18 Enlightening Fintech Demos from In|Vest 2019

“A picture is worth a thousand words. An interface is worth a thousand pictures.” — Ben Shneiderman, American Scientist If an interface is worth 1,000 pictures, then the eighteen product demos we were treated to at the InVest 2019 Conference, which was held at the New York Marriot Marquis, were worth 18,000 pictures, which would […]
Diamond in the Rough: Orion Finds a Financial Planning Gem in Advizr

“The soul is placed in the body like a rough diamond, and must be polished, or the luster of it will never appear.” ― Daniel Defoe, English writer Orion Advisor Tech (formerly Orion Advisor Services) announced that they are acquiring financial planning software vendor Advizr for an undisclosed amount. I sat down with Randy Lambert, president of […]
#ItzOnWealthTech Ep 14: Cleaning Up Clients’ Financial Closets with Adam Holt

“Consolidation of assets has been one of the leading value propositions of what we’re doing, because if we can clean up a client’s financial closet, that’s more valuable than any kind of a investment strategy.” — H. Adam Holt, CEO of Asset-Map, LLC Adam Holt is the Founder and CEO of Asset-Map, one of the […]
#ItzOnWealthTech Ep 12: How Morningstar Quietly Built One of the Biggest Financial Technology Businesses

“Everyone wants to be the next Amazon, but the reality of what we want to do is bring together capabilities where Morningstar research and IP can add some value.” — Dermot O’Mahony, Global Head of Software at Morningstar Dermot is a SaaS-focused product executive with a track record for identifying high potential market opportunities within […]
The Day Envestnet Became the King of Financial Planning Software

“It’s good to be the king.” — Mel Brooks, History of the World, Part I Does the $500 million deal to buy MoneyGuidePro make Envestnet the King of Financial Planning Software? There’s so much to unpack here! Envestnet CEO Jud Bergman said that they had been interested in buying MoneyGuidePro for almost as long as […]
7 Surprising Facts About Financial Wellness Programs

Why should companies try to improve their employee’s well-being? How can financial wellness programs improve employee morale, lower stress levels and increase engagement? Do employees even want these programs? Financial planning technology vendor Advizr invited me to attend the first in a series of events to encourage an open dialogue among human resources professionals about financial […]
Is BlackRock-Envestnet Deal a Tipping Point for Lite Financial Planning?

What’s the best way to get financial planning functionality into the hands of more advisors? Standalone applications, like MoneyGuide Pro and eMoney Advisor, or “lite”financial planning functionality built directly into wealth management platforms? This tug-of-war has been going on for the past few years and it looks as though we might have reached a tipping point. BlackRock […]
99 Takeaways from the Riskalyze Fearless Investing Summit 2018

If there is one other thing that Aaron Klein does well, besides building a successful software company, it’s running a conference. Last year’s client conference in Lake Tahoe was a smashing success, so expectations were high for The Riskalyze Fearless Investing Summit 2018 held in San Antonio, TX. We really shouldn’t have been worried at […]