Vise, a fintech startup that provides advisers with custom indexing and automated portfolio management, is looking to boost growth by partnering with a new RIA aggregator.
Vestria Capital, which the former vice chairman of Morgan Stanley Wealth, Paul Hatch, launched in December for breakaway advisers, has signed an agreement to make Vise available to advisers on its network. The announcement comes after reports that Vise has struggled to grow in the RIA market despite raising $128 million in funding and being valued at $1 billion.
Vise’s most recent Form ADV, filed March 31, indicates the fintech manages $362 million, a 35% decline from its previous filing in December. The company also had several members of its executive leadership team depart in February, according to Citywire.
In an interview with Business Insider, Vise CEO Samir Vasavada attributed the loss to an investor that moved its book of business because it was focused on alternative investments, which Vise doesn’t currently support.
However, the company sees an opportunity to ride the ongoing growth in the RIA market, citing McKinsey data showing that each year, 1,600 advisers join the RIA channel and 700 new independent firms are created. Inflation, rising interest rates and sustained market volatility all make the case for more customized portfolio management technology, Vasavada said.
“This is a critical partnership for us as we continue to roll out our technology to financial-planning focused RIAs who not only want to level the playing field, but also capitalize on opportunities to drive their businesses forward in a time of market turmoil,” Vasavada said in a statement.
Vestria provides capital to help new RIA firms. According to Hatch, Vise provides Vestria with a unique technology offering for advisers that lets it stand out from competing aggregators like Dynasty Financial Partners, Hightower Advisors or Focus Financial.
Hatch did not immediately respond to questions about the number of advisers on the network, but “expects to onboard many advisers representing significant assets under management” by the end of the year, according to a statement.
“Financial advisors help their clients through all stages of their lives and manage a substantial amount of our nation’s wealth, but much of the technology available to them is outdated and not designed to address today’s challenges,” Hatch said. “Vise’s ability to build personalized portfolios in minutes, while also taking a lot of the manual legwork off of advisor’s plates, makes it a game changing tool Vestria’s RIAs will be excited about.”
Also, Orion has added BlackRock, Fidelity, and Vanguard to its custom portfolios suite, and RedBlack has set up a new headquarters after crossing a trillion-dollar milestone.
Also, New York-based Legacy Edge Advisors names its first-ever CEO, while Novare Capital Management hires a Vanguard veteran with a multigenerational planning focus.
Asset managers are racing to bring private market products to retirement plans, but cost and liquidity concerns linger.
Treasury's latest tax-exemption crackdown on private schools lands in the wake of a separate push to restrict refundable credits for some immigrant filers.
Workforce trust measures predicted which companies came out ahead during COVID-19. The same dynamic may now be playing out across the AI transition — and the data suggests the spread could be just as wide.
Northern Trust’s Ken Lassner shows advisors how to convert volatility into after-tax portfolio gains
Dan Biagini of American Equity says the steady decline of pensions, longer lifespans and a reset in interest rates are rewriting how advisors build retirement income
