Taiko Launches Investment And Support Platform for Firms, Riskalyze Hosts Fearless Investing Summit, Orion Releases RIA Marketing Tech Suite, Docupace Names Lori Hardwick Chair Of The Board, and Bento Engine Enhances C-Suite And Advisor Content
Deputy Managing Editor, Wealth Solutions Report
In this edition of the Wealthtech Roundup, we meet our latest “Wealthtech Leader of the Month,” Chris Horvath, Managing Director at Taiber Kosmala and Associates and its new technology-enhanced OCIO platform, Taiko.
Other entries this month include Riskalyze hosting its Fearless Investing Summit, Orion Advisor Solutions releasing its Redtail Campaigns RIA marketing tech suite, Docupace naming wealth management industry veteran Lori Hardwick as Chair of the Board of Directors and Bento Engine making key executive hires as well as enhancing its advisor content offering.
1. Taiko Launches As OCIO And Support Platform For Wealth Management Firms
Taiber Kosmala and Associates, a Chicago-based investment consulting firm advising on over $15 billion in client assets, launched Taiko as an OCIO solution for RIAs, national advisory firms, broker dealers and trust companies. Taiko combines institutional research with bespoke investment portfolios, middle- and back-office support and an integrated technology stack.
Taiko, which is built for firms with $100 million to billions in assets under management (AUM), offers operational, technological, marketing and compliance support. It aims to alleviate the burden on wealth management firms of handling non-revenue-generating responsibilities such as trading and rebalancing, billing and portfolio accounting.
Managing Director at Taiko
The platform provides vetted SMA managers and alternative investments, capital markets and economic research, as well as dashboards that strive to streamline communication with Taiko’s team and simplify workflows for firms. Its leadership has pre-existing relationships with hedge funds, venture capital and private equity firms, as well as private debt and real asset managers.
And now for our quick Q&A with Wealthtech Leader of the Month Chris Horvath, Managing Director at Taiko.
WSR: There’s so much tech out there for wealth management firms. How does Taiko stand out as an OCIO solution for RIAs?
Horvath: Taiko was created with an institutional investment consulting backbone and combining that expertise with a custom technology solution is a game changer for RIAs. Our clients experience a completely customized investment program to offer their clients and feel empowered to grow their business the way they want.
Our technology is simple by design and built with intention to allow advisors and their teams to gather the data they need when they need it and feel confident the job is getting done right.
WSR: How can wealth management leaders determine ahead of time which tech-based institutional IM and back-office solutions will really be value-add?
Horvath: To really get a handle on the solutions that will bring the most value to a wealth management business, I suggest doing a little homework first. Leaders can sit down with their teams and calculate the amount of hours spent on investment management, research and back-office duties and discuss how they would repurpose that time.
Some teams might invest those hours back into the business by serving more clients or simply offering new services to existing clients. Additionally, advisory firm leaders should focus on solutions that would allow their team to spend more time doing what they enjoy the most.
WSR: What’s next on the advisor-facing technology front for Taiko, in terms of product pipeline and/or strategic growth initiatives, and why?
Horvath: We launched a brand new, lightning fast advisor experience to elevate the investment management and research process. Each RIA we serve has their own curated Strategy Gallery that includes their own custom investment portfolios, SMAs and alternative investment solutions. We’re also focusing on smart dashboards that empower RIAs to maintain a strong grasp on the business, both from an investment and operational perspective.
To learn more, view the press release here.
2. Riskalyze Announces Platform Growth Initiatives At Its Fearless Investing Summit
Riskalyze hosted its annual Fearless Investing Summit from Oct. 19 to Oct. 21 in Salt Lake City for over 50 asset management and technology partners and more than 1,000 attendees, where the wealthtech provider announced several growth initiatives for its platform.
These included check-ins for gauging client market sentiment, more ways for advisors and firms to organize and categorize accounts, a new “tax drag” metric for displaying the tax liability triggered by capital gains distributions and upgrades to other tools. According to wealthmanagement.com, Riskalyze CEO Aaron Klein also announced at the summit that in 2023 the company will have a new name to reflect the evolution of its services.
In addition, the Fearless Pledge by Females & Finance was announced at the summit, with Klein as the first signatory. It is a vow to hire, mentor, train and advance 100,000 women by the end of 2025. Other signatories include Stephanie Bogan, Founder of Limitless Advisor Coaching, and corporate level signatory Gateway Financial Partners.
To learn more, view the press releases here and here.
3. Orion Releases Redtail Campaigns Marketing Tech Suite With Help Of Snappy Kraken
Orion Advisor Solutions released Redtail Campaigns, a new CRM-based RIA marketing technology suite, with the help of Snappy Kraken. The offering seeks to provide financial advisors with hyper-personalized marketing campaigns to prospects and clients, launched directly from the advisor’s CRM dashboard.
Advisors can access the full scope of Snappy Kraken’s current offering – from compliance workflow to marketing automation – while receiving customizations, integrations and content that are available exclusively through Redtail Campaigns. This includes insights from Orion’s investment, financial planning and behavioral finance experts.
According to a survey conducted in September of approximately 150 Orion technology clients, respondents cited lack of time (37%), sourcing quality prospects (31%) and finding the right tools or technology to assist (30%) as the main marketing challenges for their firms.
To learn more, view the press release here.
4. Docupace Names Industry Veteran Lori Hardwick As Chair Of The Board Of Directors
Chair of the Board of Directors at Docupace
Docupace, a digital back-office workflow and automations provider for the wealth management industry, named Lori Hardwick as Chair of the Board of Directors, a position formerly held by FTV Capital Managing Partner Brad Bernstein.
Hardwick has over 30 years of experience as a senior executive, entrepreneur and board member. She co-founded Envestnet, then became Chief Operating Officer at Pershing and later co-founded AI Labs. Hardwick also is Chair of the Board of Directors at Vestwell and currently holds board seats at Cetera Financial Group, Orion Advisor Solutions and Cerity Partners.
As we previously reported, Docupace expanded its executive roster in September by appointing John Stilo, Sebastian Skwarek, Florence Royce, Nouman Jan and Debbie Miller to leadership and management roles across the organization. These followed earlier C-suite appointments that occurred after its acquisition by FTV Capital in April 2020.
To learn more, view the press release here.
5. Bento Engine Enhances Financial Advisor Content, Adds C-Suite Executives
Bento Engine, a CRM-connected software-as-a-service (SaaS) that provides advisors with client-ready materials, hired three executives to key leadership positions and rolled out the Life Events solution for delivering targeted financial guidance to clients and prospects.
Cassie Jackson, formerly Senior Director of Enterprise Sales at AdvicePay, was appointed Chief Growth Officer at Bento Engines. Charlotte Ketelaar, previously at the investment bank of ING, was appointed Chief of Staff. Marcus Davis, previously Account Executive at Podium and Sales Development Associate at Better, was appointed Advice Evangelist / Business Development Representative.
The Life Events solution provides advisors with financial guidance related to the birth of a child, buying a home, getting married, moving to a new state and other milestones. Bento integrates via application protocol interfaces (APIs) with CRMs such as Salesforce, Redtail, Wealthbox, Microsoft Dynamics and Practifi.
To learn more, view the press releases here and here.
Chris Latham, Deputy Managing Editor at Wealth Solutions Report, can be reached at clatham@wealthsolutionsreport.com
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