TradePMR CEO to RIAs: Wake Up!

“This wasn’t a headline grab,” Baldwin said. “This was a platform decision.”

By combining TradePMR’s advisor-centric expertise with Robinhood’s modern infrastructure and Gen Z and millennial user base, the two firms aim to provide a vision of dual custody on one integrated platform. Ideally, this would allow RIAs to serve both traditional and emerging investors with equal proficiency.

TradePMR, a midsize custodian serving 350 RIAs with $40 billion in assets, has been a player in the independent space for over 25 years, maneuvering around the mega-custodians, while clearing its RIA business through First Clearing, a division of Wells Fargo. So, when TradePMR was snapped up by the self-directed mobile brokerage app, it caught the industry’s attention.

For his part, Baldwin leveraged his keynote as a call to action. He warned that too many RIAs are merely growing by inertia, overly reliant on market returns or mergers and acquisitions, while wirehouses are gaining ground by “out-hustling” the competition.

“We need to get back to being rainmakers,” he challenged, urging advisors to reignite an entrepreneurial fire that once set them apart.

Baldwin also touched upon the potential of the Robinhood-TradePMR referral program that will connect more than 25 million self-directed users — many of whom are entering wealth accumulation phases — with fiduciary advisors for the first time.

Citing industry research, Baldwin emphasized that the generational wealth transfer is already here, in earnest. Millennials’ net worth has quadrupled in five years, and they’re seeking real advice. But with fewer than 20% of heirs retaining their parents’ advisors, firms need to modernize, or risk losing relevance.

“Robinhood has the next generation of investors,” Baldwin said. “You have the next generation of advice. And now, there will be a bridge between them.”

Abhishek Fatehpuria, Robinhood’s vice president of project management, demonstrated the vision for the referral partnership. Unlike traditional retail branch referrals that can be expensive and have disconnected advisor and client experiences, Fatehpuria said, this fully digital program will be personalized and built to align with how today’s investors want to engage.

Users can be matched with advisors based on financial planning goals, investing preferences and account views, including assets held on and off Robinhood. Advisors will have customized “storefronts” within the Robinhood app, Fatehpuria explained, featuring video introductions, testimonials and specialty areas to streamline the discovery process and build early trust.

The referral experience will be integrated with TradePMR’s Fusion platform, with investor information prefilled, and account transfer documents digitally sent for e-signature. Once onboarded, clients will see their advised accounts and performance alongside their self-directed holdings in a unified mobile dashboard. Advisors can also send real-time updates and investment notes through the app.

Baldwin and Vlad Tenev, Robinhood’s co-founder and CEO, had a spirited discussion on the future of financial services and the central role that RIAs will play in it. Tenev focused on Robinhood’s three strategic “arcs,” including becoming the top platform for active traders, capturing full wallet share from millennials and Gen Z through banking, credit cards and managed accounts, while expanding globally. RIAs, he said, are key to unlocking the totality of a customer’s wealth.

“The opportunity to bring sophisticated advisory services to our tech platform is the next frontier,” he noted.

Tenev said that Robinhood’s tech advantage lies in its mobile-first infrastructure, zero-commission trading and efficient onboarding. He sees this foundation evolving into a full-service financial operating system by aggregating wealth, streamlining transfers and democratizing family office services through technology.

This tech emphasis includes artificial intelligence, which Tenev says will be transformative. He points out that AI will be much more than summarizing news to improve trading strategies; rather, in automating complex processes such as account consolidation and wealth aggregation.

“If you’re not using AI, you’re at a disadvantage,” he said.

Rounding out the sessions at Synergy25 were a number of industry experts offering practice management advice. Michael Kitces highlighted recent research on advisor productivity, citing team leverage, team structure, client affluence and pricing confidence as primary drivers. Notably, advisors with team support significantly outperformed solo practitioners, with median team advisor revenue of $642,857 compared with $234,000 for solos.

Kitces emphasized the importance of delegating tasks to support staff, such as client service administrators and associate advisors, to maximize efficiency. Interestingly, while technology, including AI, offers measurable benefits, he noted that research suggests that building a well-structured team has a more profound impact on productivity than technology alone.

It wasn’t all work in the scenic setting, with conference organizers scheduling boat rides, jet skiing, kayaking adventures, concerts and tours of historic cigar factories. The attendant networking atmosphere of camaraderie and celebration contributed to a gathering reflecting optimism around a potential new growth era for RIAs.

Timothy D. Welsh is president, CEO and founder of Nexus Strategy, a consulting firm to the wealth management industry.