The following article is based on an interview with Mac Bartine, CEO of SmartRIA
Site: www.smart-ria.com
Founded: 2011
Value proposition: Compliance, CRM, Business Valuation, Business Continuity
The executive team: Mac Bartine, CEO; Adrian Carr, CTO; John Morris, Board of Advisors; Roger Kiger, Founder
SmartRIA is an all-in-one RIA management platform that combines back-office efficiencies with federal and state compliance. The company offers two platforms: one for financial advisors to help them manage their compliance obligations, and the other for compliance consultants. SmartRIA’s mission is simplifying compliance for financial advisors while constantly looking at the software to figure out how to make it easier to understand. For now, it manages about 1,200 firms ranging in size from one-person shops to those with more than 100 people, and it shows no sign of letting up.
Mac Bartine is a technology leader hired by SmartRIA founder Roger Kiger, a 20-year veteran of the wealth management industry, to manage and grow a technology company. It was roughly a year before they launched the product to the national market. Since that time, Mac has been a technology visionary within SmartRIA.
In this article, we’re going to take a closer look at the product SmartRIA provides, its focus and benefits, integration strategy, the best software development and product management practices, and how the company solves the burning problems.
Focus and strategy of SmartRIA
Normally, users spend from 30% to 50% of their time on compliance, SmartRIA research says. Many large firms have dedicated compliance teams consisting of people who are only working on compliance. SmartRIA makes it possible to move their efforts into other areas of the business and be more productive there.
“For every technology company, there’s always a temptation to get into verticals within the same industry, expand its features and become an all-in-one solution," Bartine says. "That said, we have remained completely focused on compliance within the financial services industry.”
Bartine believes that keeping that focus makes wealthtech companies a success. However, clients want to minimize tossing data from platform to platform and missing valuable opportunities. That’s why integrations are important for the overall SmartRIA strategy. It already has integrations with many custodians as well as CRMs such as Redtail and Wealthbox, and it is now starting to integrate other firms such as Black Diamond.
In addition, it is considering adding such features as monitoring securities, email and social media archiving to its platform. Bartine believes this would make the solution truly all-in-one for compliance.