Envestnet president stepping down as company restructures to ‘streamline’ business: Wealthtech Weekly

June 9, 2022 1:44 PM

Envestnet President Stuart DePina

Stuart DePina is relinquishing the role of Envestnet president as the company undergoes a reorganization to streamline its operations.

The Chicago-based tech firm and turnkey program announced a series of organizational changes this week with the goal of growth and simplification. Going forward, the organization will restructure into three business lines: Envestnet Solutions, Envestnet Data and Analytics, and Envestnet WealthTech.

Officials say Envestnet's new business lines set the company up to deliver on CEO Bill Crager's vision of the “intelligent financial life.” Over the past two decades, the firm has developed an ecosystem to provide its clients with the technology, data and solutions needed to thrive.

But with that growth, Envestnet outgrew its structure and has established this new framework to create a structure that is scalable for the organization's anticipated growth over the next 10 years, according to the company.

In regards to DePina, officials said he made the decision to step down at the end of June and will remain an advisor to Envestnet. Since joining the company 10 years ago, DePina has led Envestnet's Tamarac and data and analytics businesses, as well as served as the company's president since 2019.

"Stuart and I have been partners for over 10 years, and he has been instrumental in how we have grown over those years — and importantly, how we have brought the company more closely together over these last two years,” Crager said in a statement. “We have been working to put in place an organization that will drive Envestnet forward, and Stuart has been key in making today's announcements possible.

“His impact will continue to be felt by our customers and shareholders for years to come, and I am so pleased he has agreed to continue on this journey with us as an advisor."

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Dana D'Auria has been named group president and co-chief investment officer of Envestnet Solutions. This business line provides the wealth and asset management solutions across Envestnet's ecosystem, including research, overlay, portfolio management, direct indexing, sustainable investing and retirement services.

Envestnet Data and Analytics, led by group president Farouk Ferchichi, “brings together the combined capabilities of Envestnet | Yodlee, Envestnet Analytics, Envestnet Abe.ai and more to serve as the foundation by which Envestnet creates and deploys personalized and actionable insights and intelligence for its business lines and segments,” the company said.

Tony Leal has been named group president of Envestnet WealthTech, which comprises the wealth technology solutions and platforms that service Envestnet's advisory segments; and Tom Sipp will serve as Envestnet's executive vice president of business lines and will provide leadership that will bring the efforts of all three segments together, officials said.

"This new structure marks a pivotal moment for Envestnet and sets the direction and pace of our company for the next decade of growth," Crager said in a statement. "Aligning our business lines in this way allows us to better innovate and integrate our data intelligence, technology, and solutions for customers, and execute on strategies that align with our vision to provide as many people as possible with the benefit of the intelligent financial life."

Scroll down to get caught up on other recent fintech news you might have missed in our Wealthtech Weekly recap. And check out last week’s recap here.

RFG Advisory and Pontera announce new partnership

Pontera Chief Business Officer David Goldman and RFG Advisory President Shannon Spotswood

Hybrid RIA RFG Advisory has entered a new partnership with Pontera that will enable its independent advisors to securely manage clients’ held away accounts as the rebranded fintech adds to its expanding roster of wealth management clients.

Founded in 2012 and formerly known as FeeX before a February rebrand and three recent rounds of funding that raised $80 million, Pontera is a New York-based firm offering tools that empower advisors to trade and rebalance clients’ 401(k)s, 403(b)s, 457s, variable annuities, 529s and HSAs with a complete view of all of their clients’ investments.

Pontera Chief Business Officer David Goldman told Financial Planning that he believes innovation in wealthtech should coincide with client demand, and the demand from clients to have their advisors manage retirement planning is growing. He said a 2021 JPMorgan survey found that 62% of individuals wish they could completely hand over retirement planning to an expert, up from 55% in 2016.

But because retirement assets are held off of their advisor’s custody platform, managing them has been difficult and the ability of advisors to give clients guidance has been limited.

According to Goldman, held away accounts represent up a significant portion of Americans’ retirement savings, noting that the total value of defined contribution accounts in the United States reached a record high of $11 trillion in 2021.

“Innovation should stem from a demand and the need to solve a problem, and there's a problem today where 401(k) participants don't have access to this service from the financial advisor that they (it) want from, and that's basically where our innovation came from,” Goldman said. “Listening to the market, listening to advisors, listening to their clients and trying to solve this bridge. I think innovation wins and consumers win when you find these hard-to-solve problems and work toward a resolution.”

Goldman says the Pontera platform integrates seamlessly with the leading portfolio management and billing technologies, allowing advisors to see held away data alongside custodied accounts and incorporate it into performance reporting and billing.

For Shannon Spotswood, president of RFG Advisory, the collaboration is another exciting opportunity to expand services by leveraging technology to provide the personalized service its clients desire.

“We are very comfortable living on the tip of the spear of innovation in our industry. We’re a service company first, a technology company second, and we're an RIA third. So we are hungry for technology that's really going to help us operationalize our advisors practice, drive efficiency into the day to day and enhance that one-to-one relationship with clients,” Spotswood told Financial Planning. “Because the technology seamlessly integrates into our billing process and this new lens through which advisors are thinking about their business and how they can deliver services across the age spectrum and wealth spectrum, it was really somewhat of a no-brainer.

“We’re really very comfortable jumping into the deep end of the pool with fintech partners … for us it's institutionalized into our DNA to be a collaborator with cutting-edge fintech.”

Thursday’s news is the latest integration being celebrated by Pontera following its rebrand. Earlier this spring, Pontera integrated with SS&C's Advent Custodial Network — an umbrella that includes Black Diamond, Axys, APX, and Geneva — as well as Morningstar Office.

Other Pontera wealth management clients include Carson Group, SageView, Prime Capital Investment Advisors and Mutual Advisors.

Riskalyze rolls out expanded API offerings for wealth management and asset management firms

Riskalyze CEO Aaron Klein

Riskalyze is offering wealth management enterprise and asset management clients more ways to access the firm’s technology via six separate APIs to help firms drive their proprietary technology strategies.

Riskalyze developed the package of APIs with enterprise needs in mind, focusing on firms that are investing in proprietary technology infrastructure and want to incorporate analytics into their experiences. Officials say they were designed to work seamlessly for these enterprise firms, whether they leverage just the API-driven experience, or also roll out Riskalyze seats firm-wide.

“Wealth and asset management enterprises, as well as technology partners, can all benefit from our API ecosystem, and they’re configurable to fit each user or channel’s unique needs,” Clifton Schaller, managing director of strategic partnerships at Riskalyze, said in a statement. “Clients can infuse risk analytics into their existing technology for growth and/or compliance, score their models with the Risk Number and Riskalyze GPA, and go to market faster by optimizing our offerings inside their proprietary technology.

“The growth of technology consumption via API is a big trend in our industry, and we’re well prepared to help meet those needs from wealth management enterprises.”

Riskalyze Chief Product Officer Justin Boatman said the company’s API offerings are all about equipping wealth management firms, asset managers and tech providers what they need to “accomplish our shared mission of empowering fearless investing.

“What we're responding to here is an increased demand for analytics that help end clients see and understand how they're invested through the lens of risk, especially in light of challenging market environments," he said.

Available APIs include Riskalyze Risk Number; Riskalyze GPA; Riskalyze Risk Tolerance Questionnaire; Riskalyze Retirement Maps; Riskalyze Get Client; and Riskalyze Models and Portfolios.

More information about the expanded API offerings can be found here.