Ah yes, the mid-year doldrums are upon us with a big slowdown in wealth management news, but technology didn’t get the memo: There were still plenty of key wealth management technology news items to report in this week’s Advisor Tech Talk, which we’ll get to in a moment.
Thanks to a rainout at the beginning of the weekend, we’re coming off of four-straight days of fireworks and Fourth of July-related revelry, and we’re feeling a bit foggy to kick off this week but the fast-moving universe of technology doesn’t give your humble editor a break.
First, however, I’d like to pick up a recent theme in some of our columns once more, the theme of trust. Trust is a tricky part of any financial relationship—for many wealth management clients, as well as lifelong do-it-yourselfers, trust is the key reason why they chose whether or not to engage with a wealth management professional—I would argue it’s more important than complexity.
That’s why I also argue that, generally speaking, when people start trusting a technology to do a task more than they trust a human, it’s time for the humans to find something else to do.
And so we come to a recent University of California-Davis study regarding financial technology, “Trust as an entry barrier, Evidence from FinTech adoption” by Keer Yang, which was published in the Journal of Financial Economics.
Yang’s study found that trust, not interest rates, is what drives people’s adoption of fintech—and thus when Wells Fargo experienced a major scandal in 2016 regarding 14 or so years of egregious behavior including opening un-necessary client accounts and charging many of those customers fees under reportedly false pretenses, the study revealed a corresponding rise in interest and use of fintech for financial services.
Let’s accept, for at least a moment, that the battlelines of trust in commerce and finance are in the process of being redrawn. AI and blockchain will rewire the way trust works in the financial services industry—trust no longer has to be in the person you talk to or shake hands with, because trust will be enforced by the technology that hardwires fair, optimal and compliant decisions and processes at every level.
In such a scenario, trust is decentralized and “de-commodified.” There are no more Wells Fargo scandals because the human decision-making that caused the scandals will be taken out of the equation—and if the financial services firms don’t do it, then consumers will seek the technology that they feel like they can trust themselves.
Traditional finance might not survive another 2008-like scenario. Another global crisis could become a behavioral tipping point.
The greater wealth management firm should sit up and take notice—every time a retired couple is taken advantage of by a financial advisor, digital alternatives to traditional wealth management pick up promising prospects in those retirees’ children and grandchildren.
Let’s get to your headlines.
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Alltius
Alltius today launched its Agentic AI Suite, a comprehensive platform for building, deploying, training, and maintaining sophisticated AI agents geared to redefine the financial services landscape. This will enable financial institutions to move beyond basic automation and into an era of intelligent, proactive, and personalized customer experiences.
The Alltius platform is a complete, end-to-end ecosystem for agentic AI built for insurance, banking, lending, wealth management and FinTechs, providing a powerful suite of tools that work in concert to deliver unparalleled performance.
Alltius is the only platform that works with the latest AI research, combining the strengths of multiple research methodologies, top-tier and proprietary LLMs, and a world-class team of researchers to deliver best-in-class performance for every financial services task. With over 20 years of experience developing these advanced systems, our team has an unparalleled understanding of the nuances and complexities of enterprise AI.
Alltius
Alltius today announced the launch of its groundbreaking Voice AI agent platform specifically engineered for financial services institutions. The new solution enables insurance companies, retail banks, and wealth management firms to automate complex customer interactions through natural, empathic conversations while maintaining strict compliance standards and seamless integration with existing systems.
Unlike generic AI solutions or traditional IVR systems that frustrate customers with rigid menus, Alltius Voice AI agents execute account-level actions directly—processing insurance claims, approving loans, and delivering portfolio updates without human intervention—all while maintaining conversational fluidity and emotional intelligence.
Alltius Voice AI represents a paradigm shift in how financial institutions manage customer interactions. Insurance companies can use Alltius to automate first notice of loss (FNOL), process routine claims, and handle policy inquiries, reducing per-interaction costs from $200 to $1.
Archway
Aquiline, a private investment firm specializing in financial services and technology, has closed its acquisition of SEI’s Family Office Services business. As an independent company, the business will revert to its original name, Archway.
After a strong period of growth under SEI’s ownership, Aquiline is excited to support Archway with substantial new investment into product, customer experience, and talent.
Archway also announced the appointment of several key executives to lead the newly independent company. Anthony Abenante will join Archway as CEO. Anthony most recently served as Global Head of Equities at Credit Suisse and previously was the CEO of Instinet, where he expanded multi-asset trading capabilities and led platform modernization efforts serving institutional clients across more than 60 markets.
Dakota
Dakota, a sales intelligence platform, today announced the formation of its Advisory Board, bringing together a select group of senior distribution leaders from across the asset management industry.
This board will serve as a strategic resource as Dakota continues advancing AI and adding new, differentiated data sets.
The Dakota Advisory Board includes seasoned executives from institutional and intermediary distribution, each with a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing today’s fundraising teams. Their collective insight will help shape Dakota’s roadmap and ensure its platform continues to meet the evolving needs of investment professionals.
Fifth Third Wealth Advisors
Fifth Third Wealth Advisors®, a multi-custodial registered investment advisory firm, announced it has surpassed $3 billion in net new assets under management, as of June 30, marking another major milestone in the firm’s growth.
This achievement underscores strong momentum and growing demand from both advisors and clients. According to independent research* Fifth Third Wealth Advisors ranks among the top 500 independent RIAs in the US.
As part of its continued expansion, the firm has added Charles Schwab as a new custodial option on its platform, enhancing its custodial capabilities and providing clients with greater choice and flexibility. In addition, the firm is excited to begin a technology partnership with SS&C’s Black Diamond® Wealth Platform, the leading end-to-end cloud-native wealth management platform delivering personalized, innovative and sophisticated wealth management experiences for clients and advisors.
GReminders
GReminders, a leading end-to-end meeting and automation management platform for financial advisors, today announced that Osaic, Inc. (“Osaic”), one of the nation’s largest providers of wealth management solutions, has approved the integration of its artificial intelligence (AI) Notetaker and SMS Reminders. Building on nearly a year of collaboration focused on streamlining workflows, the expanded partnership allows Osaic’s network of more than 11,000 financial professionals to maximize the range of GReminders of automation capabilities, from administrative support to automated post-meeting reporting and action items.
As part of the expanded integration, Osaic advisors can now access two powerful tools from the GReminders platform: AI Notetaker, which ranscribes meetings in real time so advisors can focus on the conversation at hand and remain more engaged with clients; and SMS Reminders, which automatically sends text message reminders to clients, reducing no-shows and helping advisors reclaim time and resources often lost to missed appointments.
GReminders is purpose-built for financial advisors, and offers flexible add-on packages with discounts available to Osaic affiliated advisors. Existing users can enable the AI Notetaker directly in-app to instantly unlock all available features.
Jump
Jump, a leading provider of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for financial advisors and other financial services providers, today announced a new integration with eMoney Advisor, a leading provider of technology solutions and services dedicated to helping people talk about money. The integration is designed to eliminate the tedious and error-prone task of manual data entry following client meetings—helping advisors operate more efficiently and deliver more reliable financial plans.
This new capability enables advisors who use both Jump and eMoney to push proposed updates to income, expenses, personal details and financial goals—immediately after client meetings. Advisors simply review the suggestions generated by Jump’s AI assistant and, with a single click, sync them into eMoney, ensuring financial plans are updated quickly and accurately. In advance of meetings, Jump pulls key data from eMoney into its Pre-Meeting Prep, giving advisors a more accurate and complete briefing.
Advisors can enable the integration by connecting their eMoney account within Jump’s settings menu. After each client meeting, Jump surfaces recommended updates to the client’s Base Facts, which advisors can review, edit if needed and instantly sync to eMoney. Additionally, Jump maps conversational data to the eMoney Fact-Finder, automatically populating it on the advisor’s behalf—streamlining data entry before and after meetings. This functionality is available to all shared Jump and eMoney users at no additional cost; advisors simply need active subscriptions to both platforms.
K1x
K1x, Inc., the fintech company behind the industry-leading K1 Aggregator®, today announced the launch of Aggregator Plus™, a powerful new product upgrade that adds automated Form 1099 data extraction to its patented, AI-powered tax platform. This enhancement addresses the growing complexity of tax document processing, with over 40 million Schedule K-1s and an estimated 44 million Form 1099-Ks filed annually.
Built as an optional upgrade to K1 Aggregator®, Aggregator Plus™ provides tax professionals with a unified solution for processing complex investor tax documents across multiple entities and asset classes. The extension is purpose-built for the needs of accounting firms, alternative investment funds, and family offices, where fragmented tax workflows and tight deadlines often increase costs and audit risks.
With the addition of 1099 automation, K1x further strengthens its position as the leading tax compliance automation platform. The company’s solutions are already used by over 8,000 organizations, including 44 of the 100 largest institutional investors, 20 of the top 25 accounting firms, and 45 of the top 100 university endowments.
Orion
Orion, a leading provider of innovative wealthtech solutions for financial advisors and enterprise firms, and iCapital1, the global fintech platform shaping the future of investing, today announced an enhanced collaboration that is already delivering results for independent advisors across the Orion ecosystem. This expanded technology integration, developed as part of Orion’s Premier Partnership Program, equips independent advisors with streamlined, single sign-on (SSO) access to alternative investments, enabling them to deliver tailored, high-value portfolios that meet the evolving demands of today’s investors.
Orion’s 2025 Advisor Wealthtech Survey highlights a growing focus on alternatives, with 30% of advisors currently prioritizing these investments and 28% planning to do so within three years.2 Yet, Orion’s 2025 Investor Survey reveals a gap, with only 23% of investors reporting access to alternatives through their advisors.3 This enhanced partnership bridges that gap, and is empowering independent advisors to confidently incorporate alternative investments into client portfolios with unmatched ease and efficiency.
By integrating these capabilities, independent advisors can offer clients sophisticated, diversified portfolios that align with their unique financial goals, all while maintaining operational efficiency.
Osaic
Osaic, Inc. (“Osaic”), one of the nation’s largest providers of wealth management solutions, today announced the availability of direct billing using select fee-based variable annuities within the Osaic platform. This new capability significantly simplifies annuity management, streamlining operations and enhancing flexibility for financial advisors and their clients.
Fee-based variable annuities have historically involved additional, burdensome administrative tasks. With direct billing, annuity fees can now be processed directly within the annuity itself—eliminating the administrative burden of creating and maintaining a separate managed investment account. Previously, if a client lacked an eligible linked account, advisors paused to identify additional investment management opportunities before placing the annuity business. That extra step is no longer necessary.
Direct billing is now available for eligible products via Osaic’s Annuity Submission Platform (ASP). It currently supports select fee-based variable annuities and is part of a broader effort to expand annuity flexibility across the entire Osaic ecosystem.
Pontera
Pontera, the financial technology company empowering financial advisors to securely and compliantly manage clients’ retirement savings, today announced a partnership with former U.S. Department of Labor regulator Lisa M. Gomez as a strategic advisor to the company. With extensive background in retirement policy and a deep commitment to making America’s retirement system more participant-centric, Gomez will help accelerate Pontera’s strategic relationships with policymakers and the defined contribution industry.
Gomez brings more than three decades of experience working at the intersection of employee benefits and retirement policy, most recently leading the Employee Benefits Security Administration as Assistant Secretary of Labor at the U.S. Department of Labor. Her agency oversaw 801,000 retirement plans with combined assets of $12 trillion, in addition to oversight of the federal Thrift Savings Plan.
Pontera is transforming how advisors manage held-away accounts — including 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and other retirement plan accounts — by providing a secure and integrated platform that enhances portfolio visibility and allows for advisors to offer personalized advice and rebalancing. Through its technology and rigorous compliance standards, Pontera bridges a longstanding gap in wealth management, empowering advisors to improve retirement outcomes for millions of Americans.
Private Client Resources
Private Client Resources (PCR), a premier data aggregation firm serving the financial services industry, is proud to reintroduce itself under new leadership and with a renewed commitment to delivering high-integrity data and managed services. The transformation of PCR into an industry-grade data aggregator enters a new phase of strategic growth. This evolution is led by a seasoned management team with a proven track record of building and transforming global financial services businesses to drive greater accuracy, agility, and insight.
PCR’s new leadership team includes Chitra Baskar as Executive Chairperson, Ranjan Mishra as Chief Executive Officer, KB Venkataraman as Chief Technology Officer, and Sujatha Rajaram as Chief Operating Officer. With decades of experience in high precision operations, the team brings a proven track record of driving operational excellence, delivering high-touch client service, as well as leading large-scale tech transformations for a major corporate and fund solution providers. Their combined expertise positions PCR for accelerated growth in a highly competitive market.
In addition to a new leadership team, PCR has built an operational and delivery center in India, hiring over 70 team members to enhance consistency and offer time zone advantage. The company continues to invest in its technology stack, leveraging innovations in AI and straight-through processing (STP) to address and improve their service quality and capabilities. Additionally, PCR has refined its client focus to serve high-value, high-complexity financial institutions such as wealth tech platforms, private wealth managers, banks, registered investment advisers (RIAs), asset allocators, family offices and trust service providers who are seeking a single-source, institutional-grade data aggregation and managed services provider.
Rossby Financial
Rossby Financial (“Rossby”), a tech-forward, open architecture, enterprise RIA, is putting all the information advisors need to manage their practices into one, unified dashboard through its new partnership with Milemarker, a leading technology platform revolutionizing how advisory firms, independent broker-dealers (IBDs) and registered investment advisors (RIAs) operate and scale. Rossby is poised to scale while continuing to provide advisors flexibility alongside autonomy.
To achieve the kind of organic and inorganic growth advisors want, advisors need access to all of their business health and development metrics quickly. Milemarker provides Rossby with both an executive-level and advisor-level dashboard; the advisor version will be customized to incorporate metrics that each advisor prioritizes in the future.
As an enterprise RIA focused on simplicity through cutting edge tech, Rossby also offers advisors a transparent pricing model. Rossby has grown the number of its advisors by 70 percent in the last year to reach 17 advisors and its assets under advisement has grown nearly 120 percent in that timeframe, demonstrating the demand for destinations that put advisors at the helm of their practices; these recent developments are only poised to help the firm scale further.
Savvy Wealth
Savvy Wealth (“Savvy”), a digital-first platform for financial advisors centered around modernizing human financial advice, today announced the successful close of a $72 million Series B funding round, led by Industry Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on private technology investments with over $8 billion in committed capital. The round attracted new investors Vestigo Ventures—a venture capital firm founded by former LPL Financial CEO and Chairman Mark Casady, who joins Savvy’s Board of Directors—and Euclidean Capital. Existing investors Canvas Ventures, Thrive Capital, The House Fund, Brewer Lane Ventures and former Focus Financial executive Vamsi Yadlapati also participated. This latest infusion of capital brings Savvy to over $100 million in total funding.
Having completed its Series A in August 2024, Savvy is in the top decile for speed between Series A and B funding rounds, according to industry data from Carta. Savvy will leverage the fresh funding to accelerate its core technology offering, hire top technical talent and expand recruitment of independent advisors and advisory teams to its affiliate registered investment advisor (RIA), Savvy Advisors. The firm will also accelerate the development of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to build personalized knowledge bases on each client, providing predictive, real-time intelligence tailored to individual financial profiles and needs.
This funding round comes amid a banner year for Savvy, marked by exponential growth and the onboarding of top advisors, advisory teams and executive talent. The firm has added nearly $500 million thus far in 2025, with assets under management growing 500% since the beginning of 2024. Additionally, it bolstered its leadership team with the additions of Eric Hurkman as Chief Technology Officer (formerly the founding CTO of Carta, valued at $7.4 billion), David Weiner as Chief Growth Officer (formerly Head of Growth at Compass, valued at $4 billion) and Lisandra Wilmott as Head of Legal & Compliance (formerly General Counsel of $200 billion AUM multi-family office Pathstone).
