UBS Launches New Offering For UHNW Clients: Tech Roundup

UBS launched a new offering on Wednesday in collaboration with fintech firms Addepar and Mirador. In a joint announcement, the companies unveiled a new solution that offers the wirehouse’s U.S. ultra-high-net-worth clients a consolidated, real-time view of their portfolios across traditional, non-traditional and illiquid assets and liabilities.

UBS advisors will now be able to access comprehensive analytics that the firms said will “help them more effectively visualize their clients’ investment performance, cash flows, and worth, while assessing the opportunities and risks across their portfolios.”

Built with open architecture, Addepar integrates leading-edge software, data and service partners from across the fintech sector. Its data, analysis and reporting capabilities will help UBS advisors “consolidate clients’ performance calculations presented in an easily accessible graphic interface to unlock additional insights on returns and investment trends,” the companies said.

Mirador is part of the Addepar partner ecosystem and its financial data technology experts will support UBS advisors with data management, custom visualization and tailored reporting, along with operations and system maintenance, the firms said.

FP Alpha Launches Second-Gen Tax Tool

On Thursday, FP Alpha released a second-generation tax projection tool, The Tax Projector, which offers advisors the ability to project and compare several tax scenarios and strategies for clients, just by uploading their tax documents.

The latest iteration of the company’s artificial intelligence-driven advanced tax projection tool enhances its functionality, adding state and federal analysis as well as a multi-year, unlimited scenario offering. “This enables advisors to further scale and automate their tax planning efforts as well as estate and insurance,” the company explained in a news release.

The new version of the tool enables advisors to compare various tax planning strategies at the same time, including Roth conversions, charitable giving and other income-related planning techniques, allowing advisors to reduce clients’ tax bills and get credit for their work, FP Alpha said.

One of The Tax Projector’s differentiating factors from rival tax planning tools is its ability to tie into the broader FP Alpha platform, the company added.

FP Alpha’s tool is also the only one that it said allows advisors to review a client’s full financial picture, analyzing all areas of advanced planning, including tax, estate and insurance planning, in a central location that builds upon itself over time. This not only makes the tool easier to use but also provides a more efficient way to monitor and measure a client’s overall financial wellness, according to the company.

The FP Alpha platform also has deep integrations with software providers, including Envestnet Money Guide Pro, Redtail, Riskalyze, Salesforce and Wealthbox. That makes the tool “seamless to incorporate into your current planning workflow,” FP Alpha explained.

Fidelity Charitable Launches NFT Project

Fidelity Charitable announced “Art of Generosity,” an original, non-fungible token (NFT) project designed to “celebrate generosity in motion,” it said Wednesday.

The philanthropic collection is the latest example of Fidelity Charitable’s ongoing commitment to innovation in giving, it said.

To encourage individual acts of generosity, 50 participants in the mint will receive a “golden ticket” NFT that Fidelity Charitable said will entitle holders to recommend $1,000 in donations through a Fidelity Charitable Giving Account to eligible nonprofits of their choosing.

In total, the project will result in $50,000 of support by Fidelity Charitable to community-selected charities, and the minting will be free, it said.

The art will be revealed and golden ticket winners announced on Nov. 29, a date that marks this year’s Giving Tuesday, a global generosity movement and day dedicated to giving back.

The Fidelity Center for Applied Technology (FCAT) — a group within Fidelity Investments focused on technology research and development — consulted on the project.

Snappy Kraken Expands Texting Tool to BDs

Snappy Kraken’s Convos texting platform is now available for broker-dealers, the company said Tuesday.

The platform was already available to registered investment advisors. The expansion to BDs “came about as a result of updates made to Convos’ compliance solutions, including vetted journaling and archiving capabilities,” the company said.

Convos launched a year ago after Snappy Kraken said it recognized a need for relationship-driving tools over text messages, adding it has become clear that compliance tools are a must-have.

Convos availability for BDs comes at a time when firms are on high alert regarding the regulatory repercussions of improper communication with clients, the company said.

The recent BD upgrade includes the ability to archive all messages internally through the platform and then, within 24 hours following a firm’s request, deliver a record of the message history, the company noted.

Like the Snappy Kraken platform, Convos offers automated conversation journaling that it said can be set up for any email archiving inbox depending on the company’s compliance specifications.

Convos’ journaling capabilities work with Smarsh, Global Relay, Zix, RIA Compliance and Presults, among others.

Convos also enables advisors to “smoothly automate and track the text opt-in process that is mandated by” the Federal Communications Commission Snappy Kraken added.

Additional tools featured in the latest version of Convos include keyword automations, intuitive campaign analytics, received message alerts via SMS and email, and adding teammates to collaborate on client support, Snappy Kraken said.

Truist Trade Debuts

Truist Wealth enhanced its digital investing capabilities with Truist Trade, a new self-directed investing solution that it said Tuesday allows clients to open select investment accounts and conduct online trading on their own.

An investor can open an individual brokerage or joint brokerage account, Roth IRA or traditional IRA on Truist.com, the firm noted.

Those investment accounts require no account minimum, offer commission-free trades for stocks, exchange-traded funds and mutual funds, and can be viewed alongside other Truist accounts, providing clients a consolidated view of their finances, the company said.

Clients also have access to a dedicated support team and a suite of research materials and tips to help inform their investment decisions.

Co-creation with clients “fueled the development” of Truist Trade, the company said, noting it was “designed for and with Truist clients.”

Truist Trade adds to Truist Wealth’s portfolio of digital investing solutions. Earlier this year, the firm introduced Truist Invest, a robo advisor, and Truist Invest Pro, a hybrid investment solution.

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