This week in Advisor Tech Talk, wealth management continues its hot streak of activity, and of course, wealthtech follows suit.
The biggest news, perhaps, was that plans to take Envestnet private were finalized over the past week, but there was plenty more to talk about.
One notable piece coming not directly from the wealthtech space that we’re reporting this week—you can see the first part of the official announcement in our roundup below—is the new hire of a technology-oriented chief operating officer at Dynasty Financial Partners, one of the premier independent wealth management outsourcing platforms in the country.
What’s interesting about Dynasty’s hire of Marc Hineman, a veteran technologists at firms like PICO, Wells Fargo and JP Morgan, is the way Dynasty is now clearly talking about itself as a technology firm—as it has grown over its 14-year history, Dynasty has come to resemble a broad wealthtech firm, and not just because of its $50+ billion AUM turnkey asset management program. Indeed, part of Dynasty’s primary service to advisors is providing technological support up-to and including a fully integrated technology stack.
Moving on, we also have a couple of AI-related pieces of research worth a mention before we get to a very long list of headlines. One, from technology research firm Information Services Group, finds that enterprises, along with smaller businesses, are increasingly outsourcing their finance and accounting functions to technology, in part due to the streamlined and secure processes made possible by machine learning.
In other words, a couple of well-paying, key roles for accountants and financial advisors are in the process of being fully automated and subsumed by emerging technologies.
Another, a survey of 1,000 wealthy investors from financial services artificial intelligence technology provider Boosted.ai, found that most wealthy Gen Z and millennial investors are already using AI regularly—56% of them, to be exact.
What’s more, Boosted.ai also found that more than one-in-three wealthy Gen Zers and millennials would consider changing financial advisors if their wealth manager didn’t implement new technologies like AI. A large majority, 79%, said they would like their financial advisor to use AI tools.
So, even if next-generation, generative artificial intelligence wealthtech is new and largely untested, there is already some level of demand for it on the consumer and client level.
That’s something we’ll have to keep an eye on moving forward.
Let’s get to some headlines.
Addepar
Addepar, a leading global technology and data platform for investment professionals, today announced the launch of Addepar Trading, Dashboards, and other design enhancements to streamline advisor workflows and deliver deeper insights for clients. In today’s evolving market, these tools empower advisors to make informed decisions with greater confidence.
Addepar’s commitment to product excellence and best-in-class technology has solidified its position as a leading platform for RIAs and wealth managers worldwide. With over 1,000 client firms managing more than $6T in assets across 45 countries, Addepar delivers unparalleled visibility into complex portfolios, empowering advisors to provide informed and precise guidance to their clients.
As the industry’s leading provider by firms served, the company continues to lead with $100 million in annual investments to research and development.
Altruist
Today, Altruist, the modern custodian built for RIAs, announced the launch of its unified fixed income trading experience. The highly-anticipated, fully-digital product joins the company’s rapidly expanding set of advisor-centric solutions and brings long-awaited innovation to bond trading in the RIA space.
Altruist’s fixed income trading center offers a modern screener, allowing advisors to browse real-time pricing and bond inventory, with advanced filtering across US Treasuries, Corporates, Municipal Bonds, Certificates of Deposit, and Government Agency securities; increased data transparency, unlocking clean and accurate reference data alongside historical yield, maturity, and pricing for every security, saving advisors invaluable time and effort; and an effortless click-to-trade feature built directly into Altruist’s platform, enabling rapid order creation and automated smart-order routing, all designed to minimize transaction costs and help advisors trade bonds without ever having to pick up the phone.
Bank of America
Bank of America today announced a new solution to help parents support their children as they begin their financial journeys. SafeBalance Banking® for Family Banking is a bank account that offers parents the tools and resources they need to help their children practice healthy financial habits and learn to manage their money through a convenient, secure digital experience.
A recent Bank of America survey found 90% of parents believe they bear responsibility in teaching their children financial literacy and 61% start talking to their kids about money by the age of 10.
Family Banking can be opened via Bank of America online banking or the mobile banking app and allows parents to maintain oversight of their child’s spending and supervise the account.
Dynasty Financial Partners
Dynasty Financial Partners today announced strategic changes and additions to its executive team to facilitate innovation, streamline decision-making, and scale its business for future growth.
Marc Hineman joined the firm as Chief Operating Officer. His decades of experience in technology, operations, and corporate M&A, as well as his proven abilities as an operator driving scale and business growth will be invaluable to Dynasty as it explores new ways to innovate as the partner of choice for financial advisors and their clients. Hineman joins Dynasty most recently from PICO, whose technology and services power mission-critical systems for global banks, exchanges, electronic trading firms, quantitative hedge funds, and financial technology service providers. Prior to PICO, he held senior technology and operational positions at Wells Fargo and JPMorgan.
Dynasty Vice Chairman, Andrew Marsh, was named Head of Core Services. Marsh joined Dynasty in April 2023 as its first consulting Executive-in-Residence, before being named to the permanent role of Vice Chairman. As Head of Core Services, he will architect the services that comprise Dynasty’s offering to its Network of firms together into one united, streamlined team, innovating the firm’s approach to facilitating and supporting the growth of Network Firm businesses. Marsh will also continue his work advising Dynasty’s Network of firms’ CEOs in its Advisor to CEO program. Tim Oden was named Chief Growth Officer. Oden previously served as Dynasty’s most recent Executive-in-Residence. In his almost 37 years at Schwab, he was part of the team that pioneered one of the largest custodian businesses in the industry. In this new role, he will leverage his deep industry experience and expertise to drive the growth of Dynasty and its Network.
Envestnet
Envestnet, Inc. (NYSE: ENV) (“Envestnet,” or the “Company”), a leading provider of integrated technology, data intelligence, and wealth solutions, today announced that, at a special meeting (the “Special Meeting”), the Company’s stockholders approved the pending acquisition of the Company by affiliates of vehicles managed or advised by Bain Capital (the “Merger”).
Based on a preliminary tally of voting results, approximately 99.33% of the votes represented at the Special Meeting were in favor of the Merger. The final voting results of the Special Meeting will be filed in a Current Report on Form 8-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).
The receipt of stockholder approval satisfies another closing condition to the Merger, in addition to the expiration of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 on September 3, 2024. The Company expects to complete the Merger in the fourth quarter of 2024, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the remaining customary closing conditions.
Foundation Source
Foundation Source, the nation’s largest provider of cloud-based solutions for private foundations and planned giving, today announced the launch of Impactfully Mobile, a full-service smartphone app that enables foundations to manage operational, grantmaking, expense, and reporting needs on the go. The new app provides the core capabilities of Foundation Source’s cloud-based SaaS desktop platform, expanding access to the proprietary, award-winning technology that makes giving easier and more impactful.
The new mobile experience comes at a time when a generation of digital natives is beginning to inherit the estimated $83 trillion that their elder relatives will leave behind over the next two decades. Millennials and Gen Z are charitably-active in a wide variety of ways and aspire to have a bigger giving footprint in the future, according to the company’s Shaping Tomorrow: How Gen Z and Millennials View Charitable Giving report. At the same time, both generations spend more than four hours a day on their smartphones, making them the heaviest mobile users as well as the most likely to be smartphone dependent, relying solely on mobile devices for online access.
The enhanced Impactfully mobile app is listed under Foundation Source on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.
FusionIQ
FusionIQ, a leader in the delivery of cloud-based wealth management solutions proudly announces its achievement of SOC 2 Type II compliance, a significant milestone in the company’s ongoing commitment to data security and privacy. This certification demonstrates FusionIQ’s dedication to maintaining the highest standards of security, availability, and confidentiality for customer data, a year after the firm attained SOC 2 Type I certification.
The SOC 2 Type II audit, conducted over an extended period, assesses the operational effectiveness of a company’s security controls. By achieving this certification, FusionIQ has successfully demonstrated that its systems and processes meet the rigorous Trust Services Criteria outlined by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). This framework is designed to ensure the protection of sensitive data from unauthorized access, breaches, and other vulnerabilities.
SOC 2 Compliance is a critical component of modern business operations, addressing the growing threat landscape of data breaches and cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Data breaches in the United States saw a staggering 78% increase in 2023, compared to 2022, according to Identity Theft Resource Center’s Data Breach Report. While SOC 2 Type I reports evaluate controls at a specific point in time, SOC 2 Type II compliance demonstrates that FusionIQ’s controls are effective and consistently maintained, offering ongoing protection.
Integrity Marketing Group
Integrity Marketing Group, LLC (“Integrity”), a leading distributor of life and health insurance, and provider of wealth management and retirement planning solutions, today announced the launch of Ask Integrity™ Shoppers, an innovative enhancement to its revolutionary Integrity AI-powered and voice-activated assistant. In anticipation of a disruptive Medicare Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) that will impact millions of consumers this year, Ask Integrity Shoppers helps agents prioritize and efficiently connect with clients who are most likely to experience change in their coverage. This advancement provides a new industry-leading technology offering for consumer support by anticipating and meeting client needs with simplified processes and highly applicable solutions.
Available exclusively through Integrity’s industry-leading MedicareCENTER in preparation for this AEP, every feature of Ask Integrity Shoppers is designed to help agents deliver the right coverage solutions to consumers at the right time and strengthen client relationships. Ask Integrity Shoppers tags clients who are most likely to shop for a new plan based on factors such as service area reductions or benefit changes. Clients are sorted into levels of urgency, allowing agents to prioritize outreach and quickly connect with those most in need. Resources, including Reminders and Filters, help agents stay organized and move purposefully through each consumer-focused task, while Client Connect allows agents to automate communications to groups of clients experiencing specific disruptions. Consumers and agents will further benefit from Integrity Instant Insights, which contextualizes vital client information and offers in-the-moment prompts that ensure every conversation with consumers is consequential. In addition, the Carrier Storefront makes it easy for agents to navigate carrier plan options for each client based on their current plan. Every agent using Ask Integrity Shoppers will experience a tangible streamlining of their workload — and the consumers they serve will be more likely to enroll in plans that fit their specific needs.
Ask Integrity Shopper tags are powered by industry-leading data from Integrity and its partners, Deft Research and CSG Actuarial, to help agents stay organized and find new opportunities to serve. Together, these leaders are committed to building AI-powered product innovations that leverage the power of the full Integrity Technology platform to create groundbreaking, holistic solutions designed to improve the lives of consumers nationwide.
Intelliflo
intelliflo today announced that Sound Income Strategies has successfully migrated to the cloud-based version of intelliflo redblack, supporting the firm’s significant growth. With intelliflo redblack, Sound Income Strategies can effectively manage its expanding rebalancing and trading needs with efficiency, confidence and ease.
Sound Income Strategies leverages income-generating investment strategies that fit clients’ needs, goals and risk tolerance. Three years ago, the firm selected the sophisticated intelliflo redblack platform to automate and streamline rebalancing and trading. The firm has since doubled in AUM, from $1.6 billion to $3.2 billion. To support this growth and its evolving trading needs, the firm migrated to the cloud-based version of intelliflo redblack earlier this spring, gaining even more robust functionality and scalability.
Over 70 enhancements were introduced to intelliflo redblack over the past 12 months, 72% of which were directly inspired by customer feedback. For example, intelliflo redblack recently launched a compliance rules engine enhancement. This cutting-edge tool – typically reserved for institutional clients – marks a paradigm shift in how RIAs of all sizes can boost efficiencies, manage compliance and better serve clients.
iPipeline
iPipeline, a leading provider of digital solutions for the life insurance and wealth management industries, and Fiduciary Exchange LLC (FIDx), a leading insurance technology provider, today announced an expansion of their relationship to offer wealth management firms and their advisors a more complete experience to help them research, open, and manage their annuity business through a digitized solution.
This announcement deepens the long-standing relationship between iPipeline and FIDx, further integrating iPipeline’s AFFIRM® for Annuities order entry solution with FIDx’s financial management platform, Insurance Exchange. The collaboration drives forward a unified experience that enhances operational efficiency and simplicity for all users.
While FIDx’s Insurance Exchange is platform agnostic, FIDx chose to expand its connection with iPipeline based on its use of ACORD and DTCC industry standards, which simplifies the integration with FIDx’s leading annuity order entry and tracking technology.
Orion
Summitas, the premier digital engagement platform for online wealth management portals, and Orion, the premier provider of transformative wealthtech solutions for advisors, have announced an integration aimed at empowering advisors by enhancing the technological capabilities available to them for digital engagement.
This integration highlights the strengths of both companies—Orion’s comprehensive portfolio management and client experience tools and Summitas’ robust client communication, collaboration, and content management platform. The result is a seamlessly integrated experience that provides summary financial and performance information from Orion via a series of charts, graphs, and tables within Summitas’ Finboard app, which operates within the secure Summitas Platform® environment.
This integration between Orion and Summitas comes at a time when the demand for secure, digital-first client experiences is higher than ever. By leveraging their combined expertise, the two companies aim to help advisors meet and exceed client expectations in an increasingly competitive market.
RISR
RISR, the first comprehensive business owner engagement platform for financial advisors, today announced its partnership with Great Valley Advisor Group (“GVA”), a technology-driven, full-service registered investment advisor (RIA) with $9 billion in assets under management (“AUM”). GVA has officially deployed RISR to its advisors as part of its commitment to driving organic growth and empowering its advisors, particularly those specializing in serving business owners.
This partnership aims to significantly enhance the advisory services offered by GVA by providing its more than 180 advisors across the nation with a powerful tool to better understand and address the needs of their business owner clients. Many business owners grapple with fragmented and disparate data; RISR’s platform offers a solution by bringing clarity to their overall financial plan through organized insights. This enables advisors to deliver targeted insights and engage in more meaningful, impactful conversations with their clients.
The Great Wealth Transfer is already well underway, with retiring business owners expected to sell or bequeath $10 trillion worth of assets over the next two decades. While only 34 percent of them have a documented and communicated succession plan in place, advisors face an urgent need for advanced tools that enable them to effectively serve this demographic. RISR is stepping up to this demand, as evidenced by its most recent partnership with GVA as well as other firms such as Hirtle Callahan, BLB&B and Jacobi Wealth.
Vestmark
Vestmark, Inc., a leading provider of wealth management software and services, announced today a commercial partnership with BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) to enhance custom model portfolio solutions for registered investment advisors (RIAs). By combining Vestmark VAST’s tax management capabilities across equities, ETFs, and separately managed accounts (SMAs) with BlackRock’s extensive custom model portfolio construction capabilities, this partnership empowers financial advisors with the flexibility to offer investment solutions personalized for tax at scale.
Through this partnership, BlackRock will offer its range of standard and RIA custom model portfolios, all managed and rebalanced, through Vestmark’s Manager Marketplace. Vestmark’s platform allows wealth managers to access and deploy a variety of investment strategies available.
An essential component of this partnership is Vestmark’s Unified Managed Account (UMA) platform. This platform integrates the implementation of mutual funds, ETFs, equity separately managed accounts (SMAs), fixed-income SMAs, and alternatives within a single custodian account.
