With wealth management and fintech conferences stacking up, there was a lot of news to sift through this week and there are plenty of headlines below for you to read.
Last week, of course, Nitrogen’s annual Fearless Investing Summit wrapped up—Fearless has become one of the largest and longest-running conferences founded and run by a wealthtech firm, and we have some news announced by Nitrogen for you below. As we’re writing this, Money 20/20, perhaps the largest financial and fintech conference of them all, is in full swing out in Las Vegas, and we’ll likely have a long list of artificial intelligence-related headlines from that desert party later this week. Generative AI, in particular, was announced as a focus for Money 20/20 this year.
Left out of our headline list for this week were announcements from Orion and Advyzon for upcoming conferences. In February both companies will be hosting conferences of their own. Orion Ascent is set to go off in Orlando, Fla. from Feb. 3-6, with keynote speakers including restaurateur Will Guidara and SalesForce’s Tiffani Bova.
Advyzon, which held its inaugural conference this year, will reconvene in Tampa from Feb. 12-14 for its 2025 Advyzon Conference. Entrepreneur Daymond John will top the keynotes for Advyzon, with sessions delivered by the likes of Marie Swift, Joel Bruckenstein and Kelly Waltrich.
We’d also like to shine a light on a little AI news (you’ll get more of that later this week when we turn to AI & Finance). The average wealth management firm is poised to double its annual spending on artificial intelligence over the next three-to-five years, according a survey of 100 wealth management executives from technology provider Wipro. All 100 firms in the survey say they are already implementing AI to some extent, but only 44% claim they are using AI extensively.
In other words, we’ve already stepped over the threshold of revolutionizing wealthtech—and wealth management itself—with artificial intelligence, but there’s still a long, long way to go.
Let’s get to some headlines.
Advyzon
Advyzon Investment Management (AIM), a turnkey asset management program (TAMP) under the umbrella of comprehensive technology platform Advyzon, and Syntax Data, a financial data and technology company that codifies business models into a relational system called Affinity® Data, today announced a partnership that will provide financial advisors with the ability to produce highly customized financial portfolios at scale.
AIM’s indexing capabilities powered by Syntax’s scalable platform offers advisors a comprehensive solution, covering every step of the index development process, integrated directly into Advyzon’s all-in-one platform. Advyzon offers advisors a comprehensive solution that combines portfolio management, customizable performance reporting, trading and rebalancing, client web portals, CRM, client billing, and secure document storage – plus a model marketplace with access to third-party strategists via turnkey asset management with AIM.
Using AIM’s indexing capabilities powered by Syntax Data, a proprietary system that includes accurate product line revenue data for more than 11,000 publicly traded companies, financial advisors can customize benchmark indices or build core, factor, thematic, and/or impact indices from scratch, enabling advisors to tailor investment solutions to match client preferences. Syntax Data’s output includes back-tested performance, detailed statistical analysis, and an institutional-grade methodology document that provides total transparency into the investment process.
Capco
Capco, the global management and technology consultancy, today announced the appointment of Mark DiMaio as Senior Advisor to further accelerate the growth of the company’s Capital Markets and Finance, Risk & Compliance (FRC) practices in the US.
A consulting and financial services veteran with over 35 years of global experience, Mark will develop and support Capco’s sales and strategy for both practices with an emphasis on leveraging his deep and long-standing relationships in the financial services industry.
Mark has built and led professional services advisory businesses and supported a wide range of financial services organizations in the areas of business growth, transformation, cost management, and the implementation of world-class technology solutions. He joins Capco from Pelagic Strategic Partners, a provider of advisory service to global fintech, financial and professional services industries, where he was Senior Advisor and Founder.
Envestnet
Envestnet, a leading provider of integrated technology, data intelligence and wealth solutions—and also one of the largest direct index separately managed account providers—has launched an Options Strategy Quantitative Portfolio (QP) to address the market volatility, tax risk, and liquidity risk associated with concentrated stock positions, and to help advisors and their clients unwind these positions.
Investors may find themselves with concentrated stock positions for a number of reasons, such as an inheritance, a large stock position granted by a company, shares from a business sale, or simply loyalty to a long-term holding. This can expose them to loss if the company underperforms and its stock drops. For investors holding a concentrated position in less liquid or closely held stocks, sometimes selling the position without moving the market or finding buyers can be difficult when trying to exit the position. Furthermore, selling a concentrated position in a stock that has seen strong appreciation may trigger significant taxes. Consequently, many investors will delay or avoid selling to defer taxes leading to a prolonged concentrated position, further exacerbating the risk.
Developed by Envestnet’s quantitative asset management unit, QRG Capital Management, Inc. (QRG), the new strategy offers investors three options-based hedging solutions that can help generate income from and/or mitigate the risk of a concentrated position while spreading out taxable gains over a multi-year time span.
intelliflo redblack
intelliflo redblack today announced the launch of a powerful new wash sale detection capability that allows for the linking of accounts, including separately managed accounts (SMAs) across family members to alert for potential wash sales before they occur. These capabilities are designed to help financial advisors ensure compliance with IRS wash sale rules while maintaining optimal tax management strategies and maximizing cash management benefits for their clients.
The IRS wash sale rule disallows the tax deduction of a loss on a sale of securities if the same or substantially identical security is purchased within 30 days before or after the sale. This rule prevents investors from selling securities at a loss solely for tax advantages and then repurchasing them to maintain their position.
With intelliflo redblack’s latest wash sales detection capability, advisors can now automatically screen for potential wash sales at the position or trade lot level during the rebalancing process. The technology supports a range of account types including SMAs and importantly considers investments held across households and families to flag potential wash sales that occur across multiple accounts. This ensures that tax-sensitive rebalancing and cash management are optimized across the most complex client portfolios. By identifying wash sales early, the platform helps advisors prevent compliance breaches, avoid excessive tax liabilities, and secure tax-loss harvesting opportunities, all while maintaining their clients’ intended asset allocations.
Nitrogen
Nitrogen (formerly Riskalyze), the company revolutionizing how wealth management firms scale the delivery of personalized advice, today unveiled new, advisor-requested features across its risk tolerance, investment research, financial planning, and advisor marketing product suite in a keynote address by CEO Dan Zitting at the Fearless Investing Summit. Leading the product announcements were hotly anticipated tools for breaking down equity exposure within funds and visualizing analytics-rich side-by-side portfolio comparisons.
During the product launch keynote, Nitrogen reiterated its commitment of total flexibility for both individual advisors purchasing its products and for larger teams and enterprise RIAs. Plans for Advisors offer simple access to individual Nitrogen products or full bundles of the entire product suite. Enterprises likewise can build their best-of-breed tech stack, accessing the products they need priced by the volume of accounts in their data feed with unlimited advisors and assistants accessing the system.
The 2024 Fearless Investing Summit featured keynote presentations from NFL star Emmitt Smith and industry leaders Michael Kitces, Joe Duran, Craig Iskowitz, Daniel Crosby, and Samantha Russell. Nitrogen’s Fearless Investing Summit brings together leaders from firms representing thousands of advisors from across the wealth management industry as well as the entire spectrum of supporting wealthtech and asset management. The product launch keynote was the capstone of the annual event that drew attendees from wealth management firms ranging from solo advisors to ensemble practices to scaling mid-market firms to enterprises with 1,000+ advisors.
OneVest
OneVest, a leader in wealth management technology, today announced the launch of its platform capabilities in the United States. The company’s highly configurable platform is designed to empower financial institutions by enabling them to easily tailor and scale their wealth management services, ensuring a more personalized and efficient client experience. Several prominent U.S. financial institutions have already signed on as customers.
OneVest sets a new standard for configurability in the wealth management space, allowing firms to fully customize the digitization of their business needs. This comprehensive system features end-to-end capabilities, including an advisor platform, client portal, portfolio management system, onboarding, custodian integrations, and a full suite of front and middle office tools. Built from the ground up to be modular, firms can fit the features they need into their existing tech ecosystems, or deploy the full platform.
Built with a no-code infrastructure, OneVest’s platform allows firms to quickly configure and deploy digital experiences, providing them with the agility to respond to market changes and evolving client expectations. This capability means firms can create client and advisor experiences that fit their needs without going through the IT complexity.
RISR
RISR, the first comprehensive business owner engagement platform for financial advisors, today announced its partnership with Citadel Wealth Management (“Citadel”), a division of Citadel Credit Union. The collaboration aims to provide Citadel’s advisors with a more robust toolkit for supporting business owners, enabling them to offer more personalized advice and a comprehensive view of their financial situations.
Citadel Credit Union, a member-owned, not-for-profit financial institution serving over 260,000 members, has a rich history of empowering businesses and individuals throughout the Greater Philadelphia area. By adopting RISR’s platform, Citadel builds on its 85-year legacy of delivering financial solutions that build financial strength and foster community growth. This partnership reaffirms Citadel’s commitment to equipping its advisors with the resources they need to better serve business owners who help to foster economic development in the region.
Recent studies have revealed the complex factors influencing how business owners plan for the future—ranging from succession planning and strategic growth to navigating shifting regulatory landscapes and managing family dynamics. By integrating RISR’s platform, Citadel’s advisors can offer business owners a comprehensive set of tools that offer clarity in order to help guide decisions for their financial futures. Further, they will gain the ability to deliver real-time insights into business valuation, financial health, growth opportunities and potential risks.
Savvy Advisors
Savvy Advisors Inc. (herein “Savvy” or “Savvy Advisors” or “the firm”), a registered investment advisor (RIA) affiliated with Savvy Wealth, Inc. (“Savvy Wealth”), today announced the hiring of two experienced wealth managers, Craig Austad, CLU®, CFP®, and Eric S. Passin.
Based in Denver, Colorado, Austad joins Savvy after nearly 30 years in the financial services industry. He has held financial planning-oriented roles at a variety of organizations including Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management where he served clients for 12 years. He is now implementing Savvy Wealth’s technology solutions to power Flourish Financial Partners, his dba brand which was originally founded in 2016. Austad works with clients to build, manage and protect comprehensive financial plans, specializing in retirement income and tax-efficient strategies. Additionally, he provides guidance on late-stage college planning, helping families navigate the complexities of tuition funding, financial aid options and student loan strategies to minimize long-term financial impact.
With nearly 35 years of experience in guiding clients toward their wealth management goals, applying a practical financial planning process, Passin brings a wealth of expertise to Savvy. Based in Denville, New Jersey, he was most recently a wealth advisor at Farther. Throughout his career, Passin has held key positions at some of the industry’s most well-known firms, including TIAA, J.P. Morgan, and Charles Schwab, where he honed his ability to deliver tailored financial strategies for a diverse range of clients. Passin works with a client base primarily aged 60 to 75, helping them navigate key decisions around retirement, income planning, tax optimization and wealth preservation. His goal is to empower clients of all ages with the knowledge they need to confidently secure their financial futures and leave a lasting legacy for subsequent generations.
Stockpile
Stockpile, the pioneering investment platform that made investing accessible to kids and families, today unveiled its newest financial offering: a banking service for families powered by Green Dot’s single-source embedded finance platform. At the heart of this new service is a debit card for kids and the Stockpile Tuition Rewards Program, which can help families reduce future college costs simply by being Stockpile members. The Stockpile Tuition Rewards Program is offered through a partnership between Stockpile and SAGE Scholars Tuition Rewards.
Unlike traditional rewards programs that incentivize spending, Stockpile offers a new approach – kids don’t need to spend money on their cards for families to start accumulating Tuition Rewards points. Instead, the program incentivizes saving and investing, aligning with Stockpile’s philosophy of “Save, Invest, Spend,” in that order.
Families with a Stockpile Family Plus membership ($7.95/month or $69.95/year) can receive debit cards for up to five children. These families can earn up to 4,800 Tuition Rewards points annually with a paid Family Plus membership – each point valued at $1 toward future college tuition discounts at almost 500 participating colleges and universities. Over time, these rewards can make a significant dent in college expenses, with families potentially saving up to 25% off tuition costs.3 Points never expire, and can be transferred to another family member.
TradePMR
TradePMR, a technology and custodial services provider for registered investment advisors (RIAs), today announced the launch of Fusion SYNC, an automated solution for streamlining one of the most common and often daunting tasks for registered investment advisors (RIAs): transitioning to a new custodian. Enabled by artificial intelligence (AI), Fusion SYNC is designed to allow RIA firms to upload their complete client approved information data set and automatically populate it into TradePMR’s Fusion platform. Fusion SYNC also cross checks the data for errors, reducing the need for manual corrections, designed to significantly accelerate the transition process – ultimately expecting to shorten the timeline needed to transition an entire book of business from weeks to, hopefully, just days.
According to Cerullii, 37% of financial advisors – collectively controlling $10.4 trillion or 40% of total industry assets – are expected to retire within the next 10 years. However, 25% of these advisors are unsure of their succession plan, creating what TradePMR believes is a unique opportunity to capture new assets when money changes custodians.
Fusion SYNC demonstrates TradePMR’s leadership as an early adopter of AI among custodial providers, reinforcing its commitment to using new technologies in innovative ways that support independent RIAs rather than compete with them. For advisors considering a new custodian, whether as part of a succession or because of industry consolidation, Fusion SYNC was created to help minimize business disruptions and lessen the impact on end clients.
Uptiq
Uptiq, a leader in AI-driven financial solutions, is proud to announce the launch of its new, vertically integrated Uptiq AI Workbench, designed to transform how banks, credit unions, and wealth management will deliver AI-First experiences to their clients.
Deployed in over 350 financial institutions including large, highly regulated financial services firms such as Focus Financial Partners, UPTIQ AI has processed over $1 billion in loans, proving its reliability and efficiency in the financial services sector.
Specifically, UPTIQ AI brings a library of pre-packaged agents to assist financial advisors and their support staff, loan officers, bankers, credit analysts, underwriters and back-office staff to assist in better client engagement, accessing portfolio and client profiles using natural language, writing deal memos, and automating innumerable tasks. Another salient feature of the UPTIQ platform is that it deploys seamlessly with current workflows and is already integrated with industry leading WealthTech (e.g. Orion) and BankTech platforms (e.g. Alkami, Q2).
Vise
Vise, a technology-powered asset manager that delivers personalized portfolios at scale, announces a partnership with NewEdge Wealth, a Stamford, CT-based firm. This collaboration aims to transform the delivery of personalized, tax-efficient portfolios. NewEdge Wealth is a part of NewEdge Capital Group, which ranked #5 on Barron’s Top 100 RIAs in the US for 2024, and services over $55 billion in client assets as of June 30, 2024. This partnership combines NewEdge’s commitment to institutional-caliber wealth management with Vise’s cutting-edge technology.
This collaboration between Vise and NewEdge Wealth is set to redefine personalized wealth management at scale, seeking to provide better outcomes for clients, empowering advisors with advanced tools, and positioning both companies for continued growth in the evolving landscape of investment management.
Wealth.com
Wealth.com, the industry’s leading end-to-end estate planning platform, today announced it has entered a strategic partnership with Independent Advisor Alliance (IAA), a leading hybrid firm focused on empowering financial advisors to succeed as independent business owners. The partnership will provide IAA’s 225 advisors across 27 states with access to the industry’s most advanced estate planning digital resources, enabling them to elevate and expand their practice. As estate planning becomes an increasingly essential component of comprehensive wealth management services, wealth.com’s innovative and accessible technology will accelerate the opportunity for all IAA advisors.
IAA recently surpassed $18 billion in assets under supervision (AUS) and has been on a steady growth trajectory since its founding in 2013. Along the way, IAA has continually added programs and services to provide its growing network with the guidance and resources they need to run their firms as they see fit. The partnership with wealth.com is reflective of IAA’s commitment to meeting the evolving needs of its advisors. Similarly, wealth.com remains focused on staying ahead of the curve, delivering technology that empowers advisors to better serve their clients.
Wealth.com is the industry’s only complete, end-to-end estate planning solution for financial advisors, offering a full spectrum of services only partially addressed by other providers. Its scalable technology, backed by deep legal expertise, enables advisors to scale their services efficiently across a diverse client base and meet the growing demand for holistic financial planning. The sophisticated yet intuitive platform simplifies the creation of essential documents, including wills, trusts and advanced directives. Moreover, wealth.com’s Family Office Suite™ enhances advisors’ ability to efficiently manage complex estates with features that elevate estate visualization, optimize tax planning and streamline reporting processes—specifically designed for high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients.
Wedbush Securities
Wedbush Securities, a diversified financial services provider, is excited to announce the release of a new suite of highly functional APIs (application programming interfaces) that provide enhanced integration for its clearing clients. These APIs enable clearing clients to easily connect with Wedbush, allowing them to streamline key processes, from onboarding new customers to managing accounts efficiently.
These APIs are live and fully operational, with Wedbush clearing clients currently utilizing them to open and fund customer accounts in a matter of minutes.
Wedbush is a leader in custody, clearing, execution, and settlement. Wedbush possesses extensive industry experience and offers sophisticated, cloud-based technology that enables broker/dealers, advisors, traders, and fintech firms to automate processes, reduce costs, and drive growth. Our suite of cloud-based APIs and real-time solutions ensures seamless integration and a frictionless experience for end users.
Wellesley Hills Financial
Wellesley Hills Financial, a global investment bank and strategic advisory firm, is pleased to announce the addition of two experienced payments and fintech executives to its Executive Advisory team, Michelle Beyo and Onur Haytac.
Beyo is the Founder and CEO of Finavator, a Toronto-based future of finance consultancy with a particular focus on fintech, payments and open finance. She is an Advisory Board Member for multiple fintech companies, Board Member and President of the Open Finance Network Canada (OFNC), and a Money20/20 RiseUp alum. Michelle is a frequent speaker at conferences worldwide including Money 20/20, Fintech Meet-up, Finovate Fall, and London’s Open Banking Expo, and was recently recognized by Wealth & Finance International as Fintech Female Entrepreneur 2024 North America. She is also the creator and host of an impactful six-hour Master Class on the Future of Finance.
Haytac, a successful entrepreneur in the integrated payments space, philanthropist, and fintech investor, was the Founder and CEO of Linga POS, an enterprise-ready, cloud-based business management solution which he sold to PNC in September 2022. Recently, he founded the 2L Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of children through innovative educational and support programs. Haytac serves as the Chair of the Advisory Board of CIS at Florida Gulf University, Board Member of the FGFU Foundation, and Board Member of the Lee Health Foundation for the benefit of Golisano Children’s Hospital.
