The tree is decorated, the menorah is ready to be lit, the Festivus pole is in the corner, the presents are wrapped and the holidays are just around the corner.
This will likely be the last Fintech Bytes column of 2022, so I wanted to thank everyone who read over the year. It was exciting to return to InvestmentNews as the technology editor, and I’m looking to another year of big mergers, scuttled deals and new products.
What do you think were the biggest adviser fintech stories of the year? What major trends do you think will define the year ahead? I’d love to hear from you and maybe even feature your thoughts or questions in an upcoming column, so send me an email or drop me a line on Twitter.
I hope you all have a healthy and happy holiday, however you choose to celebrate, and a safe New Year. I’ll see you in 2023. In the meantime, here is a roundup of some of this week’s tech updates.
Investment operations service provider STP Investment Services bought WealthSite, a firm that provides customized accounting, portfolio management, reporting and analytics to multifamily offices and other firms that serve ultra-high-net-worth clients. The acquisition brings STP’s total assets under administration to $400 billion.
While there are plenty of technologies for managing and reporting on a portfolio of stocks, bonds and alternative assets, I often hear about wealth fintech’s shortcomings when it comes to the UHNW clients. WealthSite claims to be able to monitor things like classic cars, fine art and other complex, illiquid assets, and STP’s acquisition is a step toward its goal of being the destination for wealth managers serving UHNW clientele.
The RIA Productivity Suite from Docupace was designed to help firms reduce operational costs, improve efficiency, attract talent and strengthen recruiting. The tool kit includes new account opening and client onboarding, straight-through processing, a digital library of forms, embedded Docusign and integrations with most of the CRMs used by registered investment advisers.
Docupace’s CEO David Knoch claims that the tool kit is flexible enough to meet the array of needs of the diverse RIA market, while also being more affordable than other products on the market. The product was designed in collaboration with consulting firm Ezra Group to offer technology and integrations that RIAs want.
Docupace is one of the top financial document management software solutions for RIAs. Read the full list here.
KX, which produces a database and analytics engine, announced that Stifel Financial Corp. has selected it to its enhance market data analytics and decision making. The engine will improve Stifel’s trade execution analytics and operations.
As much as people love to say, “Data is the new oil,” actually turning the massive amounts of information that large financial institutions like Stifel have into something useful is an incredibly difficult task. With many firms using legacy brokerage platforms that date back to the 90s, moving over to new cloud-based products like KX is a step toward realizing the dream of actionable data.
Digital life insurance brokerage Modern Life has rolled out a new platform to help financial advisers find and offer life insurance to clients. Modern Life is multi-carrier and multi-product, uses data analytics to help determine the highest value products for clients, and provides digital intake forms to make data collection easy.
Demand for life insurance has boomed since the pandemic, with policy sales up 5% and premiums up 20% in 2021, the highest annual growth since 1983. Modern Life’s approach to digitizing how advisers offer insurance helped the firm close a $15 million round of funding in August.
Adviser fintech company Summit Wealth Systems has a new tool for its WealthOS product that allows financial advisers to demonstrate the value they provide to clients. Wealth Journey highlights a client’s personal and financial life milestones, the major tasks that an adviser has accomplished on their behalf, and a summary of meetings with the client.
I’m sure Wealth Journey is a delightful product for advisers, but have you ever noticed how many adviser tech products are designed to help advisers demonstrate the value they provide to clients? Does any other industry struggle as much as wealth management in justifying what their services are worth? It makes me think of that scene in Office Space where the consultants are trying to figure out what exactly an employee does for the company.
The "Crypto Mom" departure would leave the SEC commission with just two members and no Democratic commissioners on the panel.
IFP Securities’ owner, Bill Hamm, has a long-term plan for the firm and its 279 financial advisors.
Meanwhile, a Osaic and Envestnet ink a new adaptive wealthtech partnership to better support the firm's 10,000-plus advisors, and RIA-focused VastAdvisor unveils native integrations with leading CRMs.
A former Alabama investment advisor and ex-Kestra rep has been permanently barred and penalized after clients he promised to protect got caught in a $2.6 million fraud.
As more active strategies get packaged into the ETF wrapper, advisors and investors have to look beyond expense ratios as the benchmark for value.
Wellington explores how multi strategy hedge funds may enhance diversification
As technical expertise becomes increasingly commoditized, advisors who can integrate strategy, relationships, and specialized expertise into a cohesive client experience will define the next era of wealth management
