Welcome to another Advisor Tech Talk, friends, where we mark another week where wealthtech outpaced the greater wealth management industry when it came to significant headlines.
There’s still a lot we’d like to highlight in wealth management this time around, starting with the creation of Balefire, a $3.7 billion AUM Dallas-based RIA formed from the merger of Vision Point Advisory Group and Navitas Wealth Advisors
Denver-based Mercer Global Advisors announced it has passed the 100-transaction mark with the acquisition of $810 million AUM, Hunt Valler, Md.-based Tufton Capital Management and $75 million AUM, Denver-based Lewis Wealth Management. Edelman Financial Engines also announced an addition this week, acquiring $426 million AUM, Kalamazoo, Michigan-based Cahill Wealth Management.
Minneapolis-based Elevation Point announced that it had received a strategic minority investment from Emigrant Partners, which will enable it to “broaden its suite of services for high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients, enhance family office capabilities, and accelerate its onboarding of advisory teams.”
Omaha-based Silverleaf Wealth Management was staked by Proximo Capital, which will enable Silverleaf to “accelerate its acquisition strategy, adding new wealth management firms to its network and further enhancing its ability to serve clients with tailored, comprehensive financial planning services.”
New Jersey-based Private Advisor Group announced that it was shifting its investment platform to a no-transaction fee structure while adding State Street and LoCorr Funds, a move that ostensibly would allow its advisors to broaden their client bases.
There were also a host of hires and promotions at Focus Financial Partners, Nordwand Capital, Crewe Advisors, Parcion Private Wealth, and Tanglewood Total Wealth Management.
We’d also like to highlight the results of a recent research sponsored by Nitrogen and DeVoe & Company. Technology is a huge differentiator for potential clients, as 68% of a survey of more than 1,000 investors said they would consider switching to advisors who offer better client-facing technology and clarity into their portfolio. A greater proportion, nearly three-quarters of the survey, said they would pay higher fees if they were given tools “that increase their insight and engagement.”
The punchline, however, comes from a Nitrogen/DeVoe survey of 425 advisory firms that found that organic marketing efforts like SEO and content marketing now account for more client leads than referrals, which are what advisors have traditionally relied on to find prospects.
Firms also seem to be placing a higher priority on organic growth. According to the survey, “57% of advisory firms surveyed achieved 11%+ organic growth last year, excluding market performance,” marking an acceleration in organic growth over the previous 12 months.
Let’s get to your headlines.
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AmericanTCS
AmericanTCS today announced the appointment of Beau Adams as the new President of American Trust Retirement and Carolann DiMaggio as Chief Operating Officer. As an AmericanTCS business, American Trust Retirement provides trading, custody, administration and technology solutions that enable partners to create their own retirement offerings to meet the needs of the advisor best, the plan sponsor and most importantly, the participant.
Adams joins American Trust Retirement with nearly three decades of retirement industry leadership. He most recently served as Vice President and Head of Retirement & Wealth Management at Horace Mann Insurance Company, where he directed the firm’s retirement plan solutions and wealth management operations. Prior to Horace Mann, Adams spent 24 years as Partner and Executive Vice President at Benefit Consultants Group & BCG Securities, where he built and led integrated financial services businesses spanning retirement plan consulting, recordkeeping, third-party administration and broker-dealer/RIA management. Throughout his career, he has worked in every aspect of the qualified plan ecosystem and has been a featured speaker at industry events including the Pennsylvania Bar Association and National Broker Dealer Conferences.
DiMaggio brings over 25 years of retirement industry expertise, most recently serving as Senior Manager of Operational Excellence at Vanguard. Her career includes extensive experience in recordkeeping services, non-qualified plan administration and process redesign, making her ideally suited to optimize American Trust Retirement’s operational capabilities and drive client satisfaction.
Arteria AI
SIFMA and Arteria AI today announced a partnership to provide all US Treasury clearing participants a data-driven documentation platform to streamline and scale the onboarding, legal compliance, and operational systems integration with respect to the mandated central clearing of US Treasury securities repurchase transactions, as required by new rules out of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The SIFMA Arteria AI Treasury Clearing Solution starts with translating the voluntary standard documentation into a data driven exercise to assist market participants in leveraging the documentation’s built-in optionality to address and accommodate individualized negotiations and terms; streamline and scale negotiations and enable the tracking of terms across stakeholders; operationalize the content to drive client onboarding, record critical client details, and provide a platinum data source for margin management and other systems; and optimize legal, accounting, and compliance both with respect to key business terms and enforceability consistent with legal opinions and other guidance being sourced by SIFMA.
Capitalize
Capitalize, the industry’s award-winning platform for retirement account transfers, and SoFi, a member-centric one stop shop for digital financial services, today announced a major expansion of their long-standing collaboration to help members easily find and consolidate their 401(k) accounts. SoFi’s recent implementation of Capitalize’s Embedded Rollover API now allows its members to seamlessly find legacy 401(k) accounts and transfer them quickly into their SoFi Individual Retirement Account (IRA) – all without leaving the SoFi app.
This new integration has significantly improved the rollover experience for SoFi members, resulting in a substantially faster and lower-friction process to consolidate retirement assets at SoFi. Capitalize research has previously shown that the vast majority of savers are unable to successfully complete a rollover on their own. By embedding the Capitalize Rollover API, SoFi now offers its members a digital, modern rollover experience so that they can complete this important financial step.
With an estimated $1.65 trillion in assets left behind in 401(k) accounts and almost $1 trillion rolled over annually, the opportunity for leading financial institutions to help users with 401(k) consolidation continues to grow. SoFi joins a growing list of financial institutions leveraging the Capitalize Embedded Rollover API to better serve their users and grow retirement assets. Capitalize’s rollover technology has powered billions of dollars in retirement account transfers, and its platform is growing rapidly as additional retirement account providers adopt its industry-leading APIs.
First Rate
First Rate, a leading provider of financial technology solutions, is thrilled to announce the launch of its cutting-edge Alts Data Management solution, designed to revolutionize how wealth management firms handle alternative investment data. This new offering builds upon First Rate’s 15+ years of experience in the alternative asset management space, providing a fully operational platform that helps firms efficiently manage, analyze, and gain insights from their alternative investment portfolios.
As wealth management firms increasingly turn to alternative assets to diversify and enhance client portfolios, the complexity of managing data across multiple asset types can become overwhelming. First Rate’s Alts Data Management solution is here to simplify this process by delivering a powerful set of tools that streamline data management and drive operational efficiency.
iCapital
MAI Capital Management LLC (“MAI”), a registered investment advisory firm focused on empowering clients to simplify, protect, and grow their wealth, today announced a partnership with iCapital1, the global fintech platform driving the world’s alternative investment marketplace for the wealth and asset management industries. Through the integration of iCapital’s technology into MAI’s custom platform, MAI’s in-house investment team can easily view, manage, and administer clients’ existing and future alternative investments.
iCapital’s end-to-end technology provides MAI’s advisors with a solution to simplify the process of reconciling alternative investment and fund data, streamline document management and fund finance activities, and enable more efficient workflows. MAI’s investment team will also have the capability to create custom portfolios and complete related due diligence for clients. iCapital will manage the associated oversight functions and support ongoing operations and efficiencies for MAI’s advisors and clients, and iCapital has also agreed to manage a set of existing funds currently managed by MAI as part of the partnership.
With more than 50 years of advising high-net-worth (HNW) and ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) clients, including iconic athletes and entertainers, MAI specializes in comprehensive financial planning and investment management for individuals and families. It delivers financial and estate planning, investment management, tax planning, insurance, accounting, and philanthropic strategies. MAI’s private markets platform comprises alternative funds across various strategies including real assets, private equity, private credit, venture capital and hedge funds.
iCapital
Global crypto asset manager Bitwise Asset Management announced today a partnership with iCapital1, the global fintech platform driving the world’s alternative investment marketplace for the wealth and asset management industries, to add Bitwise to iCapital Marketplace.
Users of iCapital Marketplace are now able to access Bitwise’s active crypto strategies that seek to capitalize on the alpha opportunities in the crypto space. Seeking exceptional risk-adjusted returns through carefully managed volatility and low correlation to traditional assets, Bitwise’s multi-strategy approach includes non-directional, tactically directional, long bias, and special situations strategies. The solutions are managed by a Bitwise team that includes some of crypto’s top experts in portfolio management, derivatives, and risk analysis.
iCapital’s Marketplace provides an all-digital investment platform that connects more than 100,000 financial professionals with a broad selection of alternative investment opportunities offered by the world’s largest asset managers—all on one simple and integrated platform.
iCapital
CAZ Investments, one of the top 125 allocators to private equity worldwide¹, is pleased to announce that it has partnered with iCapital², the global fintech platform driving the world’s alternative investment marketplace for the wealth and asset management industries, to deliver financial advisors and their clients streamlined access to one of its core investment strategies, ownership of professional sports teams. Now available on the iCapital Marketplace, this investing strategy is focused on owning minority stakes in professional sports teams across the spectrum of major sporting leagues.
CAZ curates unique and exclusive alternative investments for a global network of investors. In partnership with Arctos Sports Partners, CAZ has become one of the largest allocators to professional sports as an asset class.
In 2019, Major League Baseball was the first major North American league to open the door to private equity taking a minority and passive interest in teams. With the NFL being the final league to open the door to private equity in 2024, investors can now access ownership stakes in teams across all five of the major North American Leagues (MLB, NHL, NBA, MLS, and NFL). With cord-cutting as a tailwind, leagues have been able to negotiate record-setting media rights deals with networks and streamers alike. Professional sports teams have also shown little correlation to public markets, a desirable factor for advisors seeking to lower risk in volatile markets.
Integrated Partners
Integrated Partners (“Integrated”), a national financial planning and registered investment advisory (RIA) firm serving more than $21 billion in assets under advisement (AUA), today announced a new strategic partnership with Carefull. Carefull, the first financial safety platform built to protect the daily finances and identities of older adults and their families, equips Integrated advisors with a modern, AI-powered solution to combat the rising threat of fraud, identity theft and financial scams—particularly among aging clients and their extended families.
From suspicious transactions and credit activity to unusual behavioral patterns, Carefull helps detect threats early and guides clients with clear, actionable steps to stop problems before they escalate. This partnership strengthens Integrated’s commitment to innovation by giving advisors a simple way to address growing concerns around fraud and financial caregiving while also helping them deepen relationships with the full family and grow their business. By protecting the whole family, Carefull offers advisors a high-impact way to build multi-generational relationships.
Advisors will also benefit from a real-time portal that tracks client engagement without requiring them to manage daily operations. This allows Integrated advisors to remain focused on growth, relationships, and outcomes—while offering a meaningful new service that’s already enhancing retention, expanding multi-generational relationships, and driving new assets under management.
intelliflo redblack
intelliflo redblack today announced that Focus Financial Partners Inc. has adopted intelliflo redblack as a strategic trade and rebalance technology solution, extending its capabilities across the organization’s firms.
Focus Financial Partners is an interdependent partnership of wealth management, business management, and related financial services firms. intelliflo redblack and Focus have enjoyed a successful relationship for years.
Several firms under the Focus Partners brand have been longtime users of intelliflo redblack. One such firm is SCS Financial, Focus Partners Family Office and OCIO. Marcelo Vedovatto, COO at SCS, stated, “Over the years, intelliflo redblack has been a great partner to SCS as our business has scaled and our needs have continuously evolved. Their platform has the sophistication required to support our complex client ownership structures and multi-asset-class portfolios spanning public and private markets. intelliflo redblack’s service and support are reliable, responsive, and thorough. We look forward to this next phase of our partnership as we continue to evolve integration and workflow capabilities together, creating a better client and employee experience.”
Jump
Jump, a leading provider of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for financial advisors and other financial services providers, today announced its strategic relationship with Cetera Financial Group* (‘Cetera’), the premier financial advisor Wealth Hub. This collaboration brings Jump’s enterprise-grade, AI-powered meeting assistant to Cetera financial professionals – helping drive scalable growth while enhancing compliance and streamlining firmwide operations across the organization.
The platform automates key functions such as meeting documentation, CRM updates, compliance logging and follow-up workflows—freeing financial professionals to focus on what matters most: delivering meaningful value to clients while driving meaningful business outcomes at the firm level. As enterprise firms face rising regulatory complexity and increasing demands for scalable operations, Jump’s secure and compliant AI solutions offer a competitive advantage.
AI has become a fiercely competitive differentiator in the wealth management space, with 85 percent of advisors reporting they’ve won new business due to another advisor’s outdated technology. Jump is leading the charge—named by Kitces as the category’s market leader and earning the highest satisfaction rating and largest market share among advisor-specific tools, according to the 2025 T3/Inside Information Software Survey. This momentum signals that Jump’s AI-powered solutions aren’t just cutting-edge – they’re the tools advisors trust most. Forward-thinking firms like Cetera understand that delivering exceptional client experiences at scale starts with adopting proven, best-in-class technology.
Opto Investments
Venturi Private Wealth (“Venturi”), an independent wealth management firm and multi-family office serving entrepreneurs, ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) individuals and families, and private foundations, today announced its strategic partnership with Opto Investments (“Opto”), an unrelated third-party that provides a comprehensive, technology-led solution to simplify private markets investing and servicing for independent investment advisors and family offices. Venturi will leverage Opto’s platform to scale its existing private markets program and identify new opportunities across private credit, private equity, and real estate. The firm will also use the platform to manage the administrative and operational complexities of its private funds going forward.
Opto’s end-to-end platform will simplify private investing for Venturi’s client base of qualified investors, enabling them to participate in a curated portfolio of private investments with low minimums and a streamlined operational experience–generating a single K-1. Venturi will further develop its total private equity portfolio solution, complete with professional due diligence, institutional-grade investments and consolidated reporting.
Over the years, Venturi has launched and managed a number of private funds, including investments in middle-market buyout funds, real estate, industry specialist funds, direct lending, aircraft leasing and trading, and specialty finance. Leveraging Opto’s platform, the firm plans to introduce new private equity vintage funds every 18-24 months with a streamlined and digitized subscription process.
Pontera
Pontera, the fintech company enabling financial advisors to securely manage workplace retirement plan assets for participants, today announced that the company has joined the Financial Data and Technology Association of North America (“FDATA”), a trade association representing more than three dozen financial technology and open finance companies in the United States and Canada.
FDATA North America is a not-for-profit association for financial services companies operating in Open Banking and Open Finance. Its mission is to open up the worldwide financial sector to better allow consumers to leverage the benefits of financial data and technology, and to ensure that financial services are delivered to them in a fair, ethical and compliant manner.
Pontera’s membership in FDATA North America reinforces the company’s commitment to financial data transparency and freedom of choice for consumers regarding management of their retirement plans.
Savvy Wealth
Savvy Wealth Inc. (“Savvy”), a digital-first platform for financial advisors centered around modernizing human financial advice, today announced its partnership with Vestwell, the backbone of the modern savings economy. Through this collaboration, advisors at Savvy’s registered investment advisor (RIA) affiliate, Savvy Advisors, can now offer expanded support for business-owning clients by managing their company 401(k) plans and serving as the 3(38) plan advisors and investment manager.
With Vestwell as the recordkeeper and service provider, Savvy’s advisors can seamlessly manage and bill clients’ company 401(k) plans within a white-labeled Savvy experience. Advisors can access their clients’ company plan data, automate administration, and connect with payroll and HR systems, helping them offer a simple, unified 401(k) plan with their broader employee benefits programs.
Savvy expects plan sizes to range from $2 million to $15 million, enabling the firm’s advisors to provide plan advisory services to an underserved market of small business owners. With more than 25 states proposing state-mandated retirement plan legislation, and another 10 already operating state-sponsored retirement plans, Savvy is responding to these changing dynamics to provide their business owner clients with a turnkey solution.
SMArtX Advisory Solutions
SMArtX Advisory Solutions (“SMArtX”), a leading innovator in managed accounts technology, has announced the addition of 2 new strategies from two leading asset management firms to its Manager Marketplace. SMArtX’s continuously growing platform now offers 1,530 strategies from 319 distinguished asset management firms.
Newcomer DSM Capital Partners added its Global Growth Equity strategy and Fidelity Institutional also expanded their current offering to include International Capital Appreciation.
Vestmark
Vestmark, Inc., a leading wealth management software and services provider, announced today a strategic partnership with Corient, one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing wealth advisors. Corient will utilize Vestmark’s portfolio management and trading technology solutions across its entire business.
With Vestmark’s industry-leading technology, Corient will be able to consolidate investment solutions on one platform, centralizing portfolio management and trading capabilities across its approximately $177 billion of assets. This partnership represents a trend among fast-growing wealth management firms, which are increasingly adopting consolidated portfolio management and trading technology to power their growth.
Vestmark supports six of the industry’s 10 largest managed account platforms, with $1.5 trillion in assets flowing through its platform. More than 65,000 advisors supported by Vestmark technology have access to a model marketplace with more than 1,200 strategies.
Wealth.com
Wealth.com, the leading digital estate planning platform for financial advisors, today announced it has been selected as the exclusive estate planning solution for OneDigital, a national strategic advisory firm providing insurance, wealth management and employee benefit services to small and mid-sized businesses. The collaboration provides OneDigital advisors with access to Wealth.com’s personalized estate planning solutions, enabling them to offer more comprehensive financial planning to their clients. With Wealth.com, OneDigital advisors can quickly provide access to estate planning documents at a fraction of the cost associated with external attorney services.
OneDigital’s advisors can now invite clients to create, manage and update estate planning documents directly through the Wealth.com platform, powered by Wealth.com’s Ester™ AI—the first and most advanced AI agent purpose-built for estate planning. In the last 12 months alone, Ester has analyzed over 4.5 million unique data points to surface key insights and streamline the estate planning process. Clients benefit from intuitive visualizations and a clearer understanding of how their estate strategies align with their broader financial goals. This collaboration also lays the foundation for OneDigital to make estate planning services a core, integrated offering across its platform—meeting the growing demand to connect estate plans with insurance and employee benefits.
Currently, more than 60 percent of Americans do not have a will in place. For many, the cost of traditional legal services has been a significant barrier to creating comprehensive estate plans. The Wealth.com collaboration with OneDigital will make estate planning more accessible to a broader range of clients, addressing the growing demand for cost-effective solutions.
