InvestCloud names ex-Goldman exec president as permanent CEO search continues: Wealthtech Weekly

July 13, 2023 11:19 AM

California-based fintech provider InvestCloud is refreshing its C-suite after a sudden leadership shakeup saw its CEO and several other executives exit seemingly overnight.

This week, the firm announced the appointment of Heather Bellini as president and chief financial officer. In the role she will oversee finance, legal, HR and business operations.

Heather Bellini, president and chief financial officer at InvestCloud

Bellini has served on InvestCloud's board of directors as chair of the firm's audit committee since May 2022 and has extensive experience in the technology and financial services sectors.

She previously served as a partner and managing director at Goldman Sachs for nearly 10 years before joining cybersecurity software company Deep Instinct as CFO in 2021. At Goldman Sachs, she led the technology research group and served as an equity research analyst, specializing in software and technology companies. Bellini spearheaded research diligence and investor education at Goldman Sachs for 20 initial public offerings across the software sector.

"Few people know the software sector as well as Heather and I am delighted she will help lead InvestCloud into its next chapter," Richard Lumb, Interim CEO of InvestCloud, said in a statement. "I have witnessed Heather's talent as a leader firsthand during her time on the InvestCloud board of directors and I am very much looking forward to working alongside her in her new role."

Before joining Goldman in 2011, Bellini worked as a senior managing director at ISI Group, managing director at UBS Investment Bank and analyst at Salomon Smith Barney.

Bellini said InvestCloud is at the center of the transformation taking place across the wealth management industry, and she is looking forward to joining the executive leadership team at this stage of the company's growth.

"I have come to know the company over the past year as a member of the board, and given the potential of the InvestCloud platform, I look forward to building on everything the team has accomplished," she said.

Industry News

InvestCloud names interim CEO as founder John Wise, other execs exit in sudden leadership shakeup

April 18, 2023 3:23 PM

InvestCloud is backed by specialist private equity firms Motive Partners, Clearlake Capital Group and their affiliates.

"I am delighted to welcome Heather to InvestCloud," Rob Heyvaert, the founder of Motive, said in a statement. "Heather has ushered many companies through their financial journeys, and the evolution of her role to President and CFO of InvestCloud will allow her to bring those experiences to bear."

In April, InvestCloud announced that co-founder and former CEO John Wise had left the company and that Lumb was being appointed interim chief. The board also has initiated a comprehensive search for a permanent CEO, but no timeframe for the effort was provided, and no updates have been issued since then.

Wise and partners launched the company in 2010. Today, more than 150 asset managers, 400 wealth managers and 140,000 individual financial advisors supporting $6.5 trillion in assets under management and 27.4 million accounts use the company's services, according to InvestCloud.

Scroll down to get caught up on other recent fintech news you might have missed in our Wealthtech Weekly recap. And check out the previous edition here.

Wealth.com appoints financial advisor Thomas Kopelman as head of community

A Midwest advisor with a sizable social media following is stepping into a newly created role at estate planning platform Wealth.com.

Thomas Kopelman, the founder of AllStreet Wealth in Indianapolis, has been named Wealth.com's head of community. In the role, Kopelman will work to strengthen the relationship between the company and its primary audience, which includes advisors and RIAs.

Kopelman, who has roughly 15,300 followers and gets almost all of his new clients from Twitter, runs a virtual, fee-only financial planning and investment management firm for millennials. He is also the host of The Long Game podcast.

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"For way too long, the financial services industry has overlooked younger generations, particularly when it comes to estate planning," Kopelman said in a statement. "At the core of my work with advisors is a desire to create an environment where they feel seen, known, and deeply engaged in Wealth.com's transformative mission: to modernize estate planning through innovative technology."

The company hopes Kopelman will serve as a bridge between the estate planning needs and wants of the financial advisory community, and the solutions Wealth.com builds to help meet them. Kopelman will also serve as the co-host of Wealth.com's upcoming podcast, "The Practical Planner," alongside chief legal officer Anne Rhodes.

"We are thrilled to have Thomas join our team and lead our community initiatives," Tim White, co-founder and chief partnership officer at Wealth.com, said in a statement. "By focusing solely on the needs of the advisor community, our team has been able to forge lasting partnerships with custodians, broker-dealers, independent RIAs and wirehouses alike."

FusionIQ announces integration with Blueleaf

Cloud-based wealth management software provider FusionIQ is teaming up with Blueleaf to improve the user experience of both advisors and their clients.

The integration between FusionIQ and Blueleaf — a platform offering reporting, billing and client aggregation tools — was sparked by the goal of making it easier for advisors and institutions to implement a digital wealth management platform.

Blueleaf was selected as an integration partner for its automated reporting and communication platform that serves as a multipurpose tool for advisors when they report on the investments they manage and communicate with clients. Client updates and reports, performance reporting, account aggregation, billing and invoicing as well as portfolio monitoring are available on the Blueleaf platform.

The integration with Blueleaf will enable financial advisors to customize, schedule and deliver reporting through their own brands in what's known as a "white-label" service, according to FusionIQ.

"We are excited to partner with Blueleaf to further bolster FusionIQ's commitment to wealth management firms poised to become digital wealth leaders, " Mark Healy, FusionIQ's CEO, said in a statement. "By leveraging Blueleaf's automated reporting and communications platform, FusionIQ clients will benefit from a best-in-class, client-focused UX, expanded institution coverage, and innovative reporting capabilities that enables streamlined connection management for held-away accounts."

Helios introduces enhanced sleeving capabilities

Helios, a firm that develops investment management solutions and tools for advisors, has announced the launch of new sleeving capabilities to boost portfolio customization.

The feature will allow advisors to offer customized investment models that reflect their core philosophies and the key exposures they deem important.

Advisors using Helios will now have the ability to selectively enable or disable sleeves in their models according to their preferences. Additionally, company leaders say the advanced sleeving feature provides performance back-testing, giving advisors and their clients a deeper understanding of the potential effects of introducing a new exposure.

"The success of an advisor and, by extension, their clients, hinges on the ability to differentiate and customize in a landscape that has for too long been viewed as 'cookie-cutter,'" said Helios founder Chris Shuba . "Our enhanced sleeving capability adds a new level of customization, aligning advisors' models more closely with their brand and philosophy.

Further, it affords them greater confidence in their models. By understanding the impact of their chosen sleeves, they can deliver more effectively on the financial roadmaps they've set out for their clients."