In this edition of the Wealthtech Roundup, we speak with our newest Wealthtech Leader of the Month, Bill Dwyer, CEO and Chairman of AlphaTrAI, who discusses his firm’s recent acquisition and how wealth management firms can overcome advisor pain points with technology.
Other entries include The Oasis Group launching its Vantage Point Peaks research series, Smarsh opening a Costa Rica office and integrating with ChatGPT, Gateway Financial Partners teaming up with Wealth.com, Snappy Kraken releasing an enterprise-level offering, Nitrogen releasing an array of product enhancements and new features, FusionIQ partnering with interVal, registration opening for Orion Ascent 2025, Fidelity introducing two tech offerings to reduce cost and resource burdens, Elements launching its Target Scores tool and an ambassador program, PreciseFP starting an incentivized referral program and Wells Fargo using AI in estate care solutions.
Larry’s Take
How integral has artificial intelligence (AI) become to wealth management? Wells Fargo is improving customer satisfaction after using AI on estate care. Marketing technology firm Snappy Kraken is incorporating AI into its offerings. And the communications oversight platform Smarsh has experts who just published a 506-page book on Large Language Models (LLMs).
Now consider that any random person typing the question “Should I use a financial advisor?” into ChatGPT can immediately receive a 380-word, 12-point response that addresses everything from retirement planning and investment management to costs and emotions … in addition to mentioning robo-advisors as a potential alternative to human guidance.
At this point, every wealth management firm should be exploring ways to safely adopt AI tools, and every advisor should be asking their firm what it is doing to make that happen. This may feel daunting for older financial professionals, but many AI tools are highly intuitive and user-friendly. And, if that still seems overwhelming, you can always read a book about it first.
If you would like to discuss this Larry’s Take further, including how these trends might impact your business, please contact me at larry.roth@rlrstrategicpartners.com.
1. Bill Dwyer Discusses AlphaTrAI’s Acquisition, How To Overcome Advisor Pain Points
AlphaTrAI, a San Diego-based technology solutions and services provider founded and led by wealth management industry veteran Bill Dwyer, recently acquired Anchor Advisory Services, a scheduling and sales management solutions provider. The acquisition comes on the heels of AlphaTrAI filling a series of leadership roles, including adding fintech executive John Sweeney as President earlier this year and expanding the firm’s board.
And now for our Q&A with Bill Dwyer, CEO and Chairman of AlphaTrAI.
WSR: Why did AlphaTrAI recently acquire Anchor Advisory Services?
Dwyer: Anchor is an incredible platform where AlphaTrAI can install state of the art AI-enabled solutions to enhance sales and marketing capabilities for the asset and wealth management industries – for firms to use both as a product and a service. Organic growth is a major challenge for most financial services firms fighting for visibility in an increasingly commoditized product landscape where advisors look to differentiate themselves with products and services to improve the probability that their clients will meet their goals.
Anchor has made over one million calls to advisors and facilitated 50,000 meetings acting as a vital intermediary between product sponsors and advisors. Since inception Anchor has worked with 172 different clients across the investment and asset management industry. By enhancing Anchor’s role in this process, by integrating artificial intelligence and other technologies, further improving their effectiveness in connecting sponsors with distributors, this acquisition aims to strengthen Anchor’s significant impact in the marketplace while expanding AlphaTrAI’s addressable market.
WSR: What are the crucial technology pain points that advisors are currently experiencing?
Dwyer: We have found that wealth and asset management firms need our help to address two major areas of advisor frustration: Efficiently servicing existing clients and effectively targeting and acquiring new clients.
In order to serve existing clients, advisors often look through several different software packages. Client birthdays reside in the CRM, required income is tracked in the financial planning software, rebalancing might be displayed in the portfolio optimization software and execution of the trades is done in a trading engine after wash sales and short versus long-term tax consequences have been tracked. Streamlining this process is critical to advisor success and satisfaction.
In order to attract new clients, advisors need to deliver relevant content to clients who are experiencing a life event and are open to a new financial advisory relationship in a format and on a platform where the potential client is likely to see the content and be willing to engage with it. Customized tools and solutions can help address these needs.
WSR: How can wealth management firms help overcome those pain points for their advisors?
Dwyer: After identifying the specific nuances of a particular firm’s challenges, we often recommend the following: Creating a common data repository across client households that feeds all their software packages; integrating software so that one advisor workstation houses all the actions required by the advisor to efficiently serve existing clients and effectively engage with new prospects; and connecting existing software across multiple acquired entities, providing continuity to advisor and client experiences.
Today, there are more than 500 software packages that can serve as unique pain points in the advisor workstream. AlphaTrAI has been applying AI-enabled solutions to integrate existing software and improve the advisor and client experience across an entire enterprise. There are incredible opportunities to streamline processes that can help drive significant unrealized value for firms of all sizes in the wealth and asset management industries.
2. Oasis Group Studies Custodians In First Report Of New Research Series
Wealth management consultancy The Oasis Group launched its Vantage Point Peaks research series to provide reports and competitive analysis of industry service providers. The reports are designed to help RIAs and other wealth management firms make better wealthtech purchasing decisions, including when breaking away.
Vantage Point Peaks for Custodian Platforms, the first study of the series, focuses on the RIA and broker-dealer custodian market and is available to RIA and BD executives, family offices and private wealth firms interested in new custodian relationships. The 10 custodian platforms featured in the study are Charles Schwab, Pershing, Fidelity, Altruist, Apex Fintech Solutions, Goldman Sachs, TradePMR, Hilltop Securities, Innovayte and RBC Clearing & Custody.
“Vantage Point Peaks will give wealth management firms a leg up when determining which service providers are the right fit for their firm,” according to John O’Connell, the firm’s Founder and CEO. “This research will save firms significant time when generating their short list of custodian providers.”
3. Smarsh Enters Costa Rica, Integrates With ChatGPT, Experts Publish AI Textbook
Smarsh, a digital communications compliance and intelligence provider for financial firms, opened a Costa Rica office, which is its sixth Center of Excellence. It is located in the Ultra Park technology hub in Heredia, near other global companies such as Amazon, Intel and Microsoft. Smarsh has offices in the U.S., EMEA and APAC.
It also announced an integration with the ChatGPT Enterprise Compliance API from OpenAI, whose enhanced features include administrative tools, advanced security and data privacy, increased usage limits and analytics. In addition, members of the Smarsh Data Science team co-authored a textbook on artificial intelligence, “Large Language Models: A Deep Dive: Bridging Theory and Practice,” which is published by Springer and available on Amazon.
“The establishment of our Costa Rica office marks a pivotal step in our strategy for sustained growth and global presence,” said Kim Crawford Goodman, CEO of Smarsh. “By tapping into the vibrant ecosystem Costa Rica offers, we are positioning ourselves to enhance our operational capabilities and service offerings, ensuring we remain at the forefront of our industry.”
4. Gateway Financial Partners Offers Advisors Wealth.com’s Estate Planning Tools
Glastonbury, Connecticut-based Gateway Financial Partners, an RIA that supports 170 licensed advisors across 26 states, teamed up with the digital estate planning platform Wealth.com. Gateway’s advisors will have access to Wealth.com’s tools, such as guided plan creation, visual flowcharts and reports of estate plans, document summaries and insights.
Gateway provides advisory firms with a suite of back office and organic growth solutions. Wealth.com serves more than 450 wealth management firms. In July, Integrated Partners provided its advisors with access to Wealth.com’s estate planning platform.
“It is exciting to see the team at Gateway continue to expand its offerings for its clients,” said Tim White, Co-Founder and Chief Partnership Officer at Wealth.com. “This partnership reflects not only the growing demand for estate planning resources among advisors, but also the recognition that Wealth.com continues to be a leading provider of the tools and technology necessary to meet those needs.”
5. Snappy Kraken Launches Enterprise-Level Advisor Growth, Marketing Platform
Martech firm Snappy Kraken launched Snappy Kraken Enterprise, a new growth and marketing platform designed for midmarket and enterprise firms including RIAs and broker-dealers. The offering seeks to provide large firms with in-depth analytics and advanced marketing tools created to attract and retain top-performing advisors, scale growth strategies and execute compliant marketing campaigns efficiently.
The new platform’s marketing and engagement tools include custom campaign automation capabilities, AI-powered customization, application programming interface (API) integrations, and other features that Snappy Kraken intends to help advisors at large organizations create scalable marketing campaigns that drive measurable organic growth.
“Our enterprise offerings mark a significant milestone in our journey to become the core organic growth engine of the financial services industry,” said Robert Sofia, the firm’s Founder and CEO. “Snappy Kraken Enterprise delivers high-performing solutions that combine technology, data-rich insights and seamless integrations to help large organizations scale and optimize their growth strategies.”
6. Nitrogen Releases Product Enhancements And New Features Across Its Platform
Nitrogen, formerly known as Riskalyze, released new features for its products suite, spanning risk tolerance and proposal generation, investment analytics and research, specialized financial planning, advisor content marketing and firmwide controls.
The rollout included updates to help advisors manage risk-focused automated emails; Modeled Performance, Diversification, Size & Style, Risk & Reward, Sector Breakdown and Regional Exposure as new report elements; a new tool allowing advisors to better visualize and analyze clients’ income streams; marketing campaigns focusing on lead generation, and monthly newsletters tailored for clients; and the ability for firms to provide an “approved” list of securities for advisors to use in their proposal process.
“The new way we package and deliver our products is more than just a clarified lineup; it’s a new framework by which we’ll continue delivering value,” said Justin Boatman, Chief Product Officer at Nitrogen. “This summer, we’ve already brought significant upgrades to Risk Center, Research Center, Planning Center, Marketing Center, and Command Center, and I love that we get to celebrate those enhancements as a community today.”
7. FusionIQ, interVal Partner On Advisor Tech For The Great Wealth Transfer
FusionIQ and interVal announced a strategic partnership aimed at enhancing the technology ecosystem available to financial advisors. The collaboration between these two wealth solutions providers aims to capitalize on the impending wealth transfer and bolster assets under management.
The “mutual referral agreement” between FusionIQ, known for its cloud-based wealth management platform, and interVal, a provider of automated financial insights for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), is designed to unlock new growth opportunities for wealth management firms. By offering a “Pay as You Grow” model, both companies aim to democratize access to wealth management tools, so that even smaller firms can benefit from the technology.
“By joining forces with interVal, FusionIQ can present an expanding vision that empowers financial advisors with the platform and tools they need to deliver exceptional value to their clients,” said Mark Healy, CEO of FusionIQ. “Our collaboration grows the technology ecosystem available to wealth management firms and institutions, democratizing data for everyone.”
8. Registration Opens For Orion Ascent 2025 In Orlando
Registration opened for Orion Ascent 2025, which will be held Feb. 3 to Feb. 6, 2025, at the Hyatt Regency Orlando, with early bird pricing available through Sept. 30. The annual event will gather more than 1,500 of Orion’s leading financial advisors, fintech providers, wealth management executives, broker-dealers and technology-focused enterprise firms.
Orion’s platform encompasses Orion Advisor Tech, Orion Portfolio Solutions, Brinker Capital Investments, Redtail Technology and Orion OCIO. As of June 30, the company serviced $4.4 trillion in assets under administration and $69.4 billion of wealth management platform assets. It supports thousands of independent advisory firms.
“Our flagship event showcases pioneering, advisor-centric technologies and comprehensive wealth solutions that elevate client experiences, while also delivering on a strong sense of community through all the opportunities made available for engagement,” said Natalie Wolfsen, CEO of Orion. “The ‘All In’ theme of Ascent 2025 encapsulates both advisors’ and Orion’s relentless dedication, commitment and passion.”
9. New Fidelity Tech Solutions Aim To Reduce RIA Cost, Resource Burdens
Fidelity introduced two technology offerings designed to reduce cost and resource burdens. One of the new offerings is an all-in-one technology offering with Advyzon and Fidelity-owned eMoney. The offering was designed to help reduce the time leaders of smaller or newly established advisory firms spend on evaluating a tech stack, and to help streamline advisors’ critical workflows.
The other solution is an advisory bundle designed for firms looking to grow their advisory capabilities. It includes eMoney, Fidelity’s online brokerage platform Wealthscape and the new Fidelity Managed Account Xchange (FMAX) Essentials wealth management platform. FMAX Essentials features a streamlined investment menu, including about 25% of the options found on FMAX, for a lower cost platform that provides managed account solutions such as model portfolios.
“Technology has incredible power as a growth driver and firms that harness it best have dedicated the time to research, evaluate and implement it at scale,” said Noni Robinson, Head Of Emerging RIAs at Fidelity Institutional Wealth Management Services. “Smaller firms and advisors launching their own business, however, often have fewer resources, which can put them at a disadvantage.”
10. Elements Launches ‘Target Scores’ Tool And Ambassador Program
Elements, a financial assessment software for financial professionals, released Target Scores, a tool to help advisors simplify complex financial concepts for clients with visual goals and target ranges, and tailor them for their clients’ needs. Target Scores have a health indicator for clients to monitor progress toward each goal.
The company also launched an ambassador program to guide more advisors to explore Elements. Its inaugural ambassadors are Brandon Galici, owner of Galici Financial; Emlen Miles-Mattingly, owner of Gen Next Wealth; Eric Rodriguez, founder of WealthBuilders; and Becky Walsh, owner of Oak Maple Finance.
“By incorporating user feedback, we’re able to give advisors the tools they need to transform their business,” said Reese Harper, CEO of Elements. “Elements streamlines an advisor’s financial planning operations and communications, further strengthening their existing client relationships and bridging the gap to building new ones.”
11. PreciseFP Launches Incentivized Referral Program
PreciseFP, a Docupace subsidiary since 2021 that provides a wealthtech ecosystem for advisors to engage clients and prospects, unveiled a peer referral program that provides a $100 gift card for each successful introduction as an incentive. Newly referred users will receive a specialized onboarding program with discounts.
PreciseFP’s platform includes a paperless onboarding process with customizable client engagements and e-signature capabilities. According to PreciseFP, it saved users 33,734 hours and over $5 million in practice management costs in 2023 through supporting operations, reducing errors and enhancing client conversion rates.
“We strongly believe our passionate and loyal user community is one of our greatest assets,” said Nora Gallegos, Financial Planning Thought Leader at PreciseFP. “This new referral program seeks to solidify our commitment to strengthening this community by providing it with additional fuel for growth.”
Wirehouse / Big Bank Activity
12. Wells Fargo Sees Estate Care Customer Satisfaction Surge After Using AI
According to a report in Computer Weekly, Wells Fargo experienced a surge in customer satisfaction and recommendations after using AI and automation to help surviving family members with bank accounts, mortgages and financial assets to settles the estates of their deceased relatives. Wells Fargo’s Estate Care Centre uses software from Pegasystems, a Boston-based business process management specialist.
Sangeeta Doss, Head of Wells Fargo’s Estate Care Centre, was attributed as saying that the bank is retaining more assets, bringing in more business from clients and that some surviving family members transferred their own accounts to Wells Fargo as a result. Planned upgrades include training the AI on the bank’s internal documents, enabling agents to ask the AI system questions and receive answers.
“One of the successes we had is that I went and talked to every product leader. I am representing their product at the end of a customer’s life, so it was very important for me to ensure there was transparency there,” Doss was quoted as saying. “They have pride over their products and they want their products represented well, so I think those relationships and those partnerships are key.”
Chris Latham, Managing Editor at Wealth Solutions Report, can be reached at clatham@wealthsolutionsreport.com.
