The wealth management industry has seen some recent consolidation in the regtech space, such as MarketCounsel and Dynasty’s acquisition of SmartRIA and ComplySci’s deal to acquire RIA in a Box. But is that consolidation good for advisors?
In the latest episode of WealthManagement.com’s Hype or Not? video series, Nexus Strategy President and CEO Tim Welsh and senior tech editor Davis Janowski debate that very question. Janowski, who tends to take the more cynical view of wealth management technology, believes it is good for advisors, arguing that these compliance companies can provide them with better scale and a more complete suite, a step up from advisors’ piecemeal approach to compliance in the past. And the tech in this space is getting better, he argues, giving advisory firms an in-house solution to show regulators that they are tracking activity.
But Welsh warns of the danger of one compliance tech firm having all that client data. He also argues that these systems are currently cookie-cutter, and advisors need their own policies and procedures that are custom to their individual businesses and what they deliver. It’s a slow, boring space, and there’s not much going on where you’d need one big consolidated platform, he argues.
Tune in for the lively debate.