Happy Tuesday, Fellow Fintechers!
It’s September! Fall is coming, with pumpkin spice lattes, Halloween and the fourth quarter of 2020 all in the offing. Q4 in the media industry is a busy one, and it looks like it will be in the world of fintech and wealthtech as well as more news comes out around the pandemic and how it has affected the wealth management and wealthtech industries. 

We start this week’s newsletter as per usual with our Wealthtech Weekly column from Vasyl Soloshchuk with news from Advisor360, Wealthbox and Panoramix, amongst others. We have a new 3 Questions Q&A with Marc Butler, who has recently joined Skience (previously The Athene Group) as president and COO. Marc was most recently COO & managing director at BNY Mellon/Albridge.

Karen DeMasters, a Financial Advisor magazine senior writer, launches the week for us editorially with a deep dive into a recently released research study from Broadridge on technology adoption by large financial firms during the pandemic. She found that firms are adapting new technology protocols quickly but still have a way to go according to Eric Bernstein, president of Broadridge’s asset management solutions division.

FA Mag Senior Editor Chris Robbins has filed several pieces this week including news that California- based AssetMark – which offers electronic delivery, e-signature, and an online learning platform – has rolled out a new offering providing advisors assistance in digital servicing. Concurrently, independent broker-dealer LPL has also rolled out several new technology offerings, including instant messaging and enhanced e-signatures. 

In a move that will no doubt make many advisors nervous, Schwab has recently rolled out free digital financial planning to all Schwab brokerage clients, regardless of asset level, via a questionnaire that can be completed in as little as 15 minutes.
 
Robbins also reviewed the recently released TD Ameritrade’s 2020 RIA Sentiment Survey Mid-Year Update. There is quite a bit of info in the story that was filed, but interestingly, 40% of advisors surveyed actually saw an increase in AUM and revenue, despite the initial recessionary effects of the pandemic. 

Finally, Robbins reviewed one more study this past week from New York Life investments that found that married female breadwinners are struggling with financial literacy, and advisors are not serving that market very well. Just as I suspected, one of the main issues is simply finding time to devote to becoming more financially educated, and we get that. Sally Krawcheck’s wealthtech firm Ellevest has aimed for this market head on, and Barbara Provost has developed an financial education literacy program for women called Purse Strings, but again, women have to take the time to educate themselves, or seek out resources like those above or find advisors who will take the time to help them learn financial planning basics. With that said, we see a hugely underserved market that is ripe for the pickings.

Finishing up, another major week in fintech and wealthtech with important research published that helps our readers further understand the pulse of wealth management – and the technology that serves that market – during this ongoing pandemic.

Read up and be in the fintech know!

Yours in Fintech,
Cindy Taylor