SEI Acquires Oranj Platform: Tech Roundup

SEI has acquired Oranj’s cloud-native technology platform that provides digital collaboration tools to financial advisors and their clients.

As part of the transaction, David Lyon, Oranj CEO and founder, joined SEI, “alongside 13 engineers, developers, cloud specialists and client service personnel to support a seamless transition,” SEI said Wednesday.

The purchase price was not disclosed by SEI, which has been serving the independent financial advisor market for more than 25 years and works with 7,500 advisor clients who manage $75.1 billion in assets, it said.

Oranj announced late last year it was ceasing operations to its advisor clients. The platform provider opened its doors in March 2014.

Oranj will complement the SEI Wealth Platform, a single-infrastructure technology solution that supports an end-to-end wealth management experience, including custody services, model management and trading.

“The integration of Oranj’s assets is expected to position SEI to provide an enhanced, digital experience across every aspect of an advisor’s business, including the full lifecycle of client engagement,” it said.

“The wealth management sector continues to undergo increased pressures to digitize the investor experience,” according to Kevin Crowe, head of product development for Independent Advisor Solutions.

“We believe that Oranj’s technology integration with the SEI Wealth Platform will make a significant difference in the way advisors can engage and interact with their clients, as well as provide the transparency and insight investors need for their  financial decision-making,” he said in the announcement.

Fidelity Adds More Services for Advyzon Users

“Advyzon users can now open and manage Fidelity accounts more efficiently with our latest integrations,” Fidelity Institutional tweeted Wednesday, disclosing enhanced integrations that had been made between their platforms.

“Our newest integrations with @advyzon make it easier to open Fidelity accounts, view positions and balances, access documents and monitor alerts helping to drive efficiency for your business,” Fidelity Institutional said in the tweet.

In addition, “advisors can now leverage account opening” and single sign-on “integrations between Advyzon and Wealthscape, making it more efficient to open Fidelity accounts,” a Fidelity spokeswoman said. New integration capabilities also include “custodial statements synced to the Advyzon Document Vault,” she noted.

Fidelity now has integrations with over 200 fintech firms and “continues to expand,” she said, adding: “We are focused on adding integrations that help meet our clients’ needs.”

Fidelity had “data integrations in place with Advyzon for a few years,” she noted. But, prior to this, the integration was just “basic integration, where you’re just getting the data,” John Mackowiak, chief business development officer at Advyzon, told ThinkAdvisor.

Advyzon started talking with Fidelity about the enhanced integrations last year, started the development work on it in the second half of 2020, conducted a beta test in the first quarter and it has now gone live, Mackowiak said. Advyzon has similar integration with Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade also and “basic integration with most of the major custodians,” he added.

eMoney Advisor Enhances Monte Carlo Capabilities

Fidelity’s eMoney Advisor added Longevity Risk Analysis and Confidence Age to its Monte Carlo feature set, it said Wednesday.

The new capabilities advance “how Monte Carlo can be used in the financial planning process,” it noted, explaining: “Advisors want to help clients minimize the risk of outliving their assets, and these latest enhancements are designed to help advisors easily create dynamic financial plans based on comprehensive, personalized analyses.”

The new features are part of the company’s “ongoing commitment and holistic approach to providing advisors with a more seamless, interactive and intelligent planning experience that maximizes both client engagement and advisor efficiency,” it said.

The company has been “investing heavily in its Monte Carlo capabilities over the past year and has since added the ability to infuse Monte Carlo into all interactive cash flow and asset experiences within Decision Center,” it said. Longevity Risk Analysis and Confidence Age “reflect the next phase of eMoney’s Monte Carlo evolution and are available now as part of eMoney’s advanced planning solutions,” it added.

Envestnet | MoneyGuide Launches New Blocks

Envestnet | MoneyGuide launched two new blocks to its MyBlocks financial wellness ecosystem: a Spend vs. Borrow Block and a Mortgage Refinance Block.

With the launch of the two new blocks, the MyBlocks ecosystem now includes 35 bite-sized, interactive modules that the company said “empower advisors to have more impactful conversations with clients about their goals, financial plans and how to move toward financial wellness.”

The Spend vs. Borrow Block “guides clients to make a better-informed decision between liquidating assets and taking out a loan to pay for a specific goal,” the company said. “Within the block, users can easily create multiple scenarios — which take into consideration loan options based on current interest rates and credit scores, as well as financial assets — on purchases under consideration such as a car, home improvement project, and a vacation.”

The block can also “open up opportunities for advisors to provide a loan referral and keep managed money with the firm, as opposed to having it liquidated. Firms can embed their product solutions into the block,” the company said.

The Mortgage Refinance Block helps clients determine if refinancing current mortgage debt at current interest rates would be beneficial and free up extra money; digitally engages and “walks” the client through the thought process; and can lead to new lending opportunities, the company said.

AI-Focused Asset Manager Hires Ex-WisdomTree Exec

AlphaTrAI, a venture-backed asset management firm that provides investment alpha via artificial intelligence, appointed former WisdomTree executive Bruce Lavine as president of asset management.

Reporting to AlphaTrAI CEO Andreas Roell, Lavine is overseeing AlphaTrAI’s distribution, product design, strategy development and talent recruitment as the company “continues to grow and modernize the asset management space,” it said.

Lavine was a member of the original senior management team of the iShares business, now owned by Blackrock, acting as CFO and head of product development, AlphaTrAI said. He then ran the European iShares business when it launched in 2003. He joined WisdomTree as president and COO in 2006 and remains a board member.