Moment”) to expand its fixed-income asset class offering. This development marks a significant step toward expanding retail investor access to the bond market by eliminating the existing $200,000 minimum investment threshold of many international bonds.
Through its API suite, DriveWealth simplifies and accelerates the onboarding process for its partners, enabling them to roll out bond investment capabilities quickly and seamlessly. This fixed-income offering is officially live with BTG Pactual US Capital LLC, an affiliate of Banco BTG Pactual, the largest investment bank in Latin America – making DriveWealth the first platform to deliver a fully integrated, consistent API solution across equities, fixed-income, and international mutual funds.
For retail investors, fixed-income markets have long been difficult to navigate, with high minimums and fragmented liquidity. While most US bonds have a $1,000 par value, most also have a $10,000 or even $100,000 minimum investment amount. For bonds sold under Regulation S, frequently leveraged by international companies, this minimum is typically $200,000 or more. DriveWealth is solving this challenge by consolidating bond liquidity sources and making bond investing more accessible.
Envestnet
Envestnet, a leading provider of integrated technology, intelligent data, and wealth solutions, today announced the appointment of Chris Todd as Chief Executive Officer, effective January 21, 2025. Chris will succeed Jim Fox, Interim CEO. With more than $6.5 trillion in platform assets, over 20 million accounts, and a network of more than 111,000 financial advisors, Envestnet empowers wealth managers, RIAs, and broker-dealers to deliver better outcomes for their clients. Chris’ appointment comes at a pivotal moment as Envestnet accelerates its focus on innovation and its leadership in the financial technology sector.
Chris brings deep experience as a strategic leader, most recently serving as CEO of UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group), one of the largest privately held software companies in the world serving the world’s largest, most complex organizations. At UKG, Chris fostered a culture rooted in client focus and accountability to drive top-line growth. Throughout his career, he has earned a reputation for creating transformative solutions that drive meaningful growth and deliver exceptional value to clients.
With the recent acquisition by Bain Capital and Reverence, Envestnet is poised to leverage new resources and expertise to advance its strategic goals. Under Chris’ leadership, the company aims to deepen its impact across the wealth management ecosystem, enhancing the advisor experience and introducing innovative solutions to meet the evolving needs of financial advisors.
Fin.Link
Fin.Link, the leading platform for financial professionals to connect, grow, and succeed, is thrilled to announce the addition of Zander Heinen as President. In this role, Heinen will enhance user experience and engagement across the Fin.Link community and its partnerships.
Heinen brings a wealth of strategic leadership and platform development expertise, positioning Fin.Link to deliver even greater value to its members. As the company evolves, he will focus on creating meaningful connections, improving user engagement, and ensuring the platform remains a premier destination for financial professionals for M&A, recruiting, scaling, and networking.
GReminders
GReminders, a leading end-to-end meeting and automation management platform for financial advisors, announces more than 2,000 advisors now using its innovative, artificial intelligence (AI) powered solution to help improve workflows and daily firmwide operations. With more than 450 registered investment advisor (RIA) firms currently using the software to streamline functions, the milestone highlights GReminders’ rapid growth and continued commitment to improving advisor-client interactions.
GReminders is designed to streamline operations for advisors, implementing AI-powered tools without disrupting their ongoing operations.
According to a survey of 150 GReminders users, the platform is saving advisors approximately 610 hours per year for every 100 clients. This is achieved through intelligent automation of time-consuming tasks, such as meeting prep and follow-ups.
Marstone
AltaOne Federal Credit Union is excited to announce a new chapter in financial empowerment by partnering with Marstone, Inc., a leading digital wealth management solutions provider, to bring an innovative and accessible wealth management experience to its members. This collaboration will empower AltaOne members with personalized investment options, professional guidance, and an intuitive platform designed to simplify their financial journey. By offering Marstone Wealth, AltaOne enhances its commitment to helping members achieve their financial goals with confidence.
AltaOne’s choice to implement Marstone Wealth reflects its commitment to providing its members with a full spectrum of financial solutions. Designed for rapid deployment and minimal disruption, Marstone Wealth is a wealth-management-as-a-service platform that equips AltaOne with a fully automated, customizable investing service that can launch in as little as four weeks. AltaOne members can access a high-quality, digital wealth experience tailored to fit their financial journey through this service.
Marstone Wealth is built to effortlessly support financial institutions looking to expand into digital wealth management. As a registered investment advisor, Marstone, LLC complements AltaOne’s traditional financial advisor model with a scalable solution to drive greater member adoption.
Orion
Orion, the premier provider of transformative wealthtech solutions for financial advisors and the enterprises that serve them, today announced a new collaboration with Snowflake, the AI Data Cloud company. This initiative further enhances data access and flexibility for Orion clients, moving just-in-time reporting into the hands of the advisor. The Snowflake technology will be available to a beta group of clients in Q2 with general availability to be announced later.
Orion’s introduction of Snowflake expands client firm’s cross-cloud compatibility, allowing advisors to securely access and analyze real-time data within their own preferred systems and eliminating inefficiencies or the need to navigate new tools. Additionally, Snowflake’s elastic scalability supports seamless performance as data workloads grow, while advanced security measures enable advisors to maintain compliance with industry standards.
According to Orion’s 2025 Advisor Wealthtech Survey – which will be unveiled next week at the Orion Ascent conference – 60% of advisors currently use real-time data sharing technology and advanced data capabilities for data warehousing. This year, over a third (35%) of advisors are making it a priority to provide clients with real-time data and updates on their portfolios.
RFG Advisory
RFG Advisory (“RFG”), an innovator in the wealth management industry committed to serving independent financial advisors and their clients, today launches its new website to properly reflect a reimagined platform. The RFG Advisor experience is designed to empower independent Advisors to build their business without compromise and deliver exceptional support for their clients.
RFG’s modern approach to Advisor support introduces a future-forward model that allows these professionals to thrive. This agile, integrated advisory platform includes behavioral finance coaching, a women’s program, annual marketing and growth planning sessions–coupled with a marketing stipend to accelerate growth–and access to RFG Talent, an in-house talent agency focused on optimizing hiring and operational needs. By combining advanced technology with thoughtfully crafted processes and consulting services, the platform enables advisors to scale their business, with the goal of elevating their enterprise value faster.
This bold evolution reflects a year of strategic planning and key leadership appointments to RFG’s C-suite team. Promotions included Shannon Spotswood and Rick Wedell, while Abby Salameh and Kenneth Kim joined through targeted recruitment efforts. Together, they reimagined how RFG could address the rapidly changing needs of advisors and clients by investing further in human capital, integrating cutting-edge technology and streamlining processes to redefine the independent advisor experience.
Rocket Companies
Rocket Companies (NYSE: RKT), the Detroit-based fintech platform company consisting of mortgage, real estate and personal finance businesses, today announced the launch of Rocket.com. Rocket.com empowers consumers to search, purchase and manage their home financing with an intuitive, AI-driven experience, simplifying every step of the homeownership journey.
With today’s limited housing inventory and affordability concerns, Rocket.com simplifies the path to homeownership and offers consumers a one-stop solution. Traditional home search platforms often focus solely on property browsing, leaving buyers without the necessary guidance or actionable options once they are ready to move forward.
Rocket.com will improve this by bringing home search, financing and servicing together in one intuitive platform. Clients will be able to easily explore properties and receive personalized financing options from a Rocket Mortgage banker – all in just a few clicks.
TradeStation Securities
TradeStation Securities, Inc. (“TradeStation Securities”), an award-winning† self-clearing online brokerage firm for trading stocks, options, futures, and futures options, announces that it will be the first US broker to launch options trading on TradingView, a charting and trading platform, and social network for traders and investors.
TradeStation Securities, Inc. (Member NYSE, FINRA, SIPC, NSCC, DTC, OCC, NFA & CME) is a subsidiary of TradeStation Group, Inc. It offers self-clearing equities, options, futures, and futures options brokerage services as a licensed securities broker-dealer and futures commission merchant (FCM). TradeStation Securities is a member of major equities and futures exchanges in the United States.
Vanilla
Vanilla, the leader in estate planning software, today announced the launch of V/AI Copilot, an AI-driven assistant that transforms how financial advisors approach estate planning. V/AI Copilot is designed to simplify complex tasks, streamline workflows, and help advisors build stronger client relationships.
Estate planning can often become a complicated and time consuming process, with advisors having to understand nuanced documents, extract key information, and navigate complex scenarios. V/AI Copilot assists advisors, helping distill important information, answer questions, and save time.
V/AI is built according to Vanilla’s AI principles to be enterprise-ready, secure, and not use client data to train our models. As a part of Vanilla’s long-term AI strategy, V/AI Copilot will continue to evolve with new capabilities to meet the growing demands of advisors and their customers.
Wealth.com
Wealth.com, the leading end-to-end estate planning platform, today announced the appointment of Dan Bolton as Head of Marketing, adding extensive fintech marketing expertise to the company’s leadership team. Bolton was previously with Nitrogen, where he played a pivotal role in driving marketing strategy, strengthening the brand’s industry position, and delivering impactful events. In his role at wealth.com, Bolton will spearhead the firm’s marketing initiatives and brand evolution as the company enters its next phase of growth.
This year, wealth.com is launching an exclusive, invite-only nationwide tour to connect with leading wealth management firms and showcase their innovative estate planning solutions. The first stop in San Francisco on February 27th at the GV (formerly Google Ventures) office will provide hands-on training for wealth.com’s partners in the Bay Area. The event will also showcase wealth.com’s last product advancements. Additional tour stops are scheduled for Chicago, Austin, and New York City.
Looking ahead, wealth.com is excited to announce its inaugural partner conference, debuting in early 2026 in Scottsdale, AZ. This flagship event will bring together financial advisors, technology innovators, and industry leaders for an unforgettable experience. Attendees will gain insights into emerging trends in estate planning, collaborate with peers, and access exclusive product advancements. With estate planning taking center stage, this conference will fill a long-overdue gap in the industry.
