Capuzzi is also excited about Apex’s partnership with a company called Quovo, which he says will potentially disrupt the account transfer process by automating it, a task that’s easier said than done.
He adds that Apex is making headway in the traditional advisor space. “We’ve added 30 new clients in the past year, and about 75% of them were advisors,” Capuzzi says. “It’s still early, but we’re seeing a mix of smaller, nimble and fintech-minded RIA firms and more enterprise-level advisories.”
Assuming that Apex has first-mover advantage in the B2B platform space, Capuzzi realizes it won’t last forever against the likes of Charles Schwab, Fidelity, TD Ameritrade, Pershing or other larger, formidable custodians.
“We’d be naive to think the competitors won’t catch up to us sooner or later, but I think they’ve got a long way to go because much of their infrastructure is built on 1980s/1990s technology,” he says. “Trying to fix that is a monumental task.
“I love our position as a kind of new entrant into the space as a challenger brand,” Capuzzi adds. “I think there are some significant, sustainable differentiators [between us and them].”