Lori Hardwick can’t stay away from wealthtech boards.
Just three months after a marketing misfire pushed her to
For Hardwick, it’s exciting to have front-row seats to rapidly growing fintech startups that are reshaping the wealth management and financial advice industry. There’s a chance at Vestwell to help close the retirement gap in the U.S., she said.
Americans in general aren’t saving enough for retirement, but the problem is even more pronounced among minority communities. According to Vestwell’s 2020 report on employee retirement trends, 40% of white respondents have at least $50,000 saved for retirement. Only 16% of Hispanic/Latino and 11% of Black respondents said the same.
“It’s a huge honor, and I think it’s really meaningful work, honestly,” Hardwick said about her new leadership role.
Hardwick began as an advisor to Vestwell CEO Aaron Schumm before joining the board in 2017 to leverage her industry experience and help the company forge relationships with financial institutions. Over 2020 and 2021, the company has partnered with BNY Mellon, Franklin Templeton, Morgan Stanley and Quickbooks.
Her work on that front will continue as chair, but now she will be doing more to help Schumm set Vestwell’s agenda, Hardwick said.
“We are expanding into more workplace savings versus just 401(k)s,” she said. “That has started already, and we’ve had a lot of success with very large institutions. Obviously we still serve advisors directly as well, on the RIA side.”
Hardwick is the CEO of consulting firm RedRock Strategic Partners, which works with some of the largest firms in wealth management, and sits on the boards of Cetera, the
Riskalyze named Hardwick chair of its board in 2019, also hoping to leverage that experience to forge relationships with large broker-dealers. Riskalyze
But after Riskalyze launched a marketing campaign attacking
“I just think that overall, the tricky thing about being on several boards is you have to make sure that you never have a conflict [of interest],” Hardwick said when asked if her experience with Riskalyze will inform her new role at Vestwell. “I’m on three different corporate boards right now, all expanding and growing, buying new technology and products, and when conflicts exist I take it very seriously.”
Riskalyze CEO Aaron Klein congratulated Hardwick and added that he is thrilled for both his former colleague and his friends at Vestwell.
“[Vestwell] chose extraordinarily well,” Klein said in a message to Financial Planning. “Lori is a titan in the industry, and I know from personal experience she will be a huge asset to their firm as chairman.”
Beyond Hardwick’s new role, Vestwell also named Mary Dent, another industry veteran who previously served as CEO of Green Dot Bank and general counsel of SVB Financial Group, to its board. Dent has also served on the boards of Aspiration Financial and Commonwealth.
The new board appointees come on the heels of Vestwell
