Intelliflo, Invesco's financial advice umbrella organization that includes advisor-focused companies Jemstep, RedBlack, Portfolio Pathway, Intelliflo UK and i4C, has created and filled a new role to oversee product alignment and build out a unified platform, according to an announcement from the firm. Blake Kannady has been hired as intelliflo’s first chief product officer, and the former VP of user experience and product development at Envestnet will be reporting directly to intelliflo CEO Nick Eatock.
At intelliflo, Kannady’s primary task of product unification comes as the firm is in the midst of the complicated process of rolling five businesses into four functions—addressing goals-based planning, digital onboarding, portfolio management and the client experience—across the U.S. and the U.K. Intelliflo supports over 30,000 financial advisors and services more than $1 trillion in assets around the globe.
Kannady’s experience is what set him apart, according to Eatock. “Blake’s experience in our industry and his focus on and passion for an incredible end-user experience will make a huge impact on our business,” he said in a statement. “We’re on a mission to give our customers more innovation and make it easier to widen access to financial advice.” Kannady was not immediately available for an interview.
Invesco, and by extension intelliflo, is hoping to ride the wave of accelerated technology development fueled by the pandemic. The firm is working to build a single API model “to allow for deep integrations and seamless user experiences across the multiple solutions,” intelliflo spokesperson Warner May explained earlier this year. In his new role, Kannady will be responsible for pushing innovation and converting new ideas into new products, said May.
Intelliflo is on its way to becoming a global brand, according to comments made by Alois Pirker, research director for Aite Group's wealth management division, earlier this year. Indeed, the firm just announced that Geoff Rogers will be leading efforts to expand into Australia. For his part, Kannady will be localizing features, like planning, for specific markets, even while the firm consolidates its business functions.