Fidelity and Envestnet Add Structured Notes
What Happened: Simon Markets, a platform for structured notes, has partnered with both Fidelity Institutional and Envestnet to offer advisors access to its stable of investment products.
Why It Matters: Simon spun off from Goldman Sachs in 2018 and has been building out capabilities around structured notes for years now, but access to these investment solutions doesn’t come easy. For one thing, they are constantly rolling and new ones are being created. For another, each flavor of structured note is slightly different from another, and can entail wildly different amounts of risk and potential reward. It’s great to see Simon, and their competitors like Halo, help this set of investment solutions take flight.
Disclosure: Envestnet and Fidelity are Riskalyze integration partners, and Riskalyze provides analysis and access to structured note products via its partnership with Halo.
Skience Announces Integration with Redtail
What Happened: Skience, an upstart provider of account opening and back-office solutions, announced an integration with Redtail CRM.
Why It Matters: An integration with Redtail might not typically be world-shaking news; after all, the CRM company boasts 171 integrations. But this move by Skience is interesting because the firm has typically provided its solutions via the Salesforce platform. Will opening their platform up to the top CRM for advisors broaden their horizons? Time will tell.
Disclosure: Redtail is a Riskalyze integration partner.
Ritholtz Launches Crypto Index
What Happened: Ritholtz Wealth Management and WisdomTree have joined forces to launch the RWM WisdomTree Crypto Index, helping advisors give their clients easier access to crypto exposure. The index will also be accessible via the Onramp Invest platform.
Why It Matters: It’s easy to think that crypto is stuck on first base when it comes to advisor access, but when sluggers like Ritholtz and WisdomTree step up to the plate, a home run is always a possibility. This index doesn’t make crypto any less risky, but it does make it a lot easier for advisors to satisfy client demands and explore the potential benefits of cross-correlation driven by alternative asset classes.
Disclosure: Ritholtz Wealth Management was one of Riskalyze’s first-ever clients; WisdomTree is a Riskalyze asset management partner, and Onramp Invest is an impending Riskalyze integration partner.
RIA in a Box Acquired by Complysci
What Happened: On the heels of a $120 million equity infusion into the verticalized compliance software company, Complysci acquired RIA in a Box, one of the leading compliance tech providers in RIA circles.
Why It Matters: ComplySci’s deal for RIA in a Box is rumored to be another blockbuster with another big valuation multiple. RIA in a Box’s Will Bressman becomes president of the newly combined firm, and plays a bigger role in serving firms with compliance tools across a number of industries. It’ll be interesting to see where ComplySci heads next.
MarketCounsel, Dynasty Make an Investment in SmartRIA
What Happened: At MarketCounsel Summit 2021, Dynasty Financial Partners and MarketCounsel announced they were making a strategic investment in SmartRIA, a compliance and regulatory tech platform. The move accelerates SmartRIA’s availability to advisors in both firms’ networks.
Why It Matters: And the hits keep coming. Compliance technology appears poised for its breakout moment. In addition to the aforementioned ComplySci/RIA in a Box deal, Orion Advisor Solutions also acquired BasisCode. What’s driving all of this? Regulators aren’t making life easy on advisors and enterprises, and compliance tech is a key answer to the problems that chief compliance officers are trying to solve.
Snappy Kraken Offers Free Marketing Assessments
What Happened: Snappy Kraken, a marketing automation platform for advisors, announced the release of a free marketing assessment to help advisors assess their current initiatives and identify opportunities to improve.
Why It Matters: When it comes to marketing, success isn’t simply about creating more content. In fact, content with no distribution strategy is a recipe for wasted time. But strategy isn’t easy for advisors who need to spend their time focused on clients, investments, and financial plans. And marketing consultants don’t come cheap. The latest solution by Snappy looks to give advisors at least a headstart so they know the right questions to ask and where to look when they’re ready to begin scaling up how they promote their businesses.
Disclosure: I serve on the Board of Directors for Snappy Kraken.
The Fintech Report Card Says Goodbye
What Happened: December 2021 marks the end of an era—the last-ever Fintech Report Card. That’s right, you’re reading the final words of the final Fintech Report Card right now.
Why It Matters: The Fintech Report Card began in 2015 as a simple idea: Let’s keep advisors up-to-speed on the advisor tech news of the month. But as this year comes to a close, so does the Fintech Report Card era. Never fear—we’re cooking something up in the WealthManagement.com labs to take its place as an even better way to give you a glimpse into the advisor news you need to know. I can't wait to debut it in January. So stay tuned, and thanks for reading! It's the work that you do in the profession every single month that gets the biggest A+ and two-thumbs-up from me.