Here’s your Riskalyze Fintech Five for March, a focused take on what we think are the last five best stories in wealth management technology.
Another Banner T3 conference
Recent bank failures and ongoing market volatility could not put a damper on this year’s T3 conference, which was held in Tampa, Florida in early March.
Joel Bruckenstein and his team never disappoint and this year’s event brought the goods again. The conference brought together nearly 100 leading wealth technology companies to talk about the latest ways we are innovating for financial advisors and their clients.
We also saw the release of the annual T3/Inside Information Advisor Software Survey, and everyone here at Riskalyze is thrilled to have our growth platform gain market share across all four segments where they included us.
T3 was a fantastic kickoff to the 2023 conference season and you can be sure you will see us there again next year.
ChatGPT meets advice technology
Well, we may not have seen a SkyNet takeover when robo-advisors jumped on the scene, but the machines aren’t done with us yet.
The Advent of ChatGPT has advisors buzzing, with 33% saying in a recent survey that AI is the “most disruptive technology trend” facing our industry today.
Fintech providers are rushing to incorporate the technology – with perhaps the most exciting application how FMG announced its new AI-powered content customization engine, and Redtail’s Brian McLaughlin shares that he’s working to add these capabilities to Redtail Speak.
Many advisors have asked my opinion on the technology, and I see language models like ChatGPT as the equivalent of a calculator in math class—it’s what Steve Jobs called a “bicycle for the mind.”
Sure, it can be used to cheat on tests, or pretend you’re working when you’re not. Every piece of technology that transforms the world around us is also misused from time to time.
Advisors and wealth management firms should lean in to leverage these capabilities, not ignore them. Those who do will best position themselves in this brave new world.
Altruist Acquisition of SSG
There may not be another advisor technology team making more waves than Altruist right now.
Just weeks after announcing the launch of his own self-executing platform, founder Jason Wenk dramatically changed the custody landscape with the acquisition of Shareholders Services Group.
The move adds 1,600 advisers and doubles the number of RIAs Altruist serves, but most importantly, it catapults it all the way to No. 3 among RIA managers, just behind Schwab and Fidelity.
As the merger of Schwab and TD Ameritrade approaches in recent months, this is a bold move by Wenk to best position his firm with the service and technology it needs to compete for advisers considering their custody options.
Comment Period Reopened for SEC Cybersecurity Rule
One of the main themes heard at this year’s TE conference was about the need to improve cybersecurity among advisory firms, and the SEC seems to agree.
They have reopened the comment period for a proposed cybersecurity rule that would require advisers to create policies and procedures to protect client information in the event of a breach, and to disclose incidents with updates to their ADV forms.
This rule was originally proposed over a full year ago, and a key concern expressed in the rule’s mandate is that all significant cybersecurity incidents must be reported to the SEC within 48 hours — a timeline that may be too burdensome for some RIAs.
Regardless of how this rule plays out, it’s clear that compliance will only get more complicated.
The best way to navigate changes like this is to leverage technology that creates a unified compliance process and can give compliance teams the scale they need to effectively identify and resolve issues, so firms can stay compliant and keep their customer data safe.
Jolt is back
We end today’s video with a look ahead. Martech innovator Snappy Kraken is closing in on the second annual Jolt conference.
Taking place at The Aria Resort in Las Vegas in early May, Jolt brings a unique experience to the industry focused on bringing together the best marketing minds in finance to help advisors grow their businesses with creative marketing practices.
The speaker list covers everything from digitally savvy advisors like Thomas Kopelman, to PR veterans like Jason Lahita of StreetCred, to award-winning entrepreneurs like Brittany Hodak.
And I look forward to speaking there as well.
It’s sure to be a great time, but you don’t have much time left to register. Head over to JoltConference.com to grab your ticket before registration closes.
