FiComm, FMG Launch Coaching Program for Advisors: Tech Roundup

What You Need to Know

FiComm Partners and FMG teamed to launch a joint marketing coaching program.
Cadence Bank is onboarding the investment business of legacy BancorpSouth Bank to LPL’s platform.
F2 Strategy added three new team members to its Executives in Residence program.

FiComm Partners and FMG teamed up to launch a marketing coaching program the companies said Wednesday was designed to drive organic growth for advisors by coupling FMG’s marketing automation tools with FiComm’s Advisor Growth Marketing Solutions.

The partnership allows customers of FMG’s “all-in-one marketing solution to leverage a unique, customized marketing coaching program led jointly by thought leaders from FiComm and FMG to help advisors more effectively differentiate their businesses and drive deeper connections with clients and prospects,” the firms said.

The new coaching program will help advisors “optimize their digital marketing on the FMG platform, develop their own video content, build digital prospect and client workflows, and launch and promote podcasts and events to drive leads and convert new business,” the companies said in a news release.

“We constantly hear feedback from advisors that while there are leading technology solutions available in the marketplace, digital marketing is still new to them,” Megan Carpenter, FiComm CEO, said in a statement. “They are asking for the education and training to optimize these technology tools and resources, which is the gap our new partnership with FMG will bridge.”

FMG’s marketing automation platform includes a large library of newly written content, including blogs, emails, newsletters, social posts and videos that advisors are encouraged to customize to engage their target client audience.

Advisors can edit or create content within the platform and publish across all marketing channels with a built-in compliance workflow that the companies said significantly reduces time spent on marketing. The platform also includes “set-and-forget automations, website integration, a mobile app, and performance reporting — all managed from one easy-to-use dashboard,” they said.

The customized FMG/FiComm Advisor Marketing Bootcamp will feature live workshops, an online library of resources, monthly marketing master classes and peer accountability groups, they said.

Cadence to Onboard Legacy BancorpSouth Business to LPL’s Platform

LPL Financial announced Tuesday that Cadence Bank plans to onboard the investment business of legacy BancorpSouth Bank to LPL’s platform in the current quarter.

Legacy Cadence Bank had leveraged LPL’s Investment Services platform to support its investment business and merged into BancorpSouth Bank in a deal that closed in October 2021.

Legacy BancorpSouth’s retail advisory and brokerage business includes more than 25 financial advisors, who collectively served about $2.5 billion of brokerage and advisory assets as of Sept. 30.

“As a combined company and given our experience with LPL’s technology, risk management and digital capabilities, we felt it was the right decision to capitalize on LPL’s integrated platform and committed investments to support our integrated retail advice business as well,” according to Jerry Toney, Cadence Investment Services president.

LPL now supports almost 21,000 financial advisors, has over $1 trillion in advisory and brokerage client assets custodied or serviced, has about 1,100 institution-based investment programs and about 500 independent RIA firms across the U.S.

Cadence Bank now has about $50 billion in assets and more than 400 branch locations across the South and Texas.

F2 Strategy Adds 3 to Executives in Residence Program

F2 Strategy, a wealthtech management consulting company serving complex advisory firms, added three new team members to its Executives in Residence program, boosting the total number of EIR executives to six, it said Tuesday.

The EIR program launched in September at the inaugural Future Proof Festival, with an initial cohort of four C-level executives.

The program provides members with a unique opportunity to network outside of the traditional, corporate, full-time role structure and drive industry advancements, F2 said.

While enrolled in the program, EIR professionals “can engage in cutting-edge client work, research, or mentorship, depending on their current career goals and passions,” according to F2.

The newest F2 Strategy Executives in Residence are: Jennifer Dempsey Fox, formerly executive vice president/president of wealth management at Bryn Mawr Trust; Luke Winskowski, senior vice president of advice and wealth management at Thrivent; and Mark Eaton, who most recently served as platform/big data architect at Crunchyroll.

Savvy Wealth Raises $11M

Savvy Wealth, a digital-first platform for advisors centered around modernizing human financial advice, said Thursday it raised $11 million in Series A-1 funding led by The House Fund.

Additional investors included Index Ventures and Thrive Capital, who also participated in Savvy’s seed funding round, along with new investor Brewer Lane Ventures.

“Next-generation investors demand a tech-forward, personalized relationship with their financial advisor,” Jeremy Fiance, managing partner of The House Fund, said in a statement. “This is a first-class team and product set that we believe will transform how financial advisors grow their business and serve their clients.”

Savvy has now raised a total of $18 million in new funding in under a year, allowing the firm to focus on developing modern software that promises to streamline and simplify marketing, compliance and back-office operations for growth-minded financial advisors seeking to increase assets under management.

Savvy’s founding class of five financial advisors bring direct experience managing client assets at BNY Mellon, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley, as well as independent RIAs across the country, Savvy said.

Citing recent research from Vanguard and Escalent, Savvy said 93% of investors prefer having a human advisor.

Another Skience Integration

Skience on Tuesday announced its integration with CapitalROCK’s RightBRIDGE Best Interest Validation System, in addition to gaining a few industry awards and wealth management clients during the third quarter.

“The integration with RightBRIDGE’s business intelligence engine, which determines the best interest status of proposed rollovers, account types, and products, is another step Skience has taken toward allowing firms of all sizes to easily integrate Regulation Best Interest into their workflow process with a click of a button,” according to LPL.

RightBRIDGE uses a scoring engine and ReasonText that explains why a recommendation fits a client’s needs and the licensing firm’s best interest requirements, according to the companies.

As a result of the integration, the data can be used to update Skience records and be leveraged by Skience’s suitability checks as its client and household data will be prefilled into RightBRIDGE, the companies said.

FusionIQ Rolls Out New TAMP

Digital investing platform FusionIQ on Monday announced the rollout of its new turnkey asset management platform.

FusionIQ’s finTAMP offers wealth managers “unique access to investment options including fixed income and alternatives all within a digital workflow, unlike traditional TAMP providers,” the company said.

FusionIQ’s finTAMP provides a large variety of investment models that give advisors, clients and investors an opportunity to interact and select from a huge array of vetted, digitally distributed, institutional quality model portfolios and strategies, the firm said.

FinTAMP enables advisors, including professionals at independent broker-dealers, to combine their expertise with technology and support to deliver highly customized solutions to clients, it added.