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November 22, 2022 at 10:30 AM
RIA Arta Finance recently rolled out its digital family office platform for accredited investors. The firm is running the platform in partnership with BNY Mellon | Pershing, which provides Arta with middle- and back-office processing, clearing, custody and settlement services.
Arta’s platform also works with Pershing technology to give investors access to lending, mortgages and alternative investments, according to the two firms. The firm launched the digital platform in early November after raising more than $90 million from Sequoia Capital India, Ribbit Capital, Coatue and over 140 tech and finance veterans, including Betsy Cohen, Eric Schmidt and Ram Shriram.
The platform offers accredited investors access to AI-managed portfolios, as well as alternative assets like private equity (with a $10,000 investment minimum), venture capital, private debt and real estate. Eligible investors also can access a line of credit for expenses, such as a house down payment or tax bill, and pay for their services via performance-based pricing.
Arta CEO and co-founder Caesar Sengupta and BNY Mellon | Pershing CEO Jim Crowley shared their expectations for the partnership and the platform’s impact on the wealth management industry in an interview with ThinkAdvisor via email last week.
THINKADVISOR: What is the market for digital family office services in the U.S. and worldwide? And what makes the Arta news significant for BNY Mellon | Pershing and for the wealth management industry overall?
CAESAR SENGUPTA: This is a huge market. According to industry reports, there are 681 million people globally with $100,000 to $5 million in assets who have a combined total of $272 trillion in investable wealth (based on analysis compiled from Credit Suisse’s Global Wealth Report 2022 and Capgemini’s World Wealth Report 2022).
This category is largely unserved today, and [those in it are] looking for holistic and comprehensive wealth management that helps them access some of the financial superpowers that the ultrawealthy have. With Arta, they can now get a digital family office that can help them grow, preserve, protect and enjoy their wealth.
How do real-world wealth managers feel about this BNY Mellon | Pershing and Arta development?
SENGUPTA: Arta is starting with direct-to-consumer, but we are open and eager to work with the industry, including RIAs, banks and other wealth managers. This is a vast space, and we believe by bringing technology and AI at scale through Arta, we’ll help expand this space by bringing millions more people in and bringing incremental value to many existing players in the market.
