During its Advisor Summit, Envestnet Inc. (ENV) announced two major new initiatives, echoing the introduction at the 2013 Summit of the Envestnet Intelligence offering.
In his welcome to the 1,400 attendees at the 2014 Summit in Chicago, Ron Fiske of Envestnet introduced the Envestnet Institute, www.envestnetinstitute.com, an online advisor education portal. Using content from partners Vanguard, Putnam Investments, Russell Investments and Brinker Capital, the new site is meant to highlight “Envestnet’s mission to act as an advocate for independent advisors,” said Zachary Karabell, head of global strategy for the company and “curator” of the site’s academic content, in a statement.
In addition to providing white papers, videos, webinars and other original content free of charge to all advisors (registration is required), the site, built in a partnership with Wheelhouse Analytics, will also provide access to online courses for advisors to prepare for gaining industry designations and provide in some cases continuing education credits. The content includes “classes” on a wide range of investing topics, tax and college planning and retirement income strategies. The intent of the site, said Fiske in a statement, is to “empower independent advisors at every stage of their careers and practices.”