SEI LifeYield

Stop us if you’ve heard this joke. “Somebody once said to me about a big bank, ‘How do determine if someone is a trust client or a brokerage client?’” Alois Pirker, founder and CEO of Pirker Partners, said to WealthTech on Deck host Jack Sharry. (Pause) “It depends on which door they walk through.” Pirker, who heads an independent wealth management research and strategy consulting firm, said horizontally aligned data is the prerequisite for firms to apply AI to improve client service and grow their business. https://lnkd.in/em_wCAPy

Any of these scenarios familiar to you? - A client wants to consolidate accounts from other firms and advisors to you - You’re onboarding assets from another firm you’ve acquired or merged with - You’re succession planning for your practice Handle these situations and others without triggering unnecessary taxes. Presenting SEI Tax-Smart Transitions.

This week’s WealthTech on Deck guest recalled how when he was young, he’d pop the hood of his car to fix what went wrong. He wouldn’t dare do that today, said Bradley Kellum, Oliver Wyman partner and head of wealth management for North America. Car technology—like financial technology—has become so complex that it commands an expert’s care. In wide-ranging chat with host Jack Sharry, Kellum shared his perspective on the platform and product options that advisory firms wrestle with today: -     How to use AI to their advantage -     How to address investor demand for access to private markets -     Build vs. buy decisions -     What will increase organic growth https://lnkd.in/ehsC4GNe

It used to be financial services firms could slow walk making changes to their business. Advisors were comfortable. Clients stuck around. AI has put “gasoline in the fire,” Len Reinhart, a pioneer in fee-based money management and goals-based financial planning, told podcast host Jack Sharry. Reinhart co-authored a seminal paper on household-level financial advice 25 years ago. AI doesn’t change what the wrote then, he said, but it does put pressure on advisors to adopt a unified managed household (UMH) approach—or risk losing clients. https://lnkd.in/eBrzR5Xp

What began as a stream has turned into a torrent for this week’s WealthTech on Deck guest. He’s David Lau CEO of DPL Financial Partners, which recommends fee-based annuities based on investors’ explicit goals and needs. DPL got started with individual analysis: advisors bringing a single existing (usually commission-based) annuity to them. DPL technology would compare the contract against thousands of annuities and usually find a fee-based product that was significantly cheaper. “Now, you can give us thousands of annuities downloaded into a spreadsheet, and we’ll analyze them at scale,” Lau said. And more and more large firms are doing just that. https://lnkd.in/eavDRMMB

You read the announcement about the SEI investment in Avantos.ai. Now, meet the co-founders. Bassam Chaptini and Rabih Ramadi, co-founders of the AI-native operating system for client management in financial services, joined host Jack Sharry this week on the WealthTech on Deck podcast. The undergraduate roommates with advanced degrees from MIT have created a digital “butler” advocating for client household needs. Like a butler, the Avantos operating system circulates throughout a firm’s ecosystem seeking answers to questions like, “What have we done for this household? What should happen next? Have we missed anything?”   https://lnkd.in/eSj9c9Pk

Ambitious growth goals demand bold moves. You’ll find both at Edward Jones. Listen to this week’s WealthTech on Deck to hear Tom Lewandowski, CFA®, head of the high-net-worth segment at Jones, describe the national broker-dealer’s new Edward Jones Generations® program. The program is tailored for individuals with $10 million or more in investable assets.  The firm has outfitted Generations “hubs” in four locations—Scottsdale, St. Louis, Dallas, and West Palm Beach— provided advanced advisor training and carefully selected partners for tax and estate services. Listen to hear Lewandowski describe to podcast host Jack Sharry the firm’s ambitions in lifting the services it offers and eventually expanding to clients with $5 million or more. https://lnkd.in/ejHZr-sJ

Tired of hype? Then you’ll enjoy this week’s WealthTech on Deck featuring Scott Smith, senior director, advice relationships, at Cerulli Associates. Smith told host Jack Sharry that he’s seeing many AI and alternative product announcements before there’s evidence about their performance, adoption rates, and outcomes. He suggested companies identify real client pain points and address them through technology to automate: - Transition management - Asset location - Tax loss harvesting No hype needed when you can show value in dollars and cents. https://lnkd.in/ehRDZxDG

Listen to this week’s WealthTech on Deck to learn what’s going on at nearly 200-year-old wealth management firm Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Scott. John C. Yackel, the firm’s head of wealth management, described to host Jack Sharry the company’s recent changes in ownership, expansion, and efforts to provide “supported independence” to its more than 900 advisors. https://lnkd.in/e7ReAewd

Notetakers are all fine and well, but this week’s WealthTech on Deck guest told host Jack Sharry it’s time to move past the “get things done faster” phase of AI. Amy Young, CFA, recently hung out her shingle as founder of Advice Architects, helping financial services firms best leverage AI. Formerly a managing director at Microsoft, Young said AI applications have advanced rapidly in just three years with more structure, better guardrails, and more expansive data access.   She pointed to several significant funding announcements by AI-focused wealthtech companies as evidence that we’ve only scraped the surface of the potential in AI. https://lnkd.in/eyPUDqq8