eMoney names Susan McKenna permanent CEO

eMoney Advisor CEO Susan McKenna

The executive had been appointed interim CEO in March after former CEO Ed O’Brien announced he was returning to Fidelity to lead institutional technology.

Susan McKenna is now permanent CEO of eMoney Adviser, the financial planning software owned by Fidelity Investments.

McKenna has been with eMoney since 2018 and most recently served as head of marketing and sales. During her tenure, eMoney has grown to 100,000 users serving more than 5 million households and $4.6 trillion in assets.

She was named interim CEO in March after former CEO Ed O’Brien announced he was returning to Fidelity to lead institutional technology.

Though McKenna continues to “stay the course” in terms of leading the company, she said industry consolidation and new entrants have evolved the planning market, and the company will need to continue to innovate to remain competitive.

“I think eMoney will continue to be an innovator and continue to move the needle in terms of market share,” McKenna told InvestmentNews.

EMoney Pro is the second most popular financial planning software among advisers, with 28.59% of market share, according to the 2022 T3 Inside Information survey of adviser technology. Envestnet’s MoneyGuidePro Elite leads the market with 32.79%.

While both companies’ market shares declined from the 2021 survey, both also have alternate versions of the software that advisers also use. For example, another 5.52% of advisers are using eMoney Plus.

McKenna was quiet about specific ideas for keeping the company competitive, but she did point to the recent hiring of Tom Sullivan, whose experience includes 10 years at Albridge Solutions, as eMoney’s new head of product to guide future innovation.

“All I can tell you is if the next 4½ years are as great as my last 4½, I’ll be really happy,” McKenna said. “The underlying demand for advice continues to be on the rise, and in the pandemic, we’ve only see that increase more and more.”

O’Brien served as eMoney CEO for six years after the company’s founder, Edmond Walters, departed unexpectedly in 2015. O’Brien was not made available for a comment.

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