Fidelity to Launch a Planning-Centric Wealth Management Platform
Its expected debut: early to mid-2020.
Fidelity Institutional plans to launch a comprehensive planning-centric wealth management platform next year to meet the growing demand for managed accounts and financial planning services among RIAs, broker-dealers and family offices.
The Fidelity Managed Account XChange, which the firm expects to begin to roll out in early to mid-2020, is designed to solve two growing trends: “a clear movement toward planning-oriented practices and the evolution into more fee-based and managed solutions,” says Gary Gallagher, head of Investment and Managed Solutions for Fidelity Institutional.
Fidelity notes that the market for managed accounts is projected to reach $8.1 trillion by 2020, up from $5.7 trillion in in the second quarter of 2017.
The Managed Account Xchange will function as a complementary overlay to Fidelity’s Wealthscape Integration Xchange, its open-architecture digital store, and eMoney Advisor, the financial planning software technology it acquired in early 2015. The Wealthscape and eMoney platforms will continue to exist as separate entities, but users of either will be able to easily access the new platform.
It will “offer distinct end-to-end advisory capabilities and develop deep integrations between Wealthscape, eMoney Advisor and Envestnet, enabling advisors to plan, propose, invest and report in one streamlined workflow,” according to a statement from Fidelity. Its curated menu of managed accounts solutions will include both Fidelity funds and third-party asset management, said Gallagher.
Over time the platform is expected to support both planning-oriented and nonplanning-oriented managed account users with the digital services offered through the Fidelity Automated Management Platform, AMP, and its digital advice platform.
“In the era of fee compression, it will be the perfect platform to deliver more value to more clients,” Gallagher said.
Fidelity hasn’t yet set the costs or minimum required for the upcoming platform but is confident that it will be competitively priced, says Gallagher, noting that the firm is looking at a “simplified pricing framework” that can accommodate investment offerings from multiple asset providers.
Fidelity has filed a Form ADV application with the Securities and Exchange Commission for Fidelity Institutional Wealth Advisor, which will sponsor the platform.
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