BlackRock Strengthens Aladdin Platform’s Trading Capabilities: Tech Roundup

BlackRock entered into a strategic partnership with FlexTrade Systems, a provider of multi-asset execution management systems (EMS).

The partnership represents a commitment to further integrate FlexTrade’s capabilities with BlackRock’s Aladdin portfolio management platform and jointly create enhanced experiences for their common clients in the Aladdin community, the companies said in a joint announcement.

FlexTrade’s capabilities in the EMS space complement the Aladdin platform’s existing order execution management system (OEMS) capabilities, the firms said. The companies will offer a “tightly integrated, multi-asset solution to clients for the entire trading lifecycle,” they said.

By deepening the integration of FlexTRADER EMS’s capabilities with the Aladdin platform, the companies are making it easier for common clients to access trading functionalities of both platforms all in one place, “increasing interoperability, transparency, and productivity,” they said.

Clients will see enhancements to their trading experience via integrated workflows, shared data sources, increased end-to-end automation and premier support services, the companies said.

AdvisorPeak Added to Invent Platform

AdvisorPeak and Invent.us announced a strategic partnership on Thursday in which AdvisorPeak has become the first trading and rebalancing platform to be offered on the Invent cloud technology platform.

AdvisorPeak joins Invent’s ecosystem of prebuilt integrations and application programming interfaces (APIs) that are cloud agnostic and work seamlessly with the unique needs of wealth management firms, the companies said in a joint announcement.

AdvisorPeak’s trading solutions are now available to seamlessly integrate with more than 17,000 users on the Invent platform, they said.

Altruist Gets $50M in Funding

Altruist raised $50 million in Series B funding for its all-in-one, paperless platform for advisors that it said makes personalized financial advice “less expensive, more efficient, and more inclusive.”

The financing round was led by global venture capital and private equity firm Insight Partners, with follow-on participation from Series A investor Venrock, as well as Vanguard, Altruist said on Wednesday.

Altruist serves RIAs with an integrated digital platform that it said enables them to open accounts, invest, build models, report and bill, all in one place. “Automations across the platform save advisors time by eliminating mundane operational tasks,” it said.

The efficiencies enabled by the platform allow advisors to concentrate on better- serving their clients instead of spending time administering accounts, according to the company. Clients, meanwhile, reap the benefits of having a personal advisor, as well as the best parts of smart technology, it said.

By doing away with high account minimums, Altruist also enables advisors to serve clients regardless of their current level of wealth, it noted.

TradePMR Streamlines RIA Digital Account Transfers

TradePMR is simplifying the transition of client accounts to its Fusion platform with the launch of an enhanced digital account transfer tool for breakaway brokers and existing RIAs, the tech and custodial services provider said on Wednesday.

The new tool enables advisors to transfer and open hundreds of accounts in minutes, it said.

Citing data from a recent research report from Cerulli Associates, TradePMR said 77% of advisors who have recently changed custodians noted they faced operational challenges, including opening new accounts and dealing with account transfers as a top concern.

To start the account uploading process with the new TradePMR tool, advisors populate the tool with their clients’ account information via a data exchange with the advisor’s CRM, “minimizing the potential for human errors that often occur when moving large amounts of data,” it explained.

Advisors then team up with a TradePMR transition consultant to audit and identify any missing forms or information required to open a new account, it said. “This enables the advisor to go back to their customers with specific requests, rather than asking them to complete forms with the information they have already provided throughout their relationship,” the company explained.

The new tool is just the latest enhancement to the Fusion platform designed to simplify the client onboarding process. The company previously rolled out a paperless digital account opening tool that allows RIAs already working with TradePMR to open a new account or household by pre-populating client information or partially completed forms with reserved account numbers directly from Fusion.

CircleBlack Teams With StratiFi

Fintech firm CircleBlack has joined forces with StratiFi, the developer of PRISM Rating technology, to enable advisors using the CircleBlack wealth management platform to build better portfolios and cultivate stronger client relationships by integrating StratiFi’s risk analytics into their investment solutions.

“The integration will allow advisors to better educate their clients about market realities, communicate risk ranges across accounts and adjust risk exposure efficiently,” the firms said in a joint announcement on Wednesday.

Advisors using the CircleBlack platform will benefit from StratiFi’s integration with account data that is automatically synced between the two platforms, adjustments to StratiFi parameters embedded in the CircleBlack experience, and key risk metrics that are highlighted on household pages, the companies said.

CircleBlack’s recommendation engine will, meanwhile, proactively alert advisors upon login if any accounts have passed risk ranges and might need attention. StratiFi’s risk evaluation functionality allows it to aggregate risk across accounts and households more efficiently and improve overall portfolio oversight and supervision, the companies said.

CircleBlack is also working to add popular applications for compliance, automated marketing, automated billing and payments, and investment portfolio building services that enable advisors to review client statements to identify problem areas of previous advisors.