AlphaTrAI, a technology consultancy and technology provider to the wealth and asset management industries, acquired Anchor Advisory Services, a sales planning and management technology firm, this week. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Pronounced “Alpha-tray”, with the letters “T” and “r” standing for “through” (Alpha through AI), it is headed by Bill Dwyer, known for his 22 years at LPL Financial, where he served as head of recruiting and president during some of its most important years before leaving in 2014. He joined AlphaTrAI in early 2022 as CEO and chairman of the board, but he was also an early investor in the startup.
The startup has raised $3.8 million in total funding, according to Crunchbase, but the firm is currently in the midst of another round, according to a spokesperson, though that has not yet been disclosed.
AlphaTrAI, launched in 2018, is headquartered in San Diego, California and is backed by venture capital firm Analytics Ventures. Analytics invests in companies that focus on artificial intelligence and has invested in AI-focused startups in other industries, including healthcare, sales enablement and Internet of Things technologies.
The company built its automated trading platform using a proprietary set of machine learning algorithms and launched its first investment strategy, the Intrinsic Performance Fund, in October 2020. However, as demand for artificial intelligence technologies in the wealth and asset management sector grew, its board decided in October 2023 to move into that area and leave the proprietary asset management space.
It has continued to expand its team and expertise and is now focused on applying AI to front-end, middle-end and back-end applications through custom technology for the wealth and asset management industries, with six programmers on staff along with several external contractors. .
Henrik Christensen, a distinguished professor of computer science at the University of California, San Diego, joined AlphaTrAI's core scientific board in October 2023. According to a spokesperson, the company has also established a deep relationship with UC's School of Computer Science and Engineering San Diego and often recruits Ph.D. candidates to work as interns.
Anchor's business and technology will be updated with AlphaTrAI's latest tools, which will “expand opportunities for Anchor and its customers, enhancing both firms' value proposition and driving growth,” according to a company statement. .
“Anchor's expertise gained from scheduling over 50,000 meetings between advisors and wholesalers will be significantly enhanced with the integration of our technology and together, we are uniquely positioned to advise and support wealth and asset management firms ,” Dwyer said in the statement.