NSR Invest and LendingRobot, two automated investing services that focus on the alternative lending space, announced Thursday a plan to merge after Lend Core LLC, NSR’s parent company, acquired the Algorithmic, Inc., which owned LendingRobot and all of its assets. The merger is expected to combine the two companies’ algorithms, machine learning capabilities and blockchain technologies to create what they claim is the industry’s largest alternative-lending robo advisor.
The two will operate separately in the short term, but the focus will be on LendingRobot Series, which provides investors access to real estate, small business and consumer lending opportunities. Consumers can use LendingRobot to set their own duration and risk tolerance for each investment. LendingRobot also uses blockchain technology to publish a ledger of transactions to ensure transparency.
Bo Brustkern, the co-founder and CEO of NSR Invest, said the merger will allow both teams to focus on their common goal: “to provide a unifying investment solution for the millions of investors worldwide who seek the attractive, uncorrelated, diversified returns that alternative lending can provide.”
Orion Integrates With Quik!
Orion is hoping to improve the client onboarding process with a new integration with Quik!, a technology company specializing in form automation. Quik! converts electronic and paper-based files into a web browser to make them interactive and able to be filled electronically. Quik! also pre-populates forms with the advisor’s own investment advisory agreements, and Orion data will automatically appear in the correct field on the form. Advisors can also customize any field they need to.
After a form is completed, advisors can either make the form a PDF to print, or use Orion’s integration with DocusSign for an e-signature. Orion says the partnership will make completing custodial forms faster, more efficient and decrease mistakes.
“Using Quik! forms within Orion is going to help revolutionize the new client on-boarding experience by providing prefilled forms and a more seamless approach to the new account opening process for our partner firms that are multi-custody, allowing them to spend more time with their clients,” Mark Dupont, senior vice president of Focus Financial Partners, said in a statement.
Advicent Partners with Envestnet
Advicent announced on Monday that it would integrate its NaviPlan financial planning software with Envestnet’s wealth management technology platform. NaviPlan users can now pull information regarding client demographics, accounts and portfolios from Envestnet directly into their financial plan. Cory Olson, director of global product management at Advicent, said the integration would improve the quality of financial plans and help mitigate fiduciary compliance risks. The integration also adds single sign-on capabilities for NaviPlan and the Envestnet Advisor portal.
“Our vision is to be the financial wellness network that connects enterprises, advisors, service providers and clients to enable better financial outcomes through better intelligence,” said Lincoln Ross, EVP, head of product strategy and marketing at Envestnet. “We know that integrated data and technology can turbocharge advisor productivity. Developing relationships with leading fintech providers like Advicent empowers financial advisors to deliver high-quality, holistic advice.”
Wealth Access Launches Business Intelligence Dashboard
Firm Insight is designed to help RIAs, banks, trusts and broker/dealers make better business decisions, find new opportunities, and view advisor productivity and client satisfaction from a single dashboard. Wealth Access describes itself as an “aggregator of aggregators,” and can display client financial data from 20,000 different institutions. With Firm Insight, Wealth Access is showing the aggregated data at the firm level to show executives the metrics they care about. Wealth Access said Firm Insight could also help with compliance.
InvestCloud Selects First Startup For Innovation Lab
Efficient Tax, a startup from Anchorage, Alaska, was named the first company selected to take part in InvestCloud’s new Los Angeles Innovation Center.
Efficient Tax says the approach advisors take to managing taxable portfolios hasn’t changed in two decades and isn’t the most efficient way of maximizing after-tax wealth.
“Now is the time—with the maturity and growth of the fintech market—to adopt innovative technologies to help financial managers maximize their clients’ after-tax wealth, and simultaneously grow their own businesses,” said Efficient Tax CEO David Gottstein. “We leverage our proprietary technology to provide a fundamentally more precise and effective way to maximize long-term after-tax wealth across entire portfolios."
Gottstein added that he would use the time in InvestCloud’s accelerator to further develop his patented technology and on-board it onto InvestCloud’s platform.
eMoney New Website
The technology company launched a redesigned corporate website, focusing more on content and resources that show how indepedent advisors, firms and enterprises use eMoney. The company said it wanted to better illustrate the benefits of the various products and services available in eMoney’s platform, as well as make it easier to access research, whitepapers and industry articles. The website contains 34 new pages featuring eight videos and 220 pieces of educational content.
“Financial professionals who are seeking technology solutions shouldn’t have to work very hard to find information about how they can improve their businesses,” said Lauren Milewski, eMoney’s creative director who led the redesign. “We want to ensure the user experience is a pleasant one that reflects the eMoney brand.”