Today, we start with a new roundup of the week’s latest news from our resident expert Vasyl Solushchuk in our Wealthtech Weekly column, including word of new intelligent APIs from Envestnet|Yodlee, news that advisor martech firm Snappy Kraken has signed on three new board members, including fintech luminary Aaron Klein of Riskalyze, and eMoney has announced a new integration with TD Ameritrade’s VeoOne technology platform.
We also have two outstanding pieces from last week’s blockbuster Schwab Impact conference, including a recap of Schwab’s “Independent Advisor Outlook Study,” now in its 12th year, in which technology was front and center, with 36% of respondents stating it would be a leading consideration for investment and change in 2020. In another piece recapping futurist Amy Webb’s speech at the conference, it was noted that the value of data eclipsed the value of oil in 2017, and if advisors are unfamiliar with or uncertain about how to use technology to gather and leverage data on their clients, they’d better get over it, and quickly, or be left behind.
In this week’s Q&A column, we have an interview with VC entrpreneur Woody Marshall of venture capital firm TCV. Marshall’s investment portfolio includes fintech, internet, digital media and entertainment industries, and he shares his background in investing in fintech since the mid-90’s. Fascinating read, and as I’ve often noted, if you want to see where the future of fintech is headed, watch the venture capital deals AND check out the public press releases. Both will tell you about what will be mainstream in the next 12-18 months.
In “RIAs Lag In Use Of Social Media Compared With Other Advisors,” author Joyce Blay recaps the eighth annual Survey of Advisors’ Social Media Use by American Century Investments. One of the key takeaways, “(f)irms whose advisors received advanced training in social media skills reported an increase in their business, compared with those firm whose advisors who just received basic training.” In this piece along with the others covering Amy Webb’s speech at Schwab Impact and the independent Schwab’s “Independent Advisor Outlook Study,” the need to be up to speed in all things tech (and fintech) is continually driven home, and is no longer a luxury for advisors, but rather a necessity.
Finally, we have two separate articles from industry insiders. In “The Case Against Sleeves,” Smartleaf president Gerard Michael shares his firm’s perspective on how and when sleeves can be used within investment portfolios. And in another piece, consultant Beth Haddock shares three action steps on compliance that advisors should take to be ready for the SEC's new best-interest regulations.
All in all, a packed newsletter on the tech front for our readers today, and further substantiation that advisors needs to be up to speed on both tech in general, and fintech and wealthtech in particular, or they’ll be left behind in the dust by their more tech-savvy peers.
Yours in Fintech,
Cindy Taylor, Publisher