Pershing adds three new robo-advisers in latest push into digital advice

Pershing has picked up three new robo-adviser partners — Jemstep, SigFig and Vanare — in its latest push to offer more digital advice options to its advisers, a spokeswoman confirmed on Wednesday. Jim Crowley, chief relationship officer at Pershing, said creating an ecosystem is most beneficial for advisers, who can decide what works best for their practices. TD Ameritrade Institutional, the adviser arm of the custodian, also has employed this method. "It is not just about choice, but the right fit, and based upon firms' requirements, adviser profiles, what their strategy is, we need to be able to provide them with a menu of choices that best help them execute their own strategy," Mr. Crowley said. Pershing has been building up its digital advice presence for financial advisers, including a partnership with Marstone, which recently linked up with IBM Watson. Pershing also serves as a custodian for various robos, including NextCapital and Motif. This is Jemstep's first partnership since Invesco acquired the business-to-business robo-adviser in January, and it's with Pershing, the custodian and clearing firm that is a unit of Bank of New York Mellon, executives said Wednesday. Starting in the third quarter of this year, advisers and broker-dealers with Pershing will access Jemstep Advisor Pro on the custodian's dashboard, NetX360, along with its selection of investment options, including mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. Simon Roy, president of Jemstep, said the collaboration between Invesco's Jemstep and Pershing will allow advisers to engage prospects ranging from the mass affluent to high-net-worth individuals. "That is a critical underpinning of the Jemstep platform to ensure the adviser continues to be a part of the equation and add value to prospects and clients as they go through the journey of meeting investment goals," Mr. Roy said. Advisers will be able to log on to Jemstep with a single sign-on through NetX360 or through their client relationship management program, and track progress, view client data and manage risk. There is a fee for using Jemstep Advisor Pro, which will be charged directly to the advisory firm, Mr. Roy said.