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Industry Spotlight > Women in Wealth

Harness Wealth Rolls Out Advisor Matchmaking Service for Gen Xers

By Michael S. Fischer

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Harness Wealth, a New York-based wealthtech business that provides individuals access to  financial advice, began offering its platform of services to the public this week.

The platform will focus mainly on Gen X mid-career professionals with high earning potential, a group that it said in an announcement has been underserved by existing providers.

Harness Wealth was founded by David Snider, who serves as CEO, and Katie Prentke English, the chief marketing officer.

Snider was previously chief operating officer and chief financial officer at Compass, a real estate technology company. English was chief market officer at Nutmeg, a European digital investment advisor.

Harness Wealth’s platform uses a proprietary algorithm that takes the current and future needs of clients and pairs them with advisors who are deemed best suited to address clients’ opportunities. The firm said it does not charge clients for using the service.

The firm noted that it conducts extensive due diligence on prospective advisors, involving some 120 attributes. It said it takes a minority percentage of the advisor’s standard fee for clients it refers. The advisory network includes financial advisors, CPAs and trust and estate attorneys across the U.S.

Harness Wealth has been working with clients on an invitation-only basis since the beginning of the year, the firm said in the announcement.

“Whether it’s managing equity compensation, an inheritance, or family estate planning, there is an urgent need for individuals to get access to better holistic advice,” Snider said. “We built this business to provide that.”

Harness Wealth said that it chose to direct its services to Gen X consumers rather than millennials because it found the former underserved even though Gen Xers are expected to command $22 trillion in total assets by 2030, compared with millennials’ $12 trillion.

It said its own recent survey found that Gen Xers want a human/tech hybrid solution for their financial planning. The survey showed that those who managed their finances with a financial advisor were nearly twice as happy with their solution as those who self-managed, and 90% believed that digital functionality is an important part of the solution.

“More than ever Gen X individuals are in need of good financial planning,” English said. “They are transitioning into their peak earnings, many have more complex family needs with both children and aging parents to support, and they are going to be the largest beneficiary of the biggest wealth transfer ever over the next 10 years.”

Harness Wealth’s announcement said it had assembled a team of entrepreneurs, financial service veterans and industry experts, including engineers from Kensho, TD Ameritrade, Oscar Health and Goldman Sachs.

Among its investors are Bain Capital Ventures, Sinai Ventures and Marc Benioff’s family office. Its advisory council includes Voya Financial’s former CEO Maliz Bean and John Koskinen, a former Internal Revenue Service commissioner.

— Check out 3 Generations, 3 Views on Retirement: Wells Fargo on ThinkAdvisor.

Michael S. Fischer

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