Cetera zeroes in on user experience with Riskalyze

When it comes to risk management, providing a better customer experience has been a rocky road in wealth management. Independent broker-dealer Cetera Financial Group has teamed up with Riskalyze to smooth the bumps. 

Risk management is often seen as the “necessary evil of the business,” said Cetera Advisor Networks President Tom Taylor. While absolutely critical for compliance, shuffling around with paperwork and questionnaires isn’t the best for the customer experience. 

In response, Cetera inked an enterprise agreement with fintech Riskalyze aimed at standardizing risk management across Cetera’s network of 8,000 advisers, according to the announcement. Riskalyze’s risk alignment and portfolio analytics tools are now available to all advisers on Cetera’s network via the AdviceWorks platform. 

With Riskalyze, Cetera’s adviser network is enabled to set expectations with clients and document their fiduciary care, while adding a layer of business value protection for their practice, according to the announcement. All Cetera financial professionals will have the option to upgrade to Riskalyze’s premium products at a discounted rate as well.

LPL Financial, H. Beck, Lincoln Investment and Waddell & Reed also have enterprise deals with Riskalyze. 

“As we looked around at the different options and looked at Riskalyze, what we really saw was an opportunity to flip something that's been very tactical, overtime, and make it an enhancement to the client experience,” Taylor said. “It creates a better informed and engaged client, and certainly during volatile markets it creates a calmer client.” 

Moving forward, the partnership with Riskalyze further cements Cetera’s mission to drive franchise value for its advisers, according to Taylor. “The more automation, the more systemization they have, the more their practice becomes valuable,” he said.

Moreover, applying standardization to risk management and compliance could be the key to a smoother regulatory environment for fintechs and advisory firms, especially as the Biden administration will likely move to strengthen regulations.