Happy Tuesday, Fellow Fintechers!

Though we start the day with hope and gratitude in our heart, and take every day as a blessing, we still learned last week the sad news of the unexpected passing of our beloved friend Lonnie MacDonald, CMO of Vestmark. Lonnie was just a big teddy bear of a man – a marketing genius rolled up with warmth and kindness we seldom see in this world anymore. He surely will be missed. Make sure to check out the obituary Chris Robbins has posted this week on him. The Financial Advisor magazine team continues to send love and prayers to his family and colleagues.

Moving on – because we must – we continue with Vasyl Soloshchuk’s Wealthtech Weekly column, outlining industry news that went down this past week from Orion, FIDx, LPL and more.

Digital investment banker Jim Row of Entoro has penned a special piece for us today on the value of getting accurate valuations in alternative investments. With more investment transactions occurring through online investment portals with few human touch points, validation of valuations becomes more important than ever. 

Today we also have several great pieces on industry news from the FA Mag editorial team, including news from our friends at Refinitiv of a free 60 day offer for advisors of their Workspace for Wealth Advisors offering, along with a new COVID 19 app they’ve developed with updated news, charts and more for their customers, posted by FA Mag senior editor Chris Robbins.

Robbins also interviewed SmartAsset CEO Michael Carvin for his piece on the firm’s new ”Live Connections” service which “uses live concierge telephone operators to follow-up with prospects via calls”. This amounts to essentially instantaneous prospect follow up, and promises much higher client conversion rates. Surely it can be a game-changer for the industry.

We finish with news from Robbins that wealthtech firm FIDx has entered into a strategic partnership with Financial Independence Group and word from FA’s Jackie Sergeant that Dynasty Financial Partners and Mariner Wealth Advisors have teamed up to launch a new portal for their advisors that combines Dynasty’s Core Services and TAMP platforms, along with their proprietary Advisor Desktop. We have often said in the past that more strategic partnerships are coming in the wealthtech space, and the news above confirms that.

Friends, this has been a trying time for us all but there are so many blessings to be derived as well. Stay safe, healthy and innovative, and keep yourself abreast of the latest trends in wealthtech, because the advisor business is changing and the smart and strategic use of wealthtech in your practice is the key to your firm’s successful future.

Yours in Fintech,
Cindy Taylor