Happy Tuesday, Fellow Fintechers!

We are writing this on Monday, and it looks like it’s going to be a wild ride in the markets today – which is all the more reason to be informed on the most cutting edge technology that our readers can use while working remotely for at least the next few weeks.

First up for you today is our latest industry news from our resident wealthtech expert, Vasyl Soloshchuk. Soloshchuk also has an interview for us today with Doug Fritz of F2 Strategy, which helps customers “maintain the right digitization strategies and obtain more clients.” They recently partnered with MyVest on a research study around discretionary portfolio management systems.

We also have two other interviews for our readers today –more than usual– and all pretty interesting. We begin with a 3 Questions interview with GurinderAhluwalia, who has launched an interesting new fixed income cloud-based platform – BondNav – via his firm 280 CapMarkets. We also have a different type of interview for you this week, this time with Mike McCarthy, COO of wealth management firm Financial Consulate, which manages $550M in AUM. Mike shares how, by utilizing their Envestnet-based tech stack, they’ve been able to grow their firm from 300 to over 1,000 clients in the past seven years.  It’s well worth the read.

Today we also have a piece from our digital securities expert Bill Taylor: “The Gray Swan Stupefied.” The piece asks the question, “what assets should investment managers be investing in now?” post-coronavirus outbreak. It is a great read on a subject that should be top of mind for all asset managers right now.

Finally, we finish with Joyce Blay’s piece on news from TradePMR on their new model portfolio capabilities and new options hedge feature, and another look at what has become the epic failure known as Robinhood. Remember, the real story behind the non-stop outages you keep hearing of at this former darling of fintech has everything to do with a recent change in their custody.  They previously cleared through digital wealth-focused Apex Clearing and recently decided to self-clear.  Saving a lot of money is no doubt the reason they were guided to move in this direction, but how’s that working out now? It’s not! A powerful lesson about the need to work with experts when it comes to handling – and processing – other people’s money, and not be obsessed with saving every last penny when you’re running a major fintech operation.

Anyhow – we’re sending lots of positive fintech vibes to our readers during these historic times! Stay safe, be well and see you back here next week!

Yours in Fintech,
Cindy Taylor