Most wealthtechs start by serving the RIA market. RIAs tend to be smaller, which allows them to be nimble with picking new technology, and they’re independent, meaning they don’t have to clear the decision with a home office.
As the startups grow, their attention inevitably pivots to striking deals with larger wealth management firms. It’s easier to sign one contract with a broker-deal that puts your technology in front of thousands of affiliated advisors than it is to chase after 1,000 individual RIAs. It’s why Vestwell named industry veteran Lori Hardwick to its board, and why eMoney signed a deal with Wells Fargo.
But there may be a growing undercurrent of discontent among those RIAs, especially the early adopters who helped put a fintech on the map in the first place. Independent advisors have expressed concerns about declining service, slowing product innovation, and new products useful only for large firms. As covered in our 2021 Fintech Survey, banks, wirehouses and broker-dealers have opened their pocketbooks to close the fintech gap with RIAs, and even pull ahead. It could open the door for the next generation wealthtech startups to break into the market. | | Ryan Neal
Technology Editor, Financial Planning
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| By Ryan W. Neal 2 min read | The move can help firms reach smaller investors and offer greater portfolio customization, the custodian says, joining peers in offering the share slices. Read story → |
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| | | By Ryan W. Neal 3 min read | The appointment comes just three months after a marketing backfire pushed her to step down from a similar role at Riskalyze. Read story → |
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| | | By Ryan W. Neal 2 min read | The wirehouse wants MAX to be the central hub for anything a broker needs while working remotely. Read story → |
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| | | By Ryan W. Neal 4 min read | Some independent advisors worry the enterprise deal will slow innovation at the wealthtech company. Read story → |
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| Power your business with 200+ Fintechs that seamlessly integrate with Fidelity. Plus, you can customize or build your own platform with our open-architecture technology. Learn More → |
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| | | By Annie Massa 1 min read | The robo advisor plans to use the capital to expand its business-to-business units. Read story → |
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | RESOURCES | | | WEB SEMINAR | | Thursday, October 7, 2021 12:30 PM EDT | Financial advisors have a variety of objectives in working with their investment-planning clients. But when all is said and done, clients are usually mainly interested in a successful road map to growing and protecting their wealth to and through retirement. Risk management is a crucial part of that plan and how wealth managers can bring value to clients. In this session Michael Moriarty, Chief Investment of Wealthspire and Rick Bookstaber, Founder & Head of Risk of Fabric will discuss how investors and markets are changing and how advisors can position themselves to excel in this new landscape. Learn More → | | | WEB SEMINAR | | Wednesday, October 13, 2021 11:30 AM EDT | Join Janet King, Arizent VP of Research and Brian Elkins, Senior Director of Strategy at Monigle for a discussion of a new, prescriptive framework that helps banks and other financial institutions identify why customers choose to bank with one financial institution over another. Developed in conjunction with creative experience agency Monigle, the Humanizing Customer Experience research from American Banker draws on more than 5,000 customer responses to show what matters most in customer experience and ranks which financial institutions do it best. Join this discussion to learn more about how you can optimize your bank's approach to CX to improve customer satisfaction and earn higher net promoter scores. Learn More → | | | WEB SEMINAR | | Tuesday, October 12, 2021 12:30 PM EDT | Learn More → | | | REPORT | | | Are you engaging in revenue-generating activities as much as you should be? Learn More → | SPONSOR CONTENT FROM Commonwealth | More resources → |
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