Robert DeChellis believes the typical client-advisor relationship is not sound because it lacks too many components. And that’s why he co-created Bonsai, a wealth management and technology platform designed to help financial professional manage a client’s full balance sheet.
“If you are going to properly advise clients on the outcomes that they are looking for, you really need to do that by having at least either managing or having a purview of all their assets and liabilities,” he said.
DeChellis, former president and chief strategist for Allianz Exchange, said Bonsai was created with the vision of recasting the future of financial advice. “We are basically saying that advisors really should be acting more as the family’s CFO than they should as their money managers or insurance agents,” he explained, adding that “It’s really thinking about them more in the entirety of their households.”
To add muscle to its philosophy of asset liability management, DeChellis today announced that Bonsai has partnered with 3rd-eyes analytics AG, a Zurich, Switzerland-based wealthtech company that “offers a cutting-edge asset liability management methodology (ALM) that provides holistic and customized optimization that consistently seeks to improve outcomes for clients.”
“We spent a great deal of time trying to find the perfect technology partner that could power an ALM philosophy and vision. In 3rd-eyes analytics, we literally found a company who is aligned with our vision,” DeChellis said. “And so, it’s a very exciting partnership,” he said, noting that the company is respected in Switzerland and has been recognized by the government for its innovations in sustainable investing.
DeChellis said the partnership with 3rd-eyes analytics allows Bonsai to offer financial professionals a unique approach to deliver determined outcomes for clients. “Through MyBonsai, financial professionals are now able to conduct an asset-liability conversation with their clients. It is mathematically impossible to accurately construct a financial plan without complete purview of a client’s entire balance sheet,” he explained.
Stephanie Feigt, CEO of 3rd-eyes analytics and a co-founder of the company, in a statement said, “We couldn’t be more pleased to introduce our innovative methodology to financial professionals in the United States through Bonsai.” She added, “We are in complete alignment with Bonsai’s asset-liability approach to planning and believe our collective visions make this an ideal partnership.”
Boulder, Colo.-based Bonsai, which launched in March, has three key units – Bonsai Exchange, Bonsai Advisors and Bonsai Consulting – that provide financial professionals and financial services firms with the solutions, tools and consulting needed to deliver clients the holistic advice they desire.
DeChelis said having access to sustainable investing is a plus in that their technology and software will allow investors to include it as a part of their overall investment strategy. He also noted that Bonsai Exchange is designed to create a platform that gives advisors access to protection-based solutions that historically have not been included as part of the overall investment process
So, the transition of solutions like life insurance and annuities will create less friction for advisors who have viewed it as cumbersome in the past, he said. He also noted that these solutions, which were once offered only in commission-based structures are now available to advisors who have fee-based practices.
DeChellis said the key differentiator for Bonsai is how it views holistic advice. He noted that the word holistic is often used in the advisory community, “but you really have to peel back to understand what it means,” he said. For Bonsai, he said, it means “truly asset-liability management.”
Advisors, he added, are generally not compensated to manage someone’s liabilities. “But knowing the structures of your liabilities is so important to understand for a client in order to deliver realistic outcomes for them.”