This week in Advisor Tech Talk, we’re going to let our wealthtech headlines speak for themselves, and leave it at that.
With conference season in full swing and a lot of people and money in motion, there’s once again been an avalanche of news out of wealth management. Of course, it’s not our job to cover all—or any—of that news in a technology-oriented newsletter, but as we’ve previously noted, when wealth management has a busy news period, the technology tends to follow suit.
There is only one headline we’d like to bring up: Facet, the technology-oriented RIA once known as Facet Wealth, raised another $35 million in funding to further its technology and expand its services.
For those who don’t know, Facet is a flat-fee financial advice platform oriented towards mass-market clients. I’ve written about this company a lot in my prior professional life: Unlike most wealth tech, Facet isn’t purely interested in bringing ultra-high level wealth management to the mass affluent. Facet looks even further down market, attempting to bring some semblance of professional personal wealth management services to people of all stripes.
It all sounds pretty utopian and pie-in-the-sky, and maybe that’s why I stopped writing so much about them. Then, maybe around four or five years ago at my former role, high-level editors were told by a well-respected, credible source in wealth management—one of those names that everyone knows—that Facet had no chance of survival, that the premise it was founded upon was doomed to failure, and that the whole enterprise would collapse within a few years. Maybe we were more inclined to believe that analysis because we felt like Facet’s vision was a little too optimistic.
I can’t tell you today how well Facet is actually doing or how much success they’re finding, but I can tell you this: Not only are they still around, they’re still out there raising money in 2024. And maybe that’s a lesson for all of us: the luminaries we rely on to make sense of what’s happening in wealth management may not always understand the industry’s trajectory, especially as it becomes increasingly disrupted by technology.
Anyway, let’s get to those headlines.
Altoo
Altoo AG, a fintech that empowers investment professionals, family offices, and individual wealthy clients to conveniently oversee their wealth, has today announced a significant upgrade to its mobile app. This enhancement empowers users to make informed financial decisions with greater confidence, while also allowing financial advisors to focus more on client financial goals whenever and wherever needed.
The latest upgrade to Altoo’s mobile app introduces a range of state-of-the-art features designed to enhance the digital wealth management experience. Clients can now seamlessly access their complex portfolios anytime, anywhere, using an intuitive interface.
This upgrade is a key step forward tailoring the Altoo Wealth Platform to the continuously raising needs of today’s sophisticated, well-diversified investors. Altoo’s digital platform collects wealth data from various sources to deliver comprehensive performance analysis and detailed reporting. As a 100% Swiss-developed and hosted SaaS platform, Altoo is known for its modern, secure technology, serving family offices, private individuals, and wealth managers worldwide. For the past five consecutive years, Forbes has named the Altoo Wealth Platform one of the best software solutions for families. Serving clients across 20 countries, the Altoo Wealth Platform also offers exceptional visibility into complex portfolios, empowering advisors to offer more precise, data-driven guidance to wealthy clients.
AnalytixInsight
AnalytixInsight Inc. (“AnalytixInsight”, or the “Company”) (TSX-V: ALY) a data analytics and enterprise software solutions company, is pleased to announce the appointment of a new member to the board of directors, Matthew Bosrock.
Matthew currently serves as the co-founder and Executive Chair of Cloudvisor Wealth, a North America focused wealthtech company targeting the asset and wealth management sectors. For the past six years he has also served as an investor, advisor and operating leader in numerous other fintech firms in NA and Europe. Matthew has a long track record of building and stewarding companies in the financial services and technology space with previous senior roles as Executive Managing Director, S&P Global where he ran APAC and all growth markets and as Deputy CEO and COO of HSBC Bank Canada.
Matthew’s fintech focus the past dozen years has been on delivering next generation, digital solutions to clients in the financial and capital markets sectors with a core thesis of providing greater access and transparency to more participants delivering better outcomes.
Arta Finance
Fast-growing digital wealth management platform Arta Finance today launched globally. Arta’s platform is now open to accredited investors in Singapore and to international investors open to managing their wealth in Singapore – a global wealth hub where an expected 1.6 million non-Singaporeans are expected to manage $4.8 trillion in assets by 2028. The international launch comes after Arta’s successful debut in the US in October 2023, where it has since grown to manage hundreds of millions in assets for thousands of clients.
Arta’s wealth platform offers a curated deal flow that includes private investments from exclusive fund managers, intelligent public market strategies, and innovative structured products, without the sales pressure, opaque pricing and manual processes found in many other financial institutions. Arta’s designed-in-Singapore product has various unique features, including support for philanthropic giving in partnership with Co-Axis – a Temasek Trust initiative, a Founding Member community, and even a Singlish setting in its AI Copilot.
Arta also launched the first-of-its-kind AI Copilot, purpose-built for wealth management and finance. This patent-pending technology, rolling out progressively to members will empower them to make smarter investment decisions – ideate, analyse, and monitor their portfolios with the tools and insights that usually require large teams of relationship managers, private bankers, and investment analysts.
Arta Finance
Arta Finance, a digital wealth management platform and SEC registered investment advisor, today announced its approval as a Managed Separate Accounts (MSA) investment manager for PruLife Private Placement Variable Universal Life (PPVUL) policies. This approval marks a major milestone in Arta’s mission to streamline the process for high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth members to access life insurance solutions for estate and tax planning.
Arta’s wealth management platform offers the flexibility to invest across asset classes and its technology solves pain points around reporting and investment choices, complemented by a team of highly experienced investment and insurance professionals. Instead of the traditional model of working with a range of firms and experts to structure a PPVUL policy and manage its investments, Arta’s vertically integrated model allows policyholders to manage the process with a single firm, partnering with leading insurance companies such as Prudential Financial as the policy issuer.
Arta offers the full range of life insurance solutions and has secured nearly $150 million in life insurance coverage since launching its insurance offering in 2023. It is a full service insurance brokerage, helping members understand their protection needs, availability of suitable products, and giving them access to a variety of solutions from more than 30 life insurers across the United States. Unlike most insurance agencies, Arta’s insurance team is not compensated on commission and the firm does not have volume-based deals with insurers, helping minimize conflicts of interest typical to the insurance distribution model.
Arta Finance
Arta today also took a major step on its B2B journey with the announcement that Abu Dhabi’s Wio Invest would be the first of many to integrate the Arta wealth-as-a-service platform into their digital platform, to create a new wealth management offering for its clients in the Middle East, pending regulatory approval. Wio Invest, a forward-thinking Middle Eastern fintech, is regulated by the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) and backed by Abu Dhabi Development Company (ADQ), a prominent institution.
Arta’s wealth platform offers a curated deal flow that includes private investments from exclusive fund managers, intelligent public market strategies, and innovative structured products, without the sales pressure, opaque pricing and manual processes found in many other financial institutions.
BetaNXT
BetaNXT, a provider of wealth management infrastructure solutions with real-time data capabilities and an enhanced advisor experience, has unveiled a suite of capabilities designed to address the complexities and demands of today’s corporate actions landscape. Leveraging the DataXChange platform and BetaNXT’s investor communications, securities processing, and tax and cost basis accounting services, the comprehensive approach automates and streamlines the complex processes associated with corporate actions, providing modular functionality tailored to the unique needs of retail and advisor-based financial institutions.
BetaNXT modernizes the entire corporate actions lifecycle, from announcement and notification through election, settlement, and tax and cost-basis reporting. It automates processes, reducing the need for manual intervention and provides real-time updates, decreasing operational risks.
It enhances communication. Omnichannel distribution ensures timely, accurate information for all stakeholders. It seamlessly integrates with existing systems and minimizes disruption, enhancing operational efficiency from day one. It provides audit trails, real-time compliance monitoring, and customizable reporting. Its scalable architecture grows alongside the business, handling increasing volumes of transactions and more complex corporate actions.
Broadridge Financial Solutions
Americas Executions (AmerX), a full-service broker-dealer, implements technology platform Securities Finance and Collateral Management (SFCM) from global fintech leader Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: BR) to drive growth for its newly launched securities lending business.
Broadridge’s SFCM platform will enable AmerX to efficiently manage its securities lending operations, including collateral management, trade lifecycle management and risk assessment, which will ensure a streamlined process, enhance transparency, as well as compliance with regulatory requirements.
Changes in the securities finance landscape are motivating banks, broker-dealers and start-up firms to shift from fully disclosed to self-clearing models, while introducing new products to diversify revenue streams and meet the evolving needs of an expanding investor base. Broadridge’s SFCM platform is designed to streamline workflows, enhance efficiency and offer pricing flexibility along with essential system functionalities.
CapIntel
CapIntel, a leading proposal generation and client engagement platform, and FactSet, a global financial digital platform and enterprise solutions provider, have entered a strategic partnership to enhance the wealth management experience. Within the FactSet Workstation, advisors can now create and share CapIntel’s digital, compliant, and personalized proposals for a seamless workflow and user experience.
FactSet’s thorough analytics offerings combined with CapIntel’s comprehensive and engaging investment presentations will help drive meaningful conversations that build investor trust and satisfaction throughout all stages of the client lifecycle.
In today’s competitive wealth management landscape, advisors must demonstrate they understand each client’s unique situation, goals, and preferences. According to CapIntel’s 2024 Investor Engagement Report, 65% of investors say this level of personalized service is why they continue to work with their advisor. To satisfy client needs, firms must focus on client engagement and create personalized experiences at scale.
Communify Fincentric
Communify Fincentric, a leader in unifying market and client data through best-in-class digital solutions for the financial sector, today announces the launch of a next generation suite of sophisticated client and advisor experiences for wealth management. Born in the era of AI, and leveraging Communify Fincentric’s mature and extensive knowledge base, the flexible platform powers solutions that provide unprecedented access to information, personalization and automation for advisors – strengthening their ability to service their clients and drive growth at scale.
At the core of Communify Fincentric’s new client and advisor experiences is MINDTM– Market Intelligent News Discovery. This is a proprietary collection of smart applications that transform large data knowledge bases into intelligent insights using deterministic AI. In stark contrast to probabilistic AI, in which outcomes can vary massively and suffer from hallucinations, MIND insights are precise, accurate and therefore can be trusted by investors and advisors – and compliance. MIND delivers hyper-personalized insights in sub-seconds that contain reliable, relevant information (through video, text and more). With over 140 established event triggers based on real-time data, 1500+ models and a suite of useable apps, MIND provides advisors with the tools to deepen client relationships and streamline workflows.
Communify Fincentric’s MIND has the advantage of a proven track record – being used by many of the largest wealth management platforms in North America, for several years behind the scenes every day.
Conquest Planning
Conquest Planning Inc. (“Conquest”), a technology platform modernizing financial planning with customized and convenient advice, today announced its partnership with FÉRIQUE Investment Services (“FÉRIQUE”), a financial firm that offers a range of investment products and services tailored to meet the needs of professionals in Quebec’s engineering community. This collaboration aims to strengthen FÉRIQUE’s client outcomes by integrating its investment expertise with Conquest’s artificial intelligence (AI)-powered technology platform that enables personalized and better refined financial advice.
Conquest’s platform is designed to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of human financial advice with features that include goal-based financial planning, sophisticated modeling tools and a collaborative client interface. By integrating various data sources and leveraging advanced analytics, Conquest facilitates the creation of detailed, customized financial strategies that are suited to the unique needs of individual investors and families. Its intuitive design streamlines the planning process, helping FÉRIQUE’s financial professionals to provide personalized advice and manage client relationships more effectively. With a focus on innovation, Conquest empowers advisors to offer high-quality, client-centric service while optimizing their operational workflows.
Financial professionals from the FÉRIQUE Investment Services team can now utilize Conquest’s Strategic Advice Manager (SAM) to streamline financial planning workflows, boost productivity and improve client service. Powered by AI, SAM enables FÉRIQUE’s advisors and mutual fund representatives to analyze and build financial plans tailored to each client’s unique situation. This allows for the rapid development of flexible, personalized plans that adapt seamlessly to clients’ changing life circumstances, priorities and risk tolerances.
Datalign Advisory
Datalign Advisory (“Datalign”), an AI-enhanced platform that matches consumers with leading financial advisors, today announced its early compliance with new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations concerning automatic telephone dialing systems (ATDS) and artificial or pre-recorded voice technology.
The new FCC rules, introduced in December 2023, require companies to obtain one-to-one express written consent before contacting consumers through phone or text messaging. These regulations are set to take effect on January 27, 2025. However as of August 28, 2024, Datalign has implemented the necessary changes, ensuring its RIA clients are well positioned to be compliant with the FCC regulation and protected well ahead of the deadline.
Key points of Datalign’s compliance include implementation of a new consent process that explicitly names the specific advisory firm before matching a prospect with a firm, provision of clear opt-in language on a page with visible contact information, and enhanced record-keeping for auditability, including specific opt-in language in individual lead reports.
Docupace
Docupace, the trailblazer in back-office automation software for wealth management enterprises, proudly announces the launch of its next-generation user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) initiative – a leap forward designed to turbocharge productivity, fuel adoption and supercharge scalability.
The Docupace platform is much more than document management software. Registered investment advisors (RIAs), banks, broker-dealers, turn-key asset management platforms (TAMPS), insurance companies and wealth managers use the platform to open new client accounts, manage workflows and documents, integrate systems, fulfill compliance and regulatory requirements, connect to custodians and more.
This re-engineered interface isn’t just about looks—it’s about results. With a modern, intuitive design and power-packed functionality, the revamped Docupace platform puts users in the driver’s seat, streamlining workflows and unleashing efficiency. Users can expect intuitive navigation, one-click access to key features, and an experience that blends familiarity with excitement.
Envestnet
Attracting and retaining high-net-worth (HNW) investors as lifelong clients is a critical focus for many financial advisors, yet the path to successfully engaging this lucrative client segment remains complex. Envestnet’s latest research sheds light on the strategies and solutions that can help advisors better serve HNW clients and grow their practices. According to Envestnet’s 2024 Advisor Perspectives Survey1, nearly one-third of advisors are set to enhance their focus on services tailored for HNW or ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) clients. This number rises to 40% among firms managing over $500 million in assets.
To support the evolving needs of advisors, Envestnet has expanded its national distribution efforts within its Private Wealth Consulting business by 50%. The geographically dispersed Envestnet Advisor Sales and Wealth Consulting team is focused on supporting HNW advisor business growth by providing the technology tools and wealth solutions they need to attract and retain HNW investors. Through holistic advice and personalized services on Envestnet’s flexible and integrated wealth management platform – advisors can access advanced HNW solutions including tax overlay; UMA-eligible direct index solutions; alternatives, options and structured investments.
Further, with more advisors considering ways to incorporate greater customization within their HNW portfolios, Envestnet is enhancing its product and technology offering with solutions like direct indexing and tax overlay capabilities, to help advisors better personalize their portfolio management services. To deliver these custom solutions, the expanded distribution team can offer white glove, private wealth consulting for accounts over $1M, designed to meet an individual investor’s specific needs.
Facet
Facet, the fintech company that is building the future of financial planning, today announced it has raised an additional $35 million in new financing. The round was led by Multiplier Capital, a leading provider of flexible financing solutions.
Recently named to the Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing private companies for a second time, Facet is redefining financial planning by providing affordable, accessible and unbiased advice to those often overlooked by traditional financial services firms. To date, this approach has attracted over 14,000 households nationwide who rely on Facet for expert guidance. The latest funding will be directed towards advancing key initiatives, including further tech development and expanded financial planning services, all aimed at accelerating growth and improving the overall member experience.
Since its founding in 2016, Facet has raised approximately $210 million in funding. Its tech-driven platform offers tailored financial advice for every aspect of life, all at an affordable flat membership fee. This innovative model has earned Facet various accolades, including recognition in Real Simple’s 2023 Money Awards, NerdWallet’s “Best Online Financial Planning Service” and TIME’s, Time Stamped Best Financial Advisors in 2024.
Farther
Farther, the leading technology-centric financial advisory firm, closed a $72 million Series C funding round to expand its advisor network and enhance its wealth management platform. Co-led by CapitalG, the independent growth fund of Alphabet (Google’s parent company), and Viewpoint Ventures, this funding round elevates Farther’s post-money valuation to $542 million.
The funding comes as Farther surpasses $5 billion in assets under management (AUM), a milestone that reflects 5x year-over-year growth. This success underscores the power of Farther’s proprietary, custom-built technology – which drives operational efficiencies, boosts advisor productivity and payouts, and accelerates asset growth.
Seasoned advisors are drawn to Farther’s cutting-edge technology, white-glove support, and advisor-first culture. Farther’s technology enables advisors to dedicate 90% of their time to client interactions and prospecting – 4x more than is typical. That helps them simultaneously grow their books of business faster and deliver more for their clients. Free from mandatory minimums and non-compete agreements, advisors are empowered to build client bases that align with their personal goals, backed by a transparent payout structure and equity in the firm.
FusionIQ
FusionIQ, a leader in the delivery of cloud-based wealth management solutions, today announced the launch of the next stage of its growth strategy with the appointment of Eric Noll as Chief Executive Officer and the successful completion of a significant new fundraising round. Mr. Noll’s appointment is effective today.
The leadership transition and fundraising completion position FusionIQ for accelerated growth and further success in transforming how financial advisory firms and institutions utilize the award-winning FusionIQ One platform and the suite of products it powers. Mr. Noll brings an extensive track record of financial services leadership across organic and M&A-based strategy, technology, and GRC (governance, risk, and compliance) and continues to hold various leadership roles within industry organizations.
FusionIQ also announced the selection of its new board of directors: Eric Noll as chairman, and new directors Erik Oros, Timothy Powers, and Scott Ganeles. Erik Oros is the Chief Investment Officer at Gideon Strategic Partners and a former managing partner at Actinium Capital. Timothy Powers is the CEO of OakRidge Management Group, a multi-family office, and a former executive director at JP Morgan. Scott Ganeles is the CEO at iAltA and serves on the Board of Directors at Tradeweb. Most recently, Scott was a Senior Partner at Westcap and has founded two fintech companies, the Carson Group and i-Deal, both of which had successful exits.
iCapital
iCapital, the global fintech platform driving the world’s alternative investment marketplace for the wealth management industry, announced the launch of iCapital’s Multi-Investment Workflow tool. Available to more than 100,000 wealth managers on iCapital Marketplace, this innovative tool streamlines the investing experience by allowing financial advisors to process multiple alternative investments in a single, unified workflow.
With efficiency and ease at its core, Multi-Investment Workflow is part of iCapital’s effort to simplify the end-to-end investment experience for advisors seeking to add alternative investments to bespoke client investment portfolios. The functionality, which notably reduces the complexity and multi-step process of investing in alternatives for the advisor and investor, includes unified trade orders across multiple investment products, intelligent automation, one-stop e-signature solutions, and consolidated client communications. The tool can be leveraged with iCapital Model Portfolios, when processing multiple subscriptions from a menu of funds on iCapital Marketplace, or when adding alternatives to clients’ portfolios.
iCapital Model Portfolios allow advisors to run an analysis via iCapital’s portfolio construction tool, Architect, to easily evaluate the impact of incorporating alternative investments alongside traditional portfolio holdings. They assist with asset allocation within alternative investments and identify established products that fit those allocations. Developed using quantitative analysis by iCapital’s Research & Due diligence team, the Model Portfolios suite offers a comprehensive and flexible way for financial advisors to include these investments in their practice.
iCapital
iCapital announced that it has surpassed US$200 billion in global platform assets. Increased global client demand for high-quality private market funds has led to this milestone and accelerated the growth of client assets on iCapital’s platform.
This demand highlights the industry’s commitment to private market strategies and the strong partnerships iCapital has built with leading global investment firms within the alternatives ecosystem to ensure a superior client experience. The integration of iCapital’s technology platform, operating system, and data solutions helps advisors and their clients navigate the complexities of alternative investments.
Lighthouse Wealth Tech Labs
In a landmark move to transform the wealth management industry, Lighthouse Wealth Tech Labs (Lighthouse), a new solutions incubator by the founders of Beacon Strategies, LLC (Beacon), a business conduit that brings wealth and solution provider firms together to address long-standing business problems announces its partnership with Surge Ventures, a premier SaaS venture studio. This collaboration marks the launch of a revolutionary initiative designed to address the growing needs of wealth management firms by harnessing cutting-edge technology and innovative solutions.
Lighthouse Wealth Tech Labs is dedicated to solving the complex and high-value challenges that limit financial professionals’ ability to build and scale their practices. By better-integrating technology and business processes, Lighthouse delivers seamless plug-and-play solutions that enable financial professionals to grow their businesses and focus on client relationships. Lighthouse collaborates closely with industry partners to create solutions that integrate standard and proprietary business flows to deliver better outcomes.
Surge Ventures, under the leadership of Sid Yenamandra, recently launched Surge Labs, an incubator program designed to empower early-stage wealth tech startups. Surge Labs provides a wealth of resources, mentorship, and access to investors, giving startups the foundation to develop game-changing technologies. With this partnership, Lighthouse will tap into Surge Labs’ ecosystem to bring transformative tools to the wealth management space.
Mako Fintech
Mako Fintech, a leading wealth tech company, is announcing its digital onboarding platform is now available on the Fidelity Clearing Canada (FCC) platform. Combining Mako’s SaaS platform —— and FCC’s tech-driven custody and clearing services creates a powerful, integrated system for advisors to open new accounts, improve client experience, and grow their asset base.
Complementing FCC’s services with Mako, portfolio managers and financial advisors can stay focused on advising their clients and growing their wealth while providing a superior onboarding experience, whether in-person or remote while leveraging the strengths of both Mako and FCC.
Based on its founding team’s experience building custom onboarding experiences, Mako’s core technology is centered around delivering every firm a bespoke system for its own regulatory regime, operational environment, and approach to wealth management. Mako’s low-code architecture allows for a quick implementation process and robust customization options.
Neo Financial
Neo Financial is proud to announce a new partnership with CI Financial Corp. (TSX: CIX) to launch a new suite of everyday deposit2 and credit products, bringing together CI Financial’s expertise in wealth management and Neo Financial’s cutting-edge financial technology. The partnership will introduce a new range of financial products designed to deliver a seamless, integrated financial experience to clients of CI Financial’s Canadian wealth management businesses (collectively, “CI Wealth3”), empowering them to easily manage their wealth and everyday financial needs with ease.
CI Wealth3 clients will benefit from Neo’s advanced technology, which offers streamlined applications and seamless, instant transfers between deposit2 and investment4 accounts, all within a single, easy-to-use platform. Additionally, they can enjoy enhanced cashback5 rewards through Neo’s unique card program, with rewards linked to deposit2 balances, and access to Neo’s vast network of over 11,000 cashback partners – maximizing the overall value of their financial experience.
Through this partnership, Neo Financial clients will also gain access to in-person financial advisory services and CI Wealth’s leading wealth management platform, broadening the range of wealth and investment options available to them.
Opto Investments
EP Wealth Advisors (“EP Wealth”), a leading independent registered investment adviser (“RIA”) with an expanding national presence and client base, today announced its strategic partnership with Opto Investments (“Opto”), the technology-enabled solution expanding private markets access for independent investment advisors. This partnership will bolster EP Wealth’s ability to provide clients with a scalable, digital-forward solution comprised of high-quality private markets opportunities with flexible investment options.
Traditional portfolios consisting of stocks and bonds can be limiting for high-net-worth (“HNW”) and ultra-high-net-worth (“UHNW”) clients. To help these clients better meet their long-term growth and income goals, and enhance portfolio diversification, EP Wealth is building a new private markets program. While access to private markets has improved in recent years, investing in these asset classes comes with challenges, including high costs and operational and administrative complexities. Opto’s end-to-end platform directly addresses these challenges and enables advisors to construct differentiated portfolios with the potential for higher returns and lower volatility.
EP Wealth will be leveraging Opto’s custom funds offering to address the individual needs of their HNW and UHNW clients. With a comprehensive due diligence process that provides a carefully curated selection of private markets opportunities, custom funds enable EP Wealth to craft bespoke strategies that closely align with their clients’ goals and risk preferences. These customized strategies help to provide institutional-level investments at scale while aiming to eliminate unnecessary fees, minimize excess liquidity, and diversify exposure across vintages and managers.
Planto
Planto, a leading digital banking solution provider headquartered in Hong Kong, has partnered with Citibank HK to launch Wealth 360 within the Citi Mobile® App, a pioneering digital wealth management feature on the Citi Mobile® App. This new offering provides Citi’s customers with a next-generation personal financial management (PFM) experience, including sustainability insights and advanced customer intelligence features.
Integrating Doconomy’s award-winning carbon footprint measurement technology alongside Planto’s advanced AI-driven data enrichment capabilities, Wealth 360 delivers a variety of smart banking tools and personalized insights to help Citi customers better manage their finances and their environmental impact. These include cash flow analysis, spending reports, sustainability insights and over 20 other financial insights and recommendations tailored to each user’s data.
Going forward, the Wealth 360 experience will seamlessly incorporate data through the Interbank Account Data Sharing (IADS) pilot program introduced by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) allowing Citi customers to view and manage their finances across multiple bank accounts in one place.
SMArtX Advisory Solutions
SMArtX Advisory Solutions, an innovator in managed accounts technology, today announced that Allspring Global Investments has joined the manager-sponsored platform known as SMArtY. This partnership brings Allspring’s direct indexing capabilities to the platform, further expanding its suite of leading investment solutions.
Allspring, a highly regarded asset management firm, will now offer its innovative, tax-advantaged, personalized separately managed accounts (SMAs) through SMArtY.
SMArtY is a manager-sponsored wealth management platform that grants access to some of the world’s largest and most reputable asset managers’ model portfolios, along with a full set of award-winning investment tools, all powered by SMArtX Advisory Solutions’ managed accounts technology.
SUMA Wealth
In celebration of Hispanic Heritage month, SUMA Wealth, the fastest-growing financial technology company devoted to increasing prosperity for young U.S. Latinos and their families, and Wells Fargo today announced the launch of the Jefa Business Bootcamp, an educational program designed to provide Latina entrepreneurs with the tools and resources they need to build and grow successful businesses.
‘Jefa’ translated means ‘girl boss’ in Spanish, and through the Jefa Business Bootcamp, SUMA Wealth is continuing its mission to support Latinos to truly take charge of their entrepreneurial journey. Latino- and Latina-owned businesses represent the fastest-growing demographic in the U.S. business ecosystem, growing revenues and creating jobs for all Americans, according to the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Despite this, Latina women founders receive under a tenth of a percent of VC funding. The Jefa Business Bootcamp aims to close this gap by supporting female entrepreneurs at all stages—whether they’re launching a new idea or seeking strategies to scale and grow an existing business.
The free program consists of 12 on-demand modules, inspired by Ashley K. Stoyanov Ojeda’s acclaimed book, Jefa in Training. An English version of the program launched earlier this month, attracting thousands of participants. Due to high demand, a Spanish version will also be launching in October. Participants will also have access to weekly office hours from October 7th to December 11th, where they can receive live guidance from experts. Upon completing the course, graduates will earn a college-endorsed certificate from Arizona State University.
Surfin
Surfin, a financial technology platform dedicated to serving the underserved middle class, has raised $12.5 million from Insignia Ventures Partners. This funding round comes as Surfin announces its service to 60 million individuals across eight countries on three continents, with approximately $2.7 billion in cumulative transactions.
Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Singapore, Surfin began with consumer lending and expanded into a suite of financial services including payments and remittance, credit card issuance, and wealth management. Leveraging AI and analytics, Surfin is committed to offering an ecosystem of transparent and innovative financial services to the growing middle class that is often overlooked by traditional banking systems.
The company has a significant presence in Indonesia, Mexico, Philippines, Nigeria, Kenya, India, Uganda, and Australia. In Indonesia, its largest market, Surfin holds licenses for P2P lending, mutual fund distribution, remittance, and payment gateway services.
TIFIN AG
TIFIN AG, a leading provider of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) solutions for the wealth management industry, is excited to announce a strategic partnership with GenWealth Financial Advisors, LLC (GenWealth), a leading wealth manager in Arkansas and Louisiana.
TIFIN AG aims to deliver AI-powered insights and intelligence to accelerate organic growth at GenWealth by equipping advisors with new opportunities integrated directly into their CRM. This collaboration will leverage TIFIN AG’s advanced AI/ML models to address the challenges of expanding existing client business, and identifying and converting new prospects into loyal clients.
Over the past 12 months, the efficacy of TIFIN AG’s models have yielded results showing that prospects scoring in the top twenty-five percent are six times more likely to convert to clients, and existing clients are 17 times more likely to consolidate assets. This showcases the strength of TIFIN AG’s data science capabilities. This partnership aims to replicate and exceed these results for GenWealth. The solutions deployed at GenWealth are some of the many personalized models that TIFIN AG offers as part of its comprehensive growth platform.
TradePMR
TradePMR, a technology and custodial services provider for registered investment advisors (RIAs), today announced new enhancements to its account-opening capabilities aimed at streamlining the new client onboarding process. The latest enhancements allow advisors to add multiple account applications and advisor documents simultaneously, while seamlessly integrating with existing customer relationship management (CRM) records within the highly rated Fusion platform. The result is a more efficient and less cumbersome account-opening experience for advisors and clients alike.
The updates to TradePMR’s platform include automatic population of account applications using client data from the CRM, minimizing manual entry and saving time. Advisors can now bundle multiple household accounts into a single DocuSign envelope, and all advisor documents are automatically included in the account opening process. Additionally, the platform’s parallel signing feature enables multiple parties to add signatures simultaneously, further speeding the process and enhancing client satisfaction.
The onboarding journey is a continuing focus at TradePMR. Within the last two years, the firm has upgraded its platform with new branding and personalization features, enhanced its two-factor authentication (2FA) options and further modernized the user experience. The new features have been well received by early-adopter advisors, and TradePMR continues to receive recognition for its technology and service offerings. Most recently, consulting firm The Oasis Group recognized TradePMR for its robust digital account opening capabilities within the Fusion platform and its high satisfaction ratings for advisor service.1
Wave Digital Assets
Wave Digital Assets (Wave), the SEC-registered digital asset investment management company, is pleased to announce the appointment of Jim Robnett as Chief of Government Operations. This new position will be key to Wave’s move into working with the public sector on managing the digital currency components of seized assets, a move that adds to Wave’s existing work providing a combination of venture capital, fund, and private wealth management services for digital assets.
Mr. Robnett, a distinguished Senior Executive Service member, concluded a notable career in federal law enforcement in 2022 as Deputy Chief of Criminal Investigation for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In this capacity, he oversaw a global team of over 3,000 employees, including approximately 2,100 special agents across 21 field offices and 11 countries. His team investigated a wide array of complex crimes, including tax evasion, money laundering, public corruption, cybercrime, identity theft, narcotics trafficking, and terrorist financing. CI Special Agents are recognized as premier financial investigators, equipped with specialized skills to navigate intricate financial records and utilize forensic accounting tools to support rigorous criminal prosecutions.
Throughout his career, Mr. Robnett conducted significant criminal investigations in various leadership roles, serving as Special Agent in Charge in Tampa, Chicago, and New York, before advancing to Director of Field Operations and ultimately becoming Deputy Chief of CI.
Wealth Access
Wealth Access, the leading technology provider in wealth data, is proud to announce its enhanced solutions designed to transform the banking industry: One Wealth, One Bank, One Data, powered by Integration Hub. This innovative offering empowers banks and credit unions to unlock significant revenue opportunities by tapping into wealth management services, driving growth, and enhancing digital banking experiences.
Traditionally, wealth is treated as an afterthought by many banks, relegated to a minor line item in financial reports. Estimated between 5-7%, only a small portion of bank clients are also wealth management clients. Wealth Access aims to change this dynamic, showing the critical importance of wealth management to the future of banking. By harnessing centralized data through their One Wealth, One Bank, One Data solution, banks can double their wealth revenue and tap into a largely underutilized customer segment.
Insights from the 2024 Wealth Access Executive Summit strongly highlight the importance of wealth management in achieving revenue goals. As banks compete in a landscape shaped by rising customer expectations for digital banking experiences akin to Amazon, wealth management emerges as a crucial but untapped market.
Westaim
CC Capital, a private investment firm focused on investing in and operating high-quality businesses for the long term, and The Westaim Corporation (“Westaim”) (TSXV: WED) today announced the creation of an integrated insurance and asset management platform through the strategic combination of:
Westaim, an investment company specializing in providing long-term capital to financial services businesses; Arena Investors, LP (“Arena”), a global institutional asset manager with approximately USD $3.5 billion of invested and committed assets under management; and Ceres Life Insurance Company (“Ceres Life”), a cloud-native, highly scalable annuity platform. Ceres Life has been incubated by CC Capital and will be led by Deanna Mulligan, former CEO and Chair of Guardian Life Insurance, a Fortune 300 company and one of the largest life and annuities insurance companies in the U.S.
The strategic combination, fueled by CC Capital’s investment and expertise, will transform Westaim into an integrated insurance and asset management platform, with a growing and diversified credit manager and an advantaged, tech-enabled insurance carrier that is expected to provide competitively priced fixed income and multi-year guarantee annuity products to policyholders and drive strong and sustainable value creation for Westaim shareholders. The transaction is expected to provide Arena with long-dated insurance assets and better position Arena to increase its third-party assets under management (AUM), creating a path to a potential USD $10 billion of AUM with just the existing equity capital base. Ceres Life will continue to develop its advanced technology platform and invest in enhanced distribution and service offerings to bring compelling annuities products to customers. As part of a combined platform, these businesses are expected to generate a powerful value creation flywheel, driving continued growth and stability of both the insurance and asset management businesses.
