Redtail published the results from a survey entitled “Gen Tech” which tried to understand trends about technology usage across generations. Robinhood goes on filling key jobs as they prepare for a possible IPO next year. TD Ameritrade Institutional holds its first advisory-focused FinTech competition. BlackRock announced a strategic partnership with Envestnet. Nutmeg has launched a “socially responsible” investment theme for customers with general investment accounts and “individual savings accounts”.
Crypto assets are too risky for financial advisors to deal with, according to Joshua Brown, Ritholtz Wealth Management CEO.
Redtail Technology (“Redtail”), a leading provider of client relationship management (CRM) solutions for financial services firms, published the results from a survey entitled “Gen Tech” which show that the majority (55%) of Gen-X and Baby Boomer financial advisory employees today use mobile devices and tablets to access their CRMs, at a percentage just ahead of Millennial employees. The survey polled more than 2,300 financial advisory professionals ranging from Millennials to Generation-Xers to Baby Boomers across the country in an effort to understand trends about technology usage across generations.
Find more here.
Robinhood made two big hires last week — key steps in its path to eventual IPO.
Robinhood just got one step closer to an initial public offering.
The stock-trading platform hired Amazon veteran Jason Warnick as its first-ever chief financial officer, Robinhood announced in a blog post. The company had been looking to fill the role as part of its long-term strategy to go public, Robinhood co-CEO Baiju Bhatt said in September. Find more here.
Robinhood Markets Inc. made its second big hire of the week on Thursday, naming CapitalG partner Gretchen Howard to lead operations. Find more here.
TD Ameritrade Institutional to hold its first advisory-focused FinTech competition.
Three finalists have been chosen for TD Ameritrade Institutional’s first-ever competition for technology geared toward financial advisors and their clients. They are:
- Emotomy submitted a risk assessment tool;
- Derrick Wesley, the owner of iMar Learning Solutions, proposed a financial literacy application;
- Dynamic Wealth Solutions seeks to use natural language processing to develop a voice-activated assistant.
Find more here.
BlackRock announced a strategic partnership with Envestnet which includes acquiring a $123 million equity stake and taking control of 4.9% of the company’s common stock, according to a statement. Envestnet also issued a warrant for BlackRock to purchase an additional 470,000 shares for up to four years.
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Nutmeg has launched a “socially responsible” investment theme for customers with general investment accounts and “individual savings accounts”, or ISAs–an investment product that allows U.K. savers to sock money away tax-free. The theme primarily uses environmental, social, and governance screens to invest in stocks and ETFs. Investments are selected based on 10 different financial risk levels.
Find more here.
Crypto Assets
Josh Brown: Until custody risk is eliminated, crypto assets aren’t for wealth managers.
Joshua Brown, Ritholtz Wealth Management CEO, was back this year hosting a crypto and blockchain panel discussion. The big takeaway from the event: Until custody risk of crypto assets is virtually eliminated, the new asset class isn’t one financial advisors will ever deal in on behalf of retail investors. But advisors should nonetheless educate themselves about crypto assets because their broader relevance is a question of when, not if, according to some prominent wealth managers.
Find more here.
