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Technology > Artificial Intelligence

New Platform Helps Investors Find Best Advisor Match: Tech Roundup

By Jeff Berman

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What You Need to Know

  • Fintech startup Indyfin has launched an Investor Experience Platform.
  • Nasdaq and crypto-focused asset manager Hashdex introduced a digital assets curriculum.
  • RIA wealth management platform Addepar joined the Open Cap Table Coalition.

A new fintech platform that enables investors to find the best advisor for them launched Thursday and is being touted by its creator as the Yelp of the wealth management sector.

Following a recent $2.2 million investment round, Indyfin’s Investor Experience Platform was designed to “redefine the way investors find, research, review and interact with financial professionals,” according to the startup.

The platform was made possible by a recent change in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s marketing regulations to allow for endorsements, testimonials and client reviews in the sector, according to Akshay Singh, Indyfin founder, who has a background in financial services and fintech.

Indyfin matches investors with advisors who are the most suited to their needs based on factors including wealth levels and long-term goals, he told ThinkAdvisor during an interview and online demonstration, noting the platform uses machine learning technology.

Advisors must go through a rigorous vetting process to join the Indyfin network, the company said.

Once approved, advisors receive marketplace referrals of well-suited clients. Advisors don’t pay for getting meetings with prospective clients on their calendars. “They are only charged a fee when they win a client,” the company said.

Thursday’s official launch followed a beta test that included over 100 advisors, Singh told ThinkAdvisor, adding many more advisors have expressed interest in it.

One of the advisors who participated in the beta, Fredrick Standfield, registered investment advisor and founder of Lifewater Wealth Management in Atlanta, Georgia, told ThinkAdvisor by email: “Indyfin has built an advisor focused solution that enables me to easily gather and share client feedback in the future.”

Standfield also said he likes that the platform shares each advisor’s background with prospective clients. “This helps build trust with prospects and provides client ratings that are the standard on many consumer facing ecommerce platforms,” he said.

Another plus, he said: The Indyfin team is “very knowledgeable and responsive.”

Nasdaq, Crypto-Focused Asset Manager Launch Digital Assets Curriculum

Nasdaq and Hashdex, a global crypto-focused asset manager, have launched the Nasdaq Advisor Academy digital assets curriculum.

The 12-part course is open to all financial professionals free of charge and was designed to “provide informative and educational resources for financial advisors on the evolution of the digital asset ecosystem, investing considerations, regulation, taxes and more,” the companies said Thursday in a joint announcement.

The curriculum was tailored to meet the needs of advisors and includes live presentations on core learning materials, Q&A and practice modules for each session, they noted.

The program offers a comprehensive overview of the digital asset sector, including participants, institutions, rules and strategies critical to an advisor’s participation in the asset class, according to Nasdaq and Hashdex.

The lectures are led by Dr. Keith Black, Ph.D., CFA, CAIA, FDP, who is part of the adjunct faculty at the University of Massachusetts, along with experts from Nasdaq and Hashdex, and each session will be followed by discussions with top industry practitioners, they said.

“The jointly developed curriculum builds on Nasdaq and Hashdex’s long-standing partnership in the crypto space,” they said, noting they partnered to develop and launch the Nasdaq Crypto Index (NCI) in February 2021, providing global investors with a reliable benchmark for the asset class and a way to gain exposure to the cryptocurrency market.

Addepar Joins Open Cap Table Coalition

Addepar, a wealth management platform for RIAs that specializes in data aggregation, analytics and portfolio reporting, disclosed in a blog post on Monday that it joined the Open Cap Table Coalition, a cross-industry group that is collaborating to improve the interoperability, transparency and portability of company capitalization data.

Addepar, along with other industry experts and leaders from across the technology and data ecosystem, plans to “work to define and actualize a publicly available cap table format and data architecture for private companies to track company ownership,” according to Jeff Pinksa, head of private placements, Acervus Securities at Addepar.

“The Coalition’s values are closely aligned with Addepar’s, focused on bringing transparency and accuracy to the financial industry,” he said. “Transparency and portability of data has been a problem that has plagued the financial industry and, as a result, hindered investors’ ability to clearly understand how their capital is put to work.”

There are now over $3.5 trillion of assets reported on the Addepar platform, which he said now serves more than 700 independent advisory firms, private banks, family offices and institutions.

Tarascio Extends Zoe Pact

Beaverton, Oregon-based Tarascio Financial Planning has extended its deal with Zoe, whose platform connects clients with interest-aligned financial advisors, Zoe said Thursday.

The partnership enables clients to connect with the Portland-area boutique wealth management firm, founded by certified financial planner Michael Tarascio, through Zoe’s platform.

(Pictured: Akshay Singh, Indyfin founder)

Jeff Berman

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