DPL, Envestnet ink partnership for annuity data link

DPL Financial Partners is helping their advisors get a comprehensive view of their clients' annuity and insurance product holdings through a new partnership with Envestnet.

Under the partnership, DPL advisors can benefit from a seamless integration of annuity and insurance product data from DPL's platform within Envestnet’s Wealth Management systems, showing details about those products alongside other portfolio assets,

DPL’s data feed into Envestnet’s platform delivers daily updates on positions and value information for annuities and insurance products, addressing a growing need for consolidated reporting that goes beyond traditional investments. 

In a statement Tuesday, Tom Smith, chief growth officer at DPL Financial Partners, said the integration "is a key step to breaking down barriers that have made it difficult for advisors to use annuity solutions in the past.”

“As more and more advisors make commission-free annuities and other insurance products a core part of their offering, they need to be able to report on these assets alongside other investments in clients’ portfolios," Smith said, highlighting the two firms' shared goal "to deliver better outcomes for clients and drive growth of advisors’ fee-only business model.”

Within DPL's platform, sales of commission-free annuity products surpassed $1 billion in sales last year, DPL's CEO David Lau told InvestmentNews in February. More recently in July, the firm said it has exceeded $3 billion in sales, with the last billion taking less than half the time it took getting from $1 billion to $2 billion in transaction volume.

More broadly, the demand for annuities of all stripes has remained robust in recent years, with the latest dipstick reading from Limra putting the guaranteed income products on pace for their 16th straight quarter of rising sales, with $331.2 billion logged in the first nine months of 2024.

Molly Weiss, group president of Envestnet’s wealth management platform, said the new data feed partnership with DPL gives her firm another entryway "to serve a broader base of advisors more holistically by addressing their needs to incorporate annuity and insurance assets as part of their clients’ overall portfolios."

"This partnership with DPL reinforces our commitment to enabling a complete advisor experience, including the work we do to enhance advisor workflows, make more informed asset allocation decisions and deliver more customized client solutions,” she said.

Since the revelation of its take-private acquisition deal with a consortium of strategic investors led by Reverence Capital, Envestnet has lost no time elevating its appeal to wealth advisors. Last month, it highlighted its efforts to boost national distribution by 50 percent within its private wealth consulting business, as well as bolstering its product and technology suite with more customized solutions.