We were right in our prediction that the industry conferences happening in September would lead to new technology news. As we approach the end of 2024, we definitely see a theme emerging that large and complex institutions in wealth management are working diligently to deliver new technology to their clients at a rapid pace. This kind of commitment to technology is much needed as wealth management firms strategize how to better engage with clients in a changing marketplace.
So without further ado, here are October's five stories on WealthTech.
We are seeing the emergence of a new class of client planning technology, which is positive for the wealth management industry. New entrants and more competition can expose opportunities to the market, and then everyone wins, especially advisors. So we're excited to see Wealth.com's Series A funding round—$30 million could go a long way in growing and maturing its platform.
This is a story of two really interesting brands. Goldman Sachs Custody Solutions is an upcoming legitimate RIA custody platform. Since Goldman bought Folio's custodial infrastructure, it has staffed it with truly savvy industry veterans, including Craig Cintron and Gary Johnson. So we're not surprised to see innovative firms like New Edge partner with Goldman. New Edge serves advisors working with highly inclusive, highly demanding clients. Goldmans' custodial platform is well suited for this, so the relationship makes a lot of sense. But it's important to note that the new custodians, like Goldman or Altruist, aren't replacing existing custodians. They are additional options for firms that have a multi-custody platform. Schwab, Fidelity or Pershing are not moving. Advisers and their clients have more options for parking assets and, again, more competition is almost always better for our economy and industry.
The fact that BNY is adding an alts platform to a custodial platform is really impressive, especially with the improvements in portfolio construction that Wove represents. We are delighted with the pace of innovation by the BNY technology team in the last year. The names they have – Blue Owl, KKR and Apollo – are fantastic to rely on in their list of alts on the platform. This is extremely useful for RIAs that want to add an alts sleeve or for RIAs that already have an alt sleeve but are trying to get it up and running. It's a big step forward for Pershing and its customers.
We have been impressed with what Adam Holt has put into Asset-Map. It is a tool that can help you manage clients and acquire complex clients. As LPL actively goes to market, Asset-Map will help them serve those LPL advisors who are going to market with their clients. It's proof that LPL is putting its money where its mouth is, and like we said before, we're impressed with a large, complex institution that uses technology that advisers really need and, given the complexity and size of her, to do it at a fast pace.
Finding creative and efficient ways to digitally engage with customers remains one of the unfulfilled skills for most F2 customers. It's great to see Envestnet focusing on the digital customer experience and working to meet these needs and improve the experience for end investors. We look forward to more customer enhancements from Envestnet in the future.
Strong technology advances can only happen in an environment that has a really good technology team and an executive commitment to that technology team and the future of advisor efficiency. We don't always see this in organizations, but we do see it in these examples, and we hope to see it more and more. Stay tuned for what we reveal in the next edition of Word on WealthTech.