Category Archives: WealthTech

Adapting To Change With Fidelity Investments’ Amanda Robinson and Bill Spera

Finance, Investing, Technology, Wealth Management, WealthManagement.com, WealthTech, WealthTech Winners Circle, , , , , , , , ,

The needs and demands of younger generations of clients are changing dramatically, and advisors are going to have to change and evolve with them. And adapting to prospect and client expectations will change how financial advisors market their services as well.

In this episode, Davis Janowski, senior technology editor at WealthManagement.com is joined by Amanda Robinson, director of model portfolios business development and Bill Spera, director of market research at Fidelity Investments. They discuss what Fidelity research has shown are some of the key differences between Gen X, Y and Z expectations as compared to their Boomer forbearers. The firm also discusses some significant recent shifts in outsourcing trends among advisors, from technology to asset management.

In this episode, you will learn:

  • Some of the challenges advisors face in today’s market
  • What different generations are looking for from their advisor
  • How technology changes the way advisors market to and interact with clients
  • How advisors’ views on outsourcing have changed over the last few years.

Resources: WealthManagement.com | Fidelity Investments | Amanda Robinson | Bill Spera

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A Look Into 2022 for Financial Advisors with John Pierce of Cetera

Finance, Investing, Technology, Wealth Management, WealthManagement.com, WealthTech, WealthTech Winners Circle, , , , , , , ,

As we approach the new year, many firms are both taking a look back and leaning into the future and setting plans for 2022. 

In this episode, Davis Janowski, senior technology editor at WealthManagement.com is joined by John Pierce, head of business development at Cetera Financial Group to talk about what his firm is doing on many fronts to both help advisors grow and assist them in their work with clients to establish the best version of their own financial wellbeing. 

In this episode, you will learn:

  • About some of the many challenges Cetera is striving to solve for advisors 
  • Cetera’s focus on a more diverse and female workforce 
  • Three key trends John Pierce sees in the advisor industry 
  • Initiatives and strategic planning steps Cetera will undertake in 2022 
  • How Cetera is advancing technology for advisors 
  • Challenges in the industry and how it is addressing the skillset scarcity within the advisor industry. 

Resources: WealthManagement.com | Cetera.com | John Pierce

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The Tools Of The Trade with Kristi Rodriguez and John Carter

Finance, Investing, Technology, Wealth Management, WealthManagement.com, WealthTech, WealthTech Winners Circle, , , , , ,

A financial advisor’s toolkit should consist of two parts: the tools to build a client’s optimal financial plan and the empathy to relate to the client’s wishes, both in and outside of the office.

In this episode, David Armstrong is joined by Kristi Rodriguez, SVP of Nationwide Retirement Institute and John Carter, president of Nationwide Financial. Kristi and John discuss how advisors can provide additional value to their clients through diverse markets and with a sense of empathy for their needs and wishes.

In this episode, you will learn:

  • The challenges advisors face when it comes to providing optimal value to their clients
  • The importance of focusing on the client’s needs throughout the planning process
  • How bringing new minds to the industry will open up new markets

Resources: WealthManagement.com | Nationwide Retirement Institute | Kristi Rodriguez |  Nationwide Financial | John Carter

 

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The Virtual Connection with Shannon Spotswood

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The past year and a half has taught us that virtual platforms need to be available for advisors to stay in contact with their clients. How can advisors leverage new technology to create the optimal client experience?

In this episode, David Armstrong is joined by Shannon Spotswood, president of RFG Advisory, a two-time finalists for the non-custodial RIA support platform at the Wealth Management Industry Awards. Shannon discusses how technology changed the way advisors interact with clients and the future of advisory platforms.

In this episode, you will learn:

  • Why RFG Advisory decided, six years ago, to tear the RIA support platform apart and rebuild from the ground up around the needs to the modern financial advisor.
  • What kind of advisor best fits with the RFG Advisory service model, and how advisors on the platform are growing three times faster than the national average.  
  • RFG’s virtual assistant program and other new initiatives for their advisors

Resources: WealthManagement.com | Shannon Spotswood | RFG Advisory

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Succession Planning with Key Family Wealth Management’s Jeff Getty

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There are approximately 390,000 businesses in the U.S. with under $100 million in enterprise value, and some 65% of those closely held firms are expected to change hands in the next ten years, passing from baby boomer owners and entrepreneurs to the next generation of owners.

In this episode, David Armstrong is joined by Jeffrey Getty, an advisor for Key Banks Family Wealth Consulting Team and 2021 Industry Award winner for their business advisory services initiative at family offices.

In this episode, you will learn:

  • Common mistakes made by business owners when preparing for succession
  • Why only a handful of these smaller business transactions take place at full market valuations – and why business owners are often OK with that outcome (often, other considerations become more important for owners than getting top dollar.)
  • The importance of laying the groundwork early for business-owner clients to prepare for a succession.
  • The importance of considering family dynamics when planning a client’s business transition. 

Resources: WealthManagement.com | Key Family Wealth Management | LinkedIn: Jeffrey Getty

 

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The Future Of Technology Is Now with Jack Swift

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Personalization and artificial intelligence are buzzwords advisors are hearing all the time these days but few have real access to either.

In this episode, Wealth Management Senior Technology Editor Davis Janowski  is joined by Jack Swift, senior partner and president of The TIFIN Group. Jack dives into financial technology and artificial intelligence, detailing how the nine business units in the group use machine learning, natural language processing, semantic search and other technologies to provide personalization to financial advisors and their clients.

In this episode, you will learn:

  • How The TIFIN Group’s nine business units and their applications apply emerging technology to provide personalized data about clients and their investments to advisors
  • The benefits of semantic search, machine learning, natural language processing and how data lakes are helping build the future of financial advice.
  • The democratization of AI and what this means for the industry
  • Potential future services of TIFIN
  • And more!

Resources: WealthManagement.com | TIFIN | Jack Swift

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Lon Dolber: Staying Independent as an Independent Broker/Dealer

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Lon Dolber is the CEO of American Portfolios, an independent broker/dealer and RIA with some 800 affiliated advisors and $40 billion in assets, and the winner of the Wealthmanagement.com award for CEO of the year for small broker/dealers (less than 1,000 affiliated representatives).

Dolber launched American Portfolios on Sept. 10, 2001 – and kept the nascent firm going in the terrible weeks following. He’s grown the business with a laser focus on service for his affiliated advisors, a shared ownership model and a reluctance to pursue outside investors or growth through acquiring or being acquired. “That’s about consolidation for profit and scale and for shareholder value. How does that help the community? Has it helped employees? How does it help advisors and has it helped the investing public?”

In this episode, David Armstrong speaks with Lon about:

  • Launching American Portfolios on Sept. 10, 2001, and making the decision to continue even in the wake of the next day’s terrorist attacks.
  • Growing the business from a handful of employees to now serving 800 advisors across 400 branches, managing some $40 billion in assets.  
  • His thoughts on the outside investors and the frenzy of acquisitions taking place in the industry-and how that might not help the advisor or the advisor’s clients. 
  • His belief in stakeholder capitalism and a shared ownership model for the business.
  • Why he and his firm are supporting a creative residency program in Ferguson, Mo.  
  • Playing bass in a Motown cover band

Resources: Wealth Management.com | Lon Dolber | American Portfolios

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Digital Transitions with Skience’s Marc Butler

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In this episode, David Armstrong is joined by Marc Butler, COO and president of Skience, to talk about the directions the firm has taken since he was appointed in August of 2020—in the midst of the pandemic.  Skience, a digital-first client onboarding platform, was recognized in the 2021 Wealthmanagement.com Industry Awards in the technology providers category for business support systems – workflow automation. 

In this episode, you will learn:

  • How COVID has changed the way advisors engage with clients
  • How Skience provides a seamless way for advisors to transition firms and onboard clients with a seamless link to the custodians and broker/dealers that support them
  • Real world data which shows how the onboarding experience is critical to keeping advisors, and their clients, engaged with the firm
  • Why a significant minority of clients don’t follow advisors to a new firm, and how better transition services can reduce that number
  • The evolution of Skience from a salesforce overlay towards becoming the data-centric component of an advisor’s workflow
  • Why advisors hesitate in the face of digital implementations

Resources: Wealth Management.com | Mark Butler | Skience

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A Look into Riskalyze’s 2021 Award-Winning Platforms and Strategies with Aaron Klein, CEO

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In this episode, David Armstrong speaks with Aaron Klein, co-founder and CEO at Riskalyze about the initiatives, platforms and strategies that helped them take their place as finalists in multiple categories at the 2021 WealthManagement.com Industry Awards. 

In this episode, they discuss:

  • Riskalyze’s business trajectory and current investor HG Capital
  • How Riskalyze’s trading platform widens the service the company offers advisors
  • Riskalyze’s partner store’s aim to deliver real investment research to financial advisors in different model portfolios
  • If advisors will ever adopt direct indexing
  • Aaron’s backstory in tech startups, what his father taught him about business, and how long he plans to lead Riskalyze

Resources: Wealth Management.com | LinkedIn: Aaron Klein | LinkedIn: Riskalyze | Riskalyze.com | Riskalyze.com: The Partner Store | Riskalyze.com: Trading  

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Andrew Schardt on Building A Wider Door to Private Markets

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Alternative asset manager Hamilton Lane’s acquisition of investment platform 361 Capital earlier this year brings the $550 billion, 30-year-old global investment shop a step closer to U.S.-based registered investment advisors and their HNW clients. Hamilton Lane’s goal is to bring easier access to private market investments, and was recognized at the 2021 Wealthmanagement.com Industry Awards in the category of Asset Managers – New Product Development for their Global Private Assets Fund.

In this episode, Andrew Schardt, head of global investment strategy for Hamilton Lane, talks to David Armstrong about Hamilton Lane’s history, how the firm has created innovative investment vehicles to lower the bar for private market investments among individual investors, and the benefits to advisors who access private markets in terms of diversification and more opportunities for returns. 

Hamilton Lane Private Assets Fund 

In this episode, you will learn:

  • What Hamilton Lane brings in terms of data, returns and performance in private market investments that can benefit advisors. 
  • Why the firm acquired 361 Capital
  • How Hamilton Lane’s ‘40 Act Tender Offer fund eases access to private market investments for advisors with more liquidity than traditional options.
  • That private markets are a much broader, deeper pool of investment options than what is available in the public markets, bringing more diversity, long-term outperformance and less volatility to investors. 
  • Where Schardt sees potential opportunity—and perils—in the global markets

Resources: Wealth Management.com | LinkedIn: Andrew Schardt | LinkedIn: Hamilton Lane | HamiltonLane.com 

 

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