Plus ESG Isn’t Political, Our Weekly Recruitment Roundup, Compliance In The Digital Era, A New Broker-Dealer, Successful Internships, AI, Views On Custodians And More
To My Fellow WSR Community Members:
Anyone who ever lost air conditioning in a heat wave knows the difference specialized firms of highly skilled professionals can make. Similarly, professional firms in the wealth management industry bring decades of experience and cutting edge techniques to navigate a crisis, implement systems and enhance existing systems.
Earlier this year, we called out excellence in marketing and communications agencies and advisor recruitment specialists, and now we extend recognition to 10 professional services firms across the categories of law firms, compliance and regulatory affairs consultants, marketing service providers and investment solutions consultants.
Our industry is fortunate to have these firms and their experts, as well as many other high quality firms in the same categories. They enrich our work and our clients’ lives, and we are excited to honor them.
In addition, we bring you a fresh perspective on ESG, our weekly roundup of recruitment news, F2 Strategy’s survey on custodial services, executive changes at SageView, a Smarsh executive’s take on the latest massive regulatory fines, SEIA’s new broker-dealer, Snappy Kraken’s AI-powered email builder and an examination of success in internship programs.
This Week’s Issue
This week we bring you:
- We announce the PRO 10: Top Wealth Management Professional Services Firms, honoring firms that serve our industry in the categories of compliance and regulatory affairs, law, marketing and investment solutions in Words In Edgewise.
- Who’s our newest Recruiter Of The Month? In Newsmakers & Roundups, we speak with Randy Long, Founder & Managing Principal and, effective Sept. 1, Chairman at SageView Advisory Group. This week’s deals also include Kestra Financial recruiting over $1.6 billion in assets under management, Equitable recruiting four advisors who collectively oversee $360 million in AUM, Sequoia Financial Group agreeing to acquire Affinia Financial Group, Fidelity’s M&A report revealing that RIAs experienced a record-breaking July, SEIA planning to turn its in-house broker-dealer live for advisors on Sept. 1 and Kingswood U.S. expanding the leadership of its investment banking division.
- What’s the latest AI-powered martech service? In Digital Domain, Snappy Kraken launched an email builder with the goal of helping financial advisors quickly create more impactful email campaigns to clients and prospects. The new tool can revise email headlines and text, as well as generate brand-consistent images and call-to-action buttons intended to drive audience follow-through.
- Is ESG political? Or does it have a different purpose? In Investment Solutions & Gatekeepers, Andrew Poreda, VP & Senior Research Analyst at Sage Advisory, argues that ESG isn’t political and its real purpose is risk management and improved returns. He describes the pitfalls of advisors avoiding the topic with clients and explains how to broach that conversation while sidestepping politics.
- How do you know an internship program was successful? In Words In Edgewise, we speak with four professionals at Wealthspire about what constitutes a successful program and how to achieve it: Advisor and Managing Director Grant Ruder; Advisor and Assistant Vice President Myka Koenen; and two professionals who began at the firm as interns, Senior Advisor Associate Jack Keating and Advisor Associate Marianne Esche.
- Who raised $1.6 million for charity? Also in Newsmakers & Roundups, Invest in Others named 10 firms to its 2023 Charitable Champions List, recognizing companies that promote a culture of philanthropy and give back to their communities. Altogether, the firms volunteered over 10,000 hours and donated more than $1.6 million to nonprofits across multiple initiatives.
In case you missed it, last week we brought you:
- In Newsmakers & Roundups, there were major moves at SageView Advisory Group as the former Silicon Valley Bank lost another executive. SageView appointed Founder Randy Long to become Chairman and poached SVB Private’s President John Longley as its new CEO.
- Also in Newsmakers & Roundups, on Sept. 1, Signature Estate & Investment Advisors (SEIA) aims to launch the in-house broker-dealer it announced a year ago, Signature Estate Securities (SES), which acquired a shell broker-dealer that it since has been developing for service to SEIA’s advisors. SEIA had an affiliation with Royal Alliance, prior to the rebrand of that outside broker-dealer under the new Osaic parent brand. SEIA will continue working with Osaic through its TAMP, Signature Investment Advisors.
- What’s so bad about letting workers use their smartphones? In Words In Edgewise, Robert Cruz, Vice President, Regulatory and Information Governance at Smarsh, explains the implications of the Securities & Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission fining a series of financial institutions nearly $550 million for their failure to follow proper recordkeeping requirements regarding digital communications.
- Do custodians need to innovate? Yes, according to a survey by F2 Strategy of 29 RIAs, wealth managers and asset managers, that we cover also in Words In Edgewise. The survey reveals that most firms are multi-custodial, areas in which firms want improved custody services and a trend of seeking third-party data delivery tools.
Our Managing Editor, Chris Latham, will attend the ECHELON Partners Deals & Dealmakers Summit next week. Please introduce yourself!
Tell us your ideas, comments and questions for experts.
Share our articles via email and social media, and congratulate the top professional services firms on LinkedIn!
Cheers!
Larry Roth, CEO
Wealth Solutions Report
