RIA in a Box Launches Virtual Desktop, Compliance Dashboard for RIAs: Tech Roundup

RIA in a Box released a new, cloud-based Virtual Desktop and MyRIACompliance Dashboard for RIA firms.

The new solution was designed to help RIA firms of all sizes protect against cyberattacks and boost productivity, while integrating with regulatory compliance activities, RIA in a Box said Wednesday.

The news follows RIA in a Box’s acquisition of Itegria, a provider of cloud-based virtual desktop solutions for RIAs, earlier this year.

All Virtual Desktop packages feature a virtual desktop solution that provides RIA firms with a “faster, more secure environment focused on mobility and flexibility and access to automated compliance and cybersecurity reporting,” RIA in a Box said.

The solution was built upon the National Institute of Standards and Technology information security framework that focuses on five functions: identify, protect, detect, respond and recover.

RIA firms using the solution gain access to cyber defense technologies including multi-factor authentication, data backup, disaster recovery, web filtering, vulnerability management, and access rights and controls. They can control which users are able to access data and manage devices, files and applications all in one place, RIA in a Box said.

Wells Fargo’s New Digital Infrastructure Strategy

Wells Fargo announced a new digital infrastructure strategy on Wednesday that it said combines a “multi-cloud approach with third-party data centers to drive technological speed, agility, and scalability for its customers and employees.”

Playing a key role in the digital infrastructure strategy is the wirehouse’s selection of Microsoft Azure as its primary public cloud provider and Google Cloud to provide additional business-critical public cloud services, the three companies said in a joint announcement.

For all clients, “this strategy will increase the speed of doing business with Wells Fargo,” a company spokesperson said Thursday. “We’ll be able to roll out new digital features and services sooner for our customers and clients.”

The new strategy is a “critical step in our multiyear journey to transform Wells Fargo, making it easier for customers to do business with us and creating a better working experience for our employees,” according to Saul Van Beurden, Wells Fargo head of technology.

“The Wells Fargo of tomorrow will be digital-first and offer easier-to-use products and services, and all of that starts with driving speed, scalability, and enhanced user experience through the next generation digital infrastructure strategy we’re announcing today,” he said in a statement.

Wells Fargo plans to “leverage the Microsoft Azure platform to empower the creation of innovative solutions across all bank functions and provide a trusted and secure foundation for strategic business workloads,” the companies said. Microsoft and Wells Fargo will use critical data and analytics services to “accelerate Wells Fargo’s digital transformation, including delivering enhanced customer experiences and enabling increased employee collaboration,” the firms said.

Google Cloud, meanwhile, “will drive advanced workloads, and complex artificial intelligence and data solutions, allowing” Wells Fargo to “move faster on driving personalized experiences for its customers and clients,” the companies said.

An integral part of the digital infrastructure strategy is a secure and compliant cloud platform that will provide protections to safeguard the data, privacy and financial assets of Wells Fargo clients, with a focus on data confidentiality, the companies said.

Wells Fargo also plans to transition to a set of third-party-owned data centers, while its “longer-term aspirations are to rely predominantly on public cloud,” according to the companies.

New MSCI Solution Helps Align Portfolios With Climate Goals

MSCI launched an Implied Temperature Rise solution that it said equips investors globally with data to map how companies in their investment portfolios are aligning with global temperature targets.

The company-level dataset will cover almost 10,000 publicly listed companies based on the MSCI ACWI Investable Market Index, MSCI said.

Used along with MSCI’s Target Scorecard, a framework to assess companies’ decarbonization and net-zero climate targets, this “comprehensive series of analytical tools aims to help investors strengthen their engagement on climate risk and navigate the transition to a net-zero world,” the firm said.

MSCI Implied Temperature Rise is available as part of MSCI ESG Research’s Climate Value-at-Risk product.

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