Retirable Raises $10MM Series A - Peak 65 Thesis on Parade

Retirable, a New York-based WealthTech firm working to fill the retirement advice gap for folks who don't have easy access to advice, announced that they have secured a $10mm Series A round from a near panoply of strategic investors. This brings the total raised by the firm to almost $26mm. We believe it is an excellent validation point for the Peak 65 thesis and the rising importance of the distribution side of advice.

Peak 65 refers to the fact that more people in the US will turn 65 next year than have ever done or will ever do (at least for the next 65 years). While people don't necessarily retire at 65 these days, they surely must think about it. We all talk about the opportunity of "the great liquidation" where retirees downsize houses, sell small businesses, and roll-over 401ks. It's a real opportunity, but it seems to us that to win that business, you need to make a good pitch on the distribution side of the client relationship, not something all advisors are focused on.

The deal was lead by IA Capital, which we believe has some insurance backing, and also saw participation from two other insurance-based investors, Nationwide Ventures, and Western & Southern. This could mean that the Peak 65 thesis is playing very well at insurance companies, as it should, or that IA Capital has a lot of insurance buddies. Probably both. We do believe that annuities are going to see further resurgence as wealth management adds highly competitive distribution-phase proposals to their repertoire in an attempt to capture 401k rollovers and other assets of the Great Liquidation.

Apart from the new faces, which is nice to see these days, existing investors also participated, including Clocktower Ventures (co-lead), Portage Ventures, Vestigo Ventures, Primary Venture Partners, and SilverCircle.

For more information on our Peak 65 theses, and our other thoughts on WealthTech over the next five years, see our piece WealthTech Themes for the Next 5 Years.