Aaron Klein, co-founder and CEO of Riskalyze, started his entrepreneurial journey at age 12, working for the family business. At age 24, he negotiated the sale of the company, learning firsthand about how buyers think about risk. The subject grew in his mind when he later developed products for options traders and observed how poorly many of them understood risk.
Recognizing a need to improve risk assessments, Mr. Klein and his team developed the “Risk Number” — and built a company around it — to more accurately portray and communicate clients’ dispositions toward risk. As the utility of the number expanded from characterizing clients to characterizing their portfolios, Riskalyze expanded its services to also cover portfolio analytics, client investment proposals, trading and compliance. These are all delivered through the lens of the Risk Number, he said.
“We’re helping advisers think differently — for example, about rebalancing, looking not at allocation risk but Risk Number drift instead,” Mr. Klein said.
Since the company’s beginnings in 2011, its customer base has grown to more than 20,000 advisers. Many of them have integrated the Riskalyze brand and philosophy into their client relationships.
Mr. Klein has also applied his technology and business expertise to charitable endeavors. Honoring their children, who were born in South Korea and Ethiopia, he and his wife founded Hope Takes Root, an organization that provides technological vocational skills and life training to at-risk kids in Ethiopia.
“We’re building a for-profit technology business that will be self-sustaining for the charity and the kids,” he said.
— Deborah Nason
The new regional leader brings nearly 25 years of experience as the firm seeks to tap a complex and evolving market.
The latest updates to its recordkeeping platform, including a solution originally developed for one large 20,000-advisor client, take aim at the small to medium-sized business space.
Crypto investor argues the federal agency's probe, upheld by a federal appeals court, would "strip millions of Americans of meaningful privacy protections."
Meanwhile in Chicago, the wirehouse also lost another $454 million team as a group of defectors moved to Wells Fargo.
The broker-dealer giant's latest acquisition agreement extends its push towards offering enhanced financial planning and investment management.
Orion's Tom Wilson on delivering coordinated, high-touch service in a world where returns alone no longer set you apart.
Barely a decade old, registered index-linked annuities have quickly surged in popularity, thanks to their unique blend of protection and growth potential—an appealing option for investors looking to chart a steadier course through today's choppy market waters, says Myles Lambert, Brighthouse Financial.
