This edition of the Wealthtech Roundup features F2 Strategy’s wealthtech outlook, Osaic partnering with FINNY AI, BX Partners launching a risk monitoring tool, Prudential making AI upgrades to advisor leads programs, Oasis and Practifi releasing research on CRM selection, Kestra hiring Christine E. Brown as Head of Advanced Planning and partnering with RightCapital, AdvisorEngine appointing Tim Foley as Head of AI, Orion partnering with Edelman Financial Engines on advisor technology, Focal partnering with Shaping Wealth on behavioral coaching, Altruist launching AI tax planning within Hazel, Wealth.com partnering with Jump and Zocks for estate planning and Orion adding DPL annuity and insurance solutions.
EDITOR IN CHIEF’S TAKE:
Altruist’s AI tax planning tool caused quite a stir, as its announcement coincided with a steep selloff for publicly traded industry shares including LPL, Schwab and Raymond James. Framed in a broader perspective, Altruist’s product apparently triggered traders to apply the broader “AI fear” selloff that hit multiple industries to the independent financial advisory space.
Does the AI fear trade reflect a deeper reality or just jitters? Given how it occurred suddenly, it doesn’t appear well thought through, so just jitters for now. But the deeper reality for firms – public and private – is that investors now demand they optimize for AI.
– Julius Buchanan, Editor in Chief, Wealth Solutions Report
F2 Outlook: Successful Technology Adoption Increasingly Important In Wealth Management
In wealth management, the line between winners and losers is increasingly defined by success in technology deployment, according to F2 Strategy. For its 2026 Wealthtech Outlook Report, the firm surveyed CTOs, COOs and CEOs at 85 RIAs, wealth managers, broker-dealers and asset managers on the topics of alternative assets, AI, custody and organic growth.
On alts, F2 noted that despite huge growth in the space, only 50% of firms use third-party technology tools to manage alternative investments. F2 recommends deploying tech to automate illiquid assets and speed ownership and reporting. F2 also noted that while 23% more firms year-over-year report using AI for daily tasks, savings on cost and time don’t necessarily translate to organic growth. In addition, F2 found that RIAs have adopted AI technologies at a faster rate than bank-based advisors.
“Under the backdrop of economic uncertainty, we’ll reach a moment when it becomes clear who built great technology. Market volatility will showcase those who’ve done it right,” said Doug Fritz, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman at F2 Strategy. “For our industry to be successful, we need to see broader adoption of technology to manage the growing alternative investments allocations and to power marketing engines because far too many firms are relying heavily on M&A to grow.”
Osaic Makes FINNY Prospecting Tech Available To Its Advisors
FINNY AI and Osaic partner to make FINNY’s prospecting technology available to Osaic’s advisors. Approximately 11,000 financial professionals and more than 270 institutions gained access to FINNY’s technology to support organic growth through life events tracking and automated, personalized outreach.
The technology will help financial professionals prioritize and engage with ready prospects. It leverages a matching engine, reviews intent signals and reaches out through email, direct mail, voicemail and LinkedIn. Osaic has more than $700 billion in assets under administration (AUA), it said.
“For the last 12 months we’ve had a large number of Osaic advisors reach out to try to get access” to the technology, said Eden Ovadia, CEO and Co-Founder of FINNY. “The feedback so far is incredibly positive. There’s a magic moment the first time an advisor books a meeting on FINNY; something just clicks that you truly can turn your growth on autopilot.”
BX Partners Launches New Risk Monitoring Product
Charlotte, North Carolina-based BX Partners launches a market risk monitoring tool for advisors. The product, BX Risk Shield, is a free, open architecture system designed to track market sentiment and trends in real time. The system is intended to provide investment firms with a “weather report” to better understand market signals and make portfolio allocation decisions.
It incorporates data from nine BX indices, along with research from firms including Adaptive Investments, Ai Funds, PMV Capital Advisers, THOR Financial Technologies and Trendrating. BX Risk Shield combines information from multiple sources to generate a score showing the direction of market sentiment.
“Advisors and their clients are inundated with uncertainty from tariffs, geopolitical conflict, elections, inflation, and the pressure to ‘do something’ may feel overwhelming,” said Craig Cmiel, Co-Founder of BX Partners. “BX Risk Shield gives advisors a real-time way to understand what markets are actually signaling, respond with objectivity instead of emotion, and communicate that process clearly to clients.”
Prudential Announces AI Upgrades For Advisor Leads Programs
Prudential Advisors, the retail arm of Prudential Financial, announces enhancements to its advisor leads programs, leveraging AI and data science with the goal of improving lead quality and increasing conversion rates. The firm said AI is now embedded in the Prudential Advisors Connect (PA Connect) platform – covering enrichment, scoring, routing, feedback and advisor enablement.
With these enhancements, generative AI analyzes Prudential data to surface actionable insights. These insights provide the context for advisors to personalize prospect outreach, according to the firm. In addition, the program’s data science models rank leads most likely to convert, enabling advisors to focus on high-impact actions.
“As the volume of data available to advisors continues to grow, AI is a strategic investment in advisors and growth,” said Pat Hynes, President of Prudential Advisors. “If we are to meet the challenge of turning a sea of data into meaningful action, we need a leads program that applies AI thoughtfully and responsibly – to help advisors focus on the opportunities that offer consumers the right advice at the right time.”
Oasis Group And Practifi Address CRM Selection In Research
The Oasis Group releases a new white paper on customer relationship management (CRM) selection in wealth management, sponsored by Practifi, a CRM provider for financial advisors. “CRM Selection in Wealth Management: Beyond the Build-vs-Buy Decision” analyzes CRM decisions for financial advisory firms in terms of timeframes for implementation, workflow alignment and long-term data architecture, according to the companies.
The paper sets out how CRM selection in wealth management has changed from the build-versus-buy debate, separating into three paths: generic enterprise platforms, niche wealth management CRMs and solutions designed to combine the strengths of the other two. The white paper introduces a three-phase implementation framework: foundation, automation and integration, addressing the rollout challenges causing most CRM failures.
“Our experience shows that 75% of CRM implementations fail not because of the software itself, but because of rollout strategy, data architecture, and change management missteps,” said John O’Connell, Founder and CEO of The Oasis Group. “The firms that win are the ones that treat CRM as the operational hub of the business, implement in phases, and build the unified data foundation that AI will require.”
Kestra Strengthens Advanced Planning Capabilities With Executive Hire And RightCapital Deal
Kestra Financial appoints Christine E. Brown as Head of Advanced Planning and partners with financial planning software provider RightCapital to give Kestra-affiliated advisors access to new planning solutions. A licensed attorney in California, Brown has over two decades of experience advising ultra-high net worth families on wealth transfer strategies, trust administration, and estate planning, according to Kestra. She previously served as Managing Director of Laurel Trust Company.
The RightCapital partnership provides Kestra-affiliated advisors with tools that the firms said “integrate seamlessly into advisors’ existing technology stacks, enabling them to deliver modern, comprehensive financial plans.” RightCapital’s planning capabilities include retirement planning, tax planning and insurance needs analysis. Over the past year, it has launched new features to support planning for business owners, client prospecting and expanded tax analysis. Kestra advisors will have access to RightCapital’s onboarding and support.
“I’m excited to join Kestra Financial to lead its advanced planning initiatives,” said Brown. “Advanced planning is one of the most powerful ways advisors can help clients achieve their long-term goals, and I appreciate Kestra’s deep commitment to equipping its advisors with the tools and expertise they need to succeed.”
AdvisorEngine Hires Tim Foley As Head Of AI
AdvisorEngine appoints Tim Foley as its first Head of Artificial Intelligence. His responsibilities include developing and integrating third-party AI functionality, the firm said. He reports to Patrick Arnold, the firm’s Head of Product Management.
Foley was previously with LPL Financial, where he served as Head of Artificial Intelligence Accelerator. He has 25 years of industry experience, including prior leadership positions at BNY Mellon | Pershing and JPMorgan Chase.
“The right AI resources can help advisors elevate their practices,” Foley said. “Our goal is to bring additional AI capabilities to advisors that help them boost revenue growth, streamline daily work, and give them more time to connect deeply with clients. Many advisory firms are overwhelmed trying to keep up with the rapid advancements in AI. I am excited to work directly with our clients to ‘clear the fog’ on how to actually implement AI successfully.”
Orion Selected By Edelman Financial Engines For Advisor Technology
Orion announces a partnership with Edelman Financial Engines to provide technology tools to its financial planners. Orion’s advisor platform includes portfolio management, trading, real-time data insights and reporting within a unified system.
Its capabilities include the Orion Reporting Suite which helps advisors with client communications and personalization. Orion serviced $5.8 trillion in AUA and $133 billion in client assets as of Dec. 31.
“Edelman Financial Engines has long been a leader in delivering high-quality, human-centered financial planning at scale, and we’re proud to support the next phase of their journey,” said Natalie Wolfsen, CEO of Orion. “Our focus at Orion is to simplify complexity so advisors can stay centered on the people they serve. This collaboration reflects our shared commitment to personalization, better workflows, and meaningful client outcomes.”
Focal And Shaping Wealth Partner For Behavioral Coaching
AI-powered advisor platform Focal partners with Shaping Wealth, a provider of behavioral science-based solutions for advisors. Shaping Wealth’s AI agents are trained on academic research and real-world advisor insights to give insights on client behavior and decisions.
With the deal, Shaping Wealth’s behavioral intelligence agent will be integrated with Focal’s AI meeting tool, allowing it to go beyond functions like automated meeting prep and notetaking. The integration will provide advisors with feedback on categories like empathy, clarity, engagement and decision support, the firms said. Real-time, actionable insights are designed to help advisors improve prospecting, guide client decision making and deepen relationships.
“What’s been missing in advisors’ technology stacks is truly personalized insight backed by industry-leading research into how advisors communicate, listen and guide clients through financial decisions,” says John Connell, CEO of Focal. “By embedding Shaping Wealth’s applied behavioral science directly into every client conversation, we provide advisors with client-specific, actionable feedback that helps them ask better questions, identify opportunities informed by prior conversational context and ultimately build deeper trust and improve outcomes over time.”
Altruist Launches Tax Planning Within Hazel AI Platform
Los Angeles-based Altruist introduces tax planning capabilities within its AI platform for advisors, Hazel. Hazel can read client tax forms, pay stubs, account statements, meeting notes and other client data, analyze them and produce personalized tax strategies within minutes, the company said.
Hazel can also model different tax scenarios for inputs such as an annual bonus, the sale of a home, retirement or a change to the family. Advisors can share the various outcomes with clients in real time, or export client-ready reports. The platform does not retain any client data, nor is the data used for AI training. Hazel was launched in September 2025 and has since been used by more than 1,000 advisors, Altruist said.
“Tax planning is one of the most powerful ways advisors can improve outcomes, but it’s also slow and mentally draining, especially in the busy tax season,” said Jason Wenk, Founder and CEO of Altruist. “Hazel’s tax planning feature flips that dynamic. It expands what a single advisor can handle, raises the bar on outcomes, and makes average advice a lot harder to justify.”
Wealth.com Partners With Both Jump And Zocks For Estate Planning Capabilities
Wealth.com and Jump partner to connect estate planning with meeting preparation. Advisors using Jump’s pre-meeting tool will be able to view Wealth.com estate planning data, including households, roles and documents. The integration is designed to help advisors easily identify and update any estate planning gaps, such as outdated documents or missing roles.
Wealth.com and Zocks also partner on AI-assisted estate planning. A two-way integration enables Zocks to automatically pull estate planning details from client conversations and sync them to Wealth.com. Wealth.com client data, such as quizzes, documents and recommendations, is also synced with Zocks in its meeting prep and client follow-up capabilities. With AI assistance, advisors will be able to process estate plans in minutes after a meeting, instead of hours or days, the firms said.
“At its core, this integration connects what advisors talk about with what their planning systems know,” said Parker Ence, Co-Founder and CEO of Jump. “By bringing estate planning data directly into meeting preparation, we’re reducing friction for advisors so they can focus less on administrative work and more on delivering advice that reflects what clients actually care about.”
Orion Adds DPL Annuity And Insurance Solutions For Advisors
Orion and DPL Financial Partners expand their integration that provides advisors with annuity and insurance solutions within the Orion Connect platform, providing access inside the platform to a marketplace of fee-based products and supporting tools. One of the tools, Annuity Comparison Calculator, lets advisors evaluate existing client annuities and compare them with alternatives aligned to retirement income, principal protection or growth objectives, the firms said.
The Guaranteed Income Analysis tool helps advisors identify annuity solutions that meet specific retirement income needs and model retirement outcomes, while the MYGA Marketplace enables advisors to compare and apply for a variety of commission-free MYGAs. The tools use DPL’s rules-based engine and product database to provide client proposals, recommendations matched to client goals, and the ability to launch digital applications, the companies said.
“Commission-free annuities are becoming an essential part of modern, fiduciary financial planning — but advisors need technology to access and implement them without friction,” according to Reed Colley, President of Orion Advisor Technology. “Through this integration of DPL’s annuity tools and product insights, advisors have the ability to evaluate income strategies, uncover held-away assets, and deliver more confident retirement outcomes without leaving their core workflow.”
Wealth Solutions Report can be reached at info@wealthsolutionsreport.com.
