In today’s wealth management space, you can’t go one day without hearing about AI and its seemingly endless possibilities. Any game-changing technology attracts volumes of hype on the way to implementation and integration within an industry, and some of the buzz is deserved – it’s certainly more than a tulip bulb. But we must develop a realistic understand of its uses, potential and drawbacks. This week, I spoke with leading technology experts in our industry to demystify the hype surrounding AI.
We also bring you our Deals & Recruiting Roundup, Investments Roundup, Dale Brown on FSI’s 2025 initiatives, industry leaders on organic and inorganic growth, Carson’s new CTO, Alaris’ AI-based M&A matchmaker, Docupace acquiring Hubly, VestGen’s appointments, Cambridge’s growth program, Edward Jones’ $10 million plus platform and CapIntel’s survey results.
Demystifying AI hype: In order to demystify the AI hype into practical expectations and actionable steps, I bring you the views of wealth management tech experts Sindhu Joseph, Co-Founder and CEO of CogniCor; Sid Yenamandra, Founder and CEO of Surge Ventures; Michael Wood, CEO of Domify; Babu Sivadasan, Co-Founder and CEO of JIFFY.ai; and David Knoch, CEO of Docupace.
Deals & Recruiting Roundup: This edition of the Deals & Recruiting Roundup covers Apella Wealth’s acquisition of Marrella Private Wealth, Americana Partners’ purchase of Boulevard Family Wealth, LPL’s acquisition of The Investment Center’s wealth business, ECHELON Partners’ 2024 RIA M&A Deal Report, Alaris’ AI-Driven M&A matchmaking, Edward Jones’ service launch for HNW clients, LinePoint Partners’ UHNW affiliation model, Five Eleven Partners’ launch, Mosaic Advanced Planning’s launch, Oppenheimer’s naming Gilbert Dychiao as Co-Head of Investment Banking, Triad Partners’ appointment of a new CTO and COO, and Carson Group’s new CTO.
Investments Roundup: Jon Fee, CMO of VettaFi, is our Investment Solutions Leader of the Month, and we cover HFR reporting on hedge fund performance in February, LPL launching an alternative investments platform, Genstar staking First Eagle, Cerulli commenting on Unified Managed Households, Janus reporting on fixed income, Franklin Templeton introducing a crypto ETF, CFRA on private credit and money market ETFs, Goldman introducing a buffered ETF, Fidelity launching ETF model portfolios, Morningstar releasing its 2025 investment conference agenda, and SMArtX partnering with BondBloxx.
Women in independent RIAs: In recognition of Women’s History Month, Sally Cates, Managing Director, PR & Communications at Dynasty Financial Partners, discusses the advantages of the independent RIA space for women advisors.
Advocacy initiatives: Dale Brown, President and CEO of the Financial Services Institute, unpacks its advocacy priorities for 2025, which cover independent advisors, the wealth management industry and Main Street clients.
Organic and inorganic growth: For the latest on the evolving landscape of organic and inorganic growth in wealth management, we spoke with Neil Turner, Co-Founder, Co-CEO and Managing Partner of NewEdge Advisors and the Chief Revenue Officer of NewEdge Capital Group; Maria Daley, Head of Advisor Success & Integration at Perigon Wealth Management; Jeff Nash, CEO and Co-Founder of Bridgemark Strategies; David Reynolds, a Principal at Berkshire Global Advisors; and Angie Herbers, Managing Partner at Herbers & Company.
New CTO: Carson Group appointed Ramesh Vaswani to serve as its Chief Technology Officer. As Global Head of Group Engineering for Envestnet, he led a team of more than 250 analysts, architects and developers. The firm’s Chief Strategy Officer, Dani Fava, and CEO, Burt White, commented.
AI-based M&A matching: Alaris Acquisitions launched an AI-driven matchmaking platform for buyers and sellers that it said was developed to meet the needs of RIAs. Allen Darby, CEO and Founder of Alaris, commented.
Advisory board built: Recently launched VestGen Wealth Partners named five industry leaders to its advisory board: Heather Ettinger, Larry Koehler, Peter Nesvold, Mike Schopin and Mike Simon. The firm’s Founder and CEO, Josh Gerry, commented.
Digital boomers: James Rockwood, Founder and CEO of CapIntel, discusses findings from his firm’s latest survey of millennial, Gen X and boomer investors, which defy stereotypes for boomers.
HNW services: Edward Jones announced the launch in Q2 of Edward Jones Generations, its first private client services offering designed to meet the needs of U.S. high net worth clients who have a minimum of $10 million in investable assets. David Chubak, the firm’s Head of U.S. Business Unit and Branch Development, commented.
Wealthtech M&A: Docupace acquired Canadian workflow platform Hubly, which is designed to enhance operational efficiency for advisors. Docupace’s CEO David Knoch commented.
Growth and retention: Cambridge Investment Research announced growth and retention figures from 15 years of its “Real Practice Management” program. Jeff Vivacqua, President of Growth and Development, and Greg Turner, Executive Vice President of Consulting Services, provided comments.
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