Fintech Impact

In this episode of Fintech Impact, host Jason Pereira interviews Matt, the CEO of EncorEstate Plans. EncorEstate Plans is an advisor-led tool designed to assist clients in creating and implementing their estate plans seamlessly within one comprehensive system. The platform enables financial advisors to guide clients through the process of developing personalized estate plans, providing a streamlined and efficient solution for estate planning.Episode Highlights:04:08: The conversation takes a personal turn as Matt shares a family tragedy that served as a catalyst for creating EncorEstate Plans, illustrating the real-world consequences of inadequate estate planning.07:06: Matt highlights the core belief behind EncorEstate Plans, emphasizing the value financial advisors provide in guiding clients through the estate planning process. He discusses the limitations of DIY software solutions and the persistent gap in estate planning despite their availability.11:56: Matt addresses the limitations of EncorEstate Plans

Jason interviews Nicholas Palahnuk, the founder and CEO of PhilanthPro Solutions. PhilanthPro is a platform designed to assist individuals in planning and managing charitable giving at scale. The conversation highlights the challenges in catering to diverse stakeholders and expresses a shared excitement for contributing to impactful philanthropy.Episode Highlights:01:00: Nicholas introduces PhilanthPro as a digital platform for clients to plan and manage charitable accounts with features like financial planning, green planning, relationship management, governance, records, charitable news, and a learning hub.07:21: Nicholas outlines the initial steps after a client decides to make a sizable charitable donation, considering financial planning and multi-year contributions.13:20: Nicholas discuss on how clients use the tool to simulate scenarios, entering large grants to see the impact on future distributions and making informed decisions instantly.17:17: Discussion moves to advisor feedback, with Nicholas menti

In this episode of Fintech Impact, host Jason Pereira interviews Dave Glaser, the CEO of Dwolla, a leading digital payment solution that empowers third parties to offer streamlined and unified payment processing services. Dwolla's innovative platform facilitates efficient and secure digital transactions, revolutionizing the way businesses handle payments.Episode Highlights:05:36: Dave delves into the global theme of account-to-account processing, highlighting its rapid adoption in the U.S. This period coincided with the rise of fintech and the increased need for remote access to funds, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.07:30: The conversation touches on Dwolla's evolving responsibility, moving from a B2C to a B2B provider. Dwolla now focuses on servicing businesses that interface with millions of consumers in their networks.11:25: Dave agrees with Jason's assessment, tracing the history of the ACH system and its evolution as money became more digital. He highlights the continuous innovation, from mainfr

Jason interviews Cameron Howe, CEO and Co-founder of Investipal. Originally designed for DIY investors, Investipal has evolved into a versatile online platform that also serves advisors, offering enhanced tools for portfolio research and management. The conversation emphasizes Investipal's commitment to financial literacy, particularly among younger generations, and the value of remaining a calculated, revenue-focused, and durable company despite being bootstrapped.Episode Highlights:04:00: The discussion focuses on unifying the advisor experience through research and development. Investipal aims to streamline the fragmented advisor tools, providing a more cohesive and personalized experience for users.08:31: Jason brings up the transition from a DIY tool to serving advisors, inquiring about the feedback that led to this shift. He also asks about the feedback from advisors on what was missing from their previous tools.13:18: Cameron talks about Investipal's focus on private assets, catering to advisors dealin

Jason interviews Tim Hewson, CEO of LegalWills, an online platform providing millions of users with a simple and accessible solution for creating legal and compliant wills. Tim discusses the importance of having a will, the challenges of estate planning, and how Legal Wills aims to demystify the process.Episode Highlights:00:34: Tim introduces the topic of legal wills, emphasizing their significance and the need for everyone to have one. He discusses the mission of making will preparation affordable and accessible to everyone.01:04: Tim outlines the mission of LegalWills, emphasizing the removal of barriers to will preparation. He discusses the accessibility and affordability aspects, considering it a vital document for everyone.07:36: Tim introduces the Key Holder concept, allowing users to securely share information with designated individuals when needed. He explains the Messages service, enabling users to leave specific messages for their loved ones after their passing.10:53: Jason commends LegalWills for

Jason welcomes back Reese Harper, the CEO of Elements. It is a platform designed to provide faster and more effective financial advice. The innovative approach of Elements simplifies financial diagnostics, making it accessible to a diverse audience. The episode explores the evolving landscape of financial services and the need for simplicity and accessibility in wealth management.Episode Highlights:01:10: Reese transitions to discussing Elements, introducing it as a platform for faster and simpler financial vital signs. He also describes Elements as providing diagnostic reports for present-day financial health, comparing it to medical diagnostics.06:01: Reese refers to the Hippocratic Oath and avoiding unnecessary costs, discussing the difficulty in providing low-cost solutions for meaningful conversations. He also highlights the importance of not forcing clients to incur costs that aren't truly transformational for their stage of wealth.11:45: Jason acknowledges the value of addressing fundamental financial

Jason talks to Andres Jones, Co-founder, and CEO of Facet. It is a fintech company challenging traditional financial planning models and aims to introduce an advanced form of financial planning to underserviced markets often neglected by the industry. They use a subscription-based approach, focusing on a broader definition of financial planning beyond retirement. The company emerged in response to industry challenges, notably the failure of the DOL fiduciary rule.Episode Highlights:01:19: Anders provides a snapshot of Facet's inception in 2016, emphasizing the disruptive intent to reshape financial planning with a subscription-based model.04:34: Anders illustrates the depth of Facet's service, sharing anecdotes about clients seeking assistance with major life events like having a baby.08:08: Anders expands on Facet's client-centric approach, emphasizing assistance across different life milestones, showcasing the company's comprehensive financial planning perspective.10:28: Anders discusses the facet philosoph

On today's episode, Jason and Guy will reflect on 51 impactful episodes of Fintech Impact. From CRM evolution to the rise of AI in finance, this conversation explores cutting-edge trends and thought-provoking discussions that shaped the year, sharing insights into cybersecurity, marketing, and innovative solutions revolutionizing the advisory landscape.Episode Highlights:01:28: Jason shares insights from his speaking engagements at Future Proof and the IFP event, discussing the importance of technology in bridging the gap between advisors and the next generation of clients.02:56: Jason explores the pervasive nature of fintech, emphasizing its role as a tool for advisors to enhance value and service while staying competitive.08:37: Jason reflects on standout episodes from the year, mentioning Luminent's approach to understanding clients' values and Elements, a tool for efficient financial collaboration. He highlights the importance of these innovations in reshaping onboarding processes and improving financial

Jason talks to Manu Smadja, CEO and Co-Founder of MPower Financing. MPower Financing is a company that specialises in lending loan to international students because they have their own specific challenges that are encountered by many people who come to a foreign country.Episode Highlights:02:30: Manu elaborates on his realization about the ongoing challenges faced by international students, citing personal experiences, and the turning point a decade ago when a student approached him for financial help, sparking the idea for MPower.03:13: Manu shares the pivotal moment when a student was on the verge of dropping out due to a small financial shortfall. This event led him to question why no one was addressing this issue and motivated him to establish Empower in April 2014.05:40: Jason discusses the challenges of issuing loans to young people with no credit history or assets, and Manu emphasizes the need for alternative data sources.07:11: Manu discusses the complexity of acquiring customers overseas and the chal

Jason talks to Ian McKenna, founder of advisersoftware.com. Ian is a guru of advisor technology in the UK and has a great lens on both the UK and technology around the world. He is here to capture his and Jason’s casual and informative discussions about the industry's past, present, and future, offering listeners a valuable perspective on the fintech landscape.Episode Highlights:02:08: Ian introduces advisorsoftware.com, initially focused on UK advice technology but evolving into a global platform to address the international nature of financial planning.03:48: Jason and Ian plan to delve into various topics, starting with the evolution of software in the UK and then expanding to a global perspective.05:16: Ian envisions a future where Fintech seamlessly integrates into everyday digital life globally, making it the norm rather than a separate entity.11:57: Jason and Ian explore the irony that tougher regulation, especially in consumer protection, has proven beneficial for financial advisors' success.13:29: Ja

Jason talks to Shalicia Harris, founder and CEO of In Charge; a platform designed to empower financial advisors in growing their businesses and fostering stronger relationships with clients. The focus is on personalized financial literacy, aiming to empower clients in making informed decisions about their money. The platform enables advisors to seamlessly create tailored campaigns, emphasizing transparency and education to eliminate negative experiences in client-advisor interactions.Episode Highlights:02:03: Shalicia discusses the solution, emphasizing the need for personalized financial literacy to empower clients in making informed decisions about their money.06:37: Shalicia emphasizes the deeper and more personalized customer journey created through market surveys. She mentions the inclusion of market surveys in the insurance world, allowing for a more personalized customer journey.07:00: Shalicia emphasizes the creation of transparency and education as the primary goals. She discusses the importance of m

Jason talks to Kareem Hamady, Co-Founder and CEO of AltExchange. The company is a platform that helps advisors better manage all the complexity around the issuance, management, and stewardship of alternative investments in the marketplace. Kareem provides an overview of AltExchange, a company focused on aggregation and automation technology for alternative investments (alts). The company retrieves data from various platforms, including PDFs and spreadsheets, and uses machine reading technology to make sense of the data.Episode Highlights:03:10: Kareem details the challenges in private capital markets, emphasizing the absence of standardized identifiers, varied reporting metrics, and the need to structure non-structured data.05:37: Kareem explains AltExchange's involvement in the post-investment phase, focusing on tracking actions and workflows after the investment is made. The process includes receiving quarterly reports, annual tax documents, capital calls, and distributions.09:25: Kareem describes the norma

Jason talks to Andrew Butt, Co-Founder and CEO of Enable. Enable is a platform for managing B2B rebates a problem that exists at scale. Andrew describes Enable as a cloud-based platform fostering collaboration among supply chain stakeholders, including manufacturers, distributors, and retailers, focusing on trading agreements.Episode Highlights:01:03 Andrew shares the history of Enable, rooted in his background of building software. He recounts encountering the complex rebate management issue at a fast-growing UK distributor, where manual Excel spreadsheets were used due to ERP limitations.04:30 Andrew adds the loyalty element to rebate programs, drawing parallels with consumer loyalty programs like air miles or coffee shop rewards. The discussion emphasizes the role of rebates in fostering loyalty and influencing consumer behaviour.07:23 Andrew and Jason discuss the reconciliation challenges in traditional systems, including conflicts, different data sets, and timing issues. This conversation underscores the

Jason talks to Zach Conway, co-founder and CEO of Seeds. It is a platform that allows advisers to better assess investors and personalize their portfolios in order to create a better engagement with them. Zach highlights the traditional mechanical investing process with Seeds' approach, which aims to make investing more meaningful and engaging for both the investor and the advisor.Episode Highlights 02:07: Zach stresses the importance of understanding your client deeply. By asking the right questions, one can understand their needs, desires, and values. This is essential for delivering a personalized experience.05:13: Zach emphasizes the difference in their approach. Instead of explaining the money management strategy, they take clients through a digital assessment to unpack their personal investment mindset and behaviors.08:19: Zach speaks about side-by-side analysis of the current and proposed portfolios. He highlights the platform's capabilities, from portfolio construction to implementation and manag

Jason talks to Joel Bruckenstein known as the "godfather of advisor technology" in the US. Joel is the President of Technology Tool, a well-known consultant and writer in the financial advisory technology space. Joel is the President of Technology Tool, a well-known consultant and writer in the financial advisory technology space. The episode focuses on Joel's journey and how technology for financial advisors has evolved over time.Episode Highlights 01:26: Joel shares that he spends a significant amount of time consulting, evaluating new products, and engaging with advisors.04:13: When Joel began his journey, the wire houses, and many independent broker-dealers (IBDs) predominantly used proprietary technology solutions. Independent advisors had limited options in terms of technology.09:41: The cost of financial products, such as mutual funds, was much higher 30 years ago, and ETFs were not yet available.11:56: Jason shares a common observation that many outsiders, including technologists and engineers, o

On today’s episode of Fintech Impact, we have a repeated guest Aaron Klein, the co-founder and CEO of Nitrogen Wealth formerly Riskalyze. Aaron was back in April of 2019, and he has been up to quite a lot. Aaron introduces the concept of behavioral science, alluding to how clients react to financial decisions. He shares an anecdote about an advisor who realized that he was anchoring his clients' portfolios based on his own risk tolerance which led to a misalignment in clients' expectations and actual investment outcomes.Episode Highlights 00:52: Aaron discusses the evolution of their company, originally named Riskalyze, reflecting on its 12 1/2-year journey since its foundation and the launch of their initial product for advisors.03:26: Jason expresses a desire to discuss the client's journey with Aaron, mentioning the need for better structures and processes in the industry.09:20: Jason acknowledges that while there are solutions for SEO and content marketing to attract leads, the real challenge lies in

Jason talks to Chris Shuba, Founder and CEO of Helios Quantitative. It is an "in-source CIO," offering a unique solution for financial institutions. They provide all the functions of an investment department without the associated costs and hassles. Helios Quantitative simplifies and streamlines the operations of an advisory practice.Episode Highlights 01.52: Chris notes that while models were initially a primary focus, Helios has expanded its services and technology to become an all-encompassing in-source CIO, moving beyond a sole emphasis on modelling.02.23: Chris outlines the core goals of most advisors, which include looking impressive to clients, spending more time on their strengths, achieving scalability, and ultimately being profitable.09.42: Jason emphasizes that Helios Quantitative covers the entire vertical funnel for advisors, from ideation to implementation to communication and maintenance, providing a comprehensive value proposition throughout the process.11.47: Chris mentions their prefere

Jason talks to Rafael Loureiro, CEO of Wealth.com. The company besides having the most incredible URL for a fintech firm is an estate planning platform that allows for advisors and clients to collaborative work on estate plans and produce like legal estate documents and make it part of the entire continuing advisors by proposition.Episode Highlights 00:53: Rafael describes Wealth.com as a tech-driven estate planning platform designed for financial advisors. The platform helps advisors set up high-quality estate plans for their clients, offering legal estate documents that are applicable in 51 jurisdictions.03.09: Rafael and his team decided to create Wealth.com as an intelligent platform to help financial advisors maintain up-to-date estate planning. Their goal is to ensure estate planning evolves with changes in assets and beneficiaries, emphasizing the importance of keeping it current.05.56: Rafael notes that the platform's dashboard can integrate with the advisor's preferred CRM, such as Salesforce or

Jason talks to Elliott Limb, founder and CEO of Cubed. It is a company assisting fintech companies scale, while mitigating the high failure rates commonly faced by startups.Episode Highlights 00:21 Elliott discusses Cubed's mission, which is to help fintech companies overcome high failure rates. Cubed serves as growth partners, actively involved in running and growing fintech businesses.06:45: Elliott acknowledges that the cultural divide between traditional finance and fintech is a common issue. He mentions that this divide is gradually improving, but it has been a significant challenge in the past.09:37: Jason seeks advice from Elliott on how to prevent the challenge of knowing when to decline potential sales and engage in the difficult conversations with clients who demand hyper-specific, non-scalable solutions that offer significant financial incentives for custom development work.10.25: Companies should take a more strategic approach rather than jumping straight into execution, even if it means walk

Jason talks to John Lenker, founder and Chief Vision Officer of the marketing firm and Kevin deLaplante Partner & Chief Knowledge Officer. Lenker is a growth consulting firm that specializes in assisting early-stage startups in achieving product-market fit and establishing a recognizable brand before their launch. They emphasize on the challenges startups encounter, including a lack of market analysis and a tendency to prioritize technical development over other critical aspects of their business. Linker aims to help startups navigate these challenges and achieve their growth goals.Episode Highlights 05:19: Kevin mentions that some startups exhibit what he refers to as "pathological behavior," which involves making decisions that are not in their long-term rational self-interest, such as burning through limited funds or making poor decisions.06:02: Some startups, especially those with an engineering perspective, focus solely on building their technology because they believe it will revolutionize the