Focus Financial Launches Alternatives Platform
Focus Financial Partners Inc., a New York City-based partnership of independent fiduciary wealth management firms, has partnered with CAIS Capital LLC to launch a customized alternative investments platform available exclusively to Focus financial advisors.
The platform will offer access to a broad range of alternative investments, as well as advisor education, independent due diligence and end-to-end digitized transaction processing and third-party reporting integrations. It will also permit Focus partner firms to evaluate, on behalf of their clients, a selection of alternative investment strategies such as hedge funds, private equity, private credit, real estate, digital assets and structured notes.
CAIS will also be introducing and operating proprietary feeder funds and multi-manager funds on the new platform. Focus partner firms will be able to add their own sourced third-party funds to the platform, thereby benefiting from centralized monitoring, transacting and reporting. Focus advisors can also use CAIS IQ content on the new platform, which will be tailored to meet their unique needs.
CAIS streamlines the end-to-end transaction process through digital subscriptions and integrated reporting with Fidelity, Schwab, and Pershing.
Founded in 2009, CAIS has offices in New York City; Los Angeles; Austin, Texas; and San Francisco.
Allfunds/iCapital Expanded Platform Goes Live
Allfunds, a Madrid, Spain-based B2B wealthtech platform for the funds industry, and iCapital, a financial services company headquartered in New York City, have taken their distributor network for alternative investments live.
The two companies’ partnership enables financial advisors and their high-net-worth clients to take advantage of private market investment opportunities in private equity, private debt, and real assets at lower minimum investment levels. The diverse set of strategies are carefully curated by iCapital and available through the Allfunds global distributor network.
Subscription and client servicing processes throughout the entire platform investment life cycle are fully automated, eliminating operation difficulties, as well as the traditional manual, paper-based practice that advisors and their clients have historically encountered with this asset class. Investors also benefit from centralized document management with complete visibility and comprehensive, streamlined reporting on all investments.
Fieldpoint Debuts White Glove Banking Platform For Independent Advisors
Fieldpoint Private has partnered with Summit Financial and Merchant Investment Management to introduce a new private banking model for independent advisors offering holistic wealth management services.
Through their collaboration, Summit and Merchant will acquire the assets of Fieldpoint’s investment advisory unit, and its banking services will then be delivered through Summit’s advisor services platform, SummitVantage. When the transition is complete, Fieldpoint’s wealth management business will increase Summit’s assets to approximately $12 billion, more than doubling the client base currently served by Fieldpoint’s banking services, while Merchant, a capital partner to Summit, represents a network of independent advisors with approximately $100 billion in client investment assets under management.
Fieldpoint said that ultimately its Advisor Banking Services will be available to the entire independent registered investment advisor community, including more than 14,000 firms managing nearly $5 trillion in client assets.
Headquartered in Greenwich, Conn., Fieldpoint Private has more than $1.3 billion in bank assets and $5.1 billion in total wealth management assets.