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Ortolani, A. (2026, April 14). Hightower Nearing Launch of Centralized Advisor Platform. Wealth Management. https://www.wealthmanagement.com/ria-news/hightower-nearing-launch-of-new-centralized-advisor-platform Hightower Advisors plans to launch Hightower One, a new centralized wealth management platform, this summer with a full rollout expected by the end of 2026. The platform is designed to serve as the primary technology suite for the firm’s new Signature Wealth division while remaining an option for all Hightower-affiliated advisors. Randy Bullard, head of investment management, described the system as a flexible and open-architecture platform supported by NEPC institutional consulting and OCIO resources. The initiative aligns with CEO Larry Restieri’s strategy to integrate existing affiliated advisors and external firms into a cohesive, branded W-2 employee channel. A recent regulatory filing indicates the platform will feature a home-office team responsible for centralized trading, rebalancing, and processing client cash flows. Advisors within the Signature Wealth division, which manages nearly $29 billion in assets, will begin transitioning clients to the new platform during the initial summer launch. While promoting in-house investment strategies, Bullard emphasized that the platform will continue to offer a broad range of third-party options to the firm’s 663 advisors. Knote: This makes sense. If you are looking to attract advisors to your platform, you need to be prepared to answer 4 questions. Three are "what is my payout going to be" but the fourth is "can you give me a unified system that just plain works?"

Wealth.com has announced the closing of a $65 million Series B funding round to accelerate the development of its estate and tax planning technology. The oversubscribed round included participation from new investors Titanium Ventures and Pruven Capital, alongside existing backers such as Charles Schwab and GV. This capital injection follows a period of significant growth for the company, which reported a 664% year-over-year increase in its artificial intelligence workflows and expanded its reach to support firms managing over $15 trillion in client assets. The Phoenix-based company provides a central intelligence layer that unifies complex estate and tax planning tasks into a single digital experience. Its proprietary engine, Ester Intelligence, allows financial advisors to process thousands of estate documents and perform complex calculations with deterministic accuracy. By automating manual and fragmented processes, the platform enables registered investment advisors and large broker-dealers to deliver sophisticated planning at a scale previously unavailable to the broader market. This expansion of technology-led services aligns with the industry shift toward the family office as-a-service model. Traditionally reserved for the ultra-wealthy, high-touch services like estate and tax planning are now being moved down-market through automation and structured data. For wealth management firms and integrators, this represents a significant opportunity to provide holistic, collaborative advice that sits at the center of a client’s financial life while maintaining the precision required for high-stakes advisory environments. Knote: As we understand it, part of the raise will be to help expand into near adjacencies. It will be interesting to see where they go.

CNBC. (2026, April 16). Charles Schwab to launch direct Bitcoin, Ethereum trading to compete with Robinhood. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/16/charles-schwab-to-launch-direct-bitcoin-ethereum-trading-to-compete-with-robinhood.html Charles Schwab plans to launch direct spot trading for Bitcoin and Ethereum by June 2026 to compete with fintech platforms like Robinhood. The service will be managed through Charles Schwab Premier Bank, SSB, indicating a focus on regulatory compliance and asset security. This expansion represents a pivot from offering indirect crypto products like ETFs toward a model of direct digital asset ownership. Schwab intends to leverage its massive twelve-trillion-dollar client asset base to bring traditional investors into the cryptocurrency market. The platform will initially be unavailable in highly regulated states such as New York and Louisiana as part of a cautious rollout. CEO Rick Wurster stated that integrating crypto will allow clients to oversee digital assets alongside traditional retirement and brokerage holdings in one interface. Industry analysts suggest that Schwab's entry will increase market liquidity and further solidify the mainstream legitimacy of the digital asset class. Knote: I guess the real question here is why did this take so long? Fidelity launched their crypto trading app three years ago.

PR Newswire. (2026, April 15). iCapital® and Envestnet Expand Strategic Partnership to Incorporate Alternatives and Structured Investments Within Unified Managed Accounts. PR Newswire. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/icapital-and-envestnet-expand-strategic-partnership-to-incorporate-alternatives-and-structured-investments-within-unified-managed-accounts-302743517.html iCapital and Envestnet have expanded their strategic partnership to integrate alternative and structured investments into Envestnet's Unified Managed Account platform. This integration allows financial advisors to incorporate complex alternative investments alongside traditional public market assets within a single account structure. The partnership provides advisors with single sign-on capabilities to access iCapital's platform directly through Envestnet, thereby reducing friction in the investment process. Advisors can utilize Envestnet's advisor-traded sleeves to streamline portfolio construction, implementation, and ongoing oversight for diverse asset classes. The collaboration aims to deliver scale, consistency, and efficient day-to-day execution across client portfolios as alternative assets become a more prominent component of modern investing. Recent developments in the partnership also include the onboarding of iCapital's private credit fund and structured investments separately managed account onto the Envestnet platform. This expanded technological alignment reflects a broader industry trend of financial professionals adopting more sophisticated portfolio strategies to meet evolving client needs. Knote: I thought they had already done this but it certainly is worth doing. Advisors aren't going to select their own private investments, in my opinion. Hopefully, Envestnet's TAMP steps in on that piece.

Koch, G. (2026, April 16). Morgan Stanley FA-led assets surge as workplace unit heats up. Financial Advisor IQ. https://www.financialadvisoriq.com/c/5139274/726704/morgan_stanley_assets_surge_workplace_unit_heats Morgan Stanley's workplace and E*Trade channels have previously contributed hundreds of billions of dollars in assets to the firm's wealth management unit. These specific financial channels have generated increasingly robust asset flows over recent months. The firm's chief financial officer officially confirmed this upward trend in asset flows during a Wednesday announcement. Knote: When Morgan Stanley astutely acquired E*Trade, it also acquired an incentive equity management platform for the workplace. They both have traditionally contributed significant inflows, but it looks like the pace is picking up both in terms of shots-on-goal and conversion.

Business Wire. (2026, April 7). Orion and Pontera Expand Collaboration with Integration that Pulls Retirement Accounts Directly into Orion Eclipse Workflows. Business Wire. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260407141838/en/Orion-and-Pontera-Expand-Collaboration-with-Integration-that-Pulls-Retirement-Accounts-Directly-into-Orion-Eclipse-Workflows Orion and Pontera have deepened their partnership through a new integration designed to streamline the management of retirement accounts within the Orion Eclipse platform. The integration enables financial advisors to pull held-away retirement account data directly into their existing trading and rebalancing workflows. This automated data flow eliminates the need for manual entry and reduces the operational friction associated with managing outside assets like 401(k) and 403(b) accounts. Advisors can now execute trades and rebalance portfolios for retirement assets using Pontera’s secure management capabilities alongside Orion’s trading tools. By enhancing advisor efficiency, the tool allows professionals to provide more holistic investment advice and more frequent portfolio adjustments. The release highlights that this development is part of a broader commitment to improving advisor productivity and client outcomes through advanced financial technology. Knote: The romantic in me points out that this is a big win for clients since they get professional management of their (often) largest financial asset and more holistic advice across the board. However, it might also be accurate to say that this is a killer tool for capturing 401(k) rollovers or otherwise brining 401(k)s under the AUM umbrella. It's Peak 65 this year, folks.

Pello Companies has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire ByAllAccounts from Morningstar. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2026, subject to customary conditions. While specific financial terms were not disclosed, Morningstar previously acquired the business for $28 million USD in 2014. Upon completion of the deal, ByAllAccounts will operate as a standalone company led by incoming chief executive officer Cynthia Rojas Sejas. ByAllAccounts provides critical data aggregation technology that serves as the foundation for various wealth management applications. Its infrastructure supports portfolio management, reporting, compliance, and tax aware investing for financial professionals. Pello Companies, a firm specializing in open finance innovation, plans to focus capital on accelerating the development of the platform. The new ownership aims to expand access to new data sources and further strengthen the reliability of the underlying technology. The acquisition marks a strategic shift for Morningstar as it focuses its advisor products on proprietary data and investment research. Morningstar will remain a committed customer of ByAllAccounts and will continue to offer the service as an integrated capability within its existing product suite. This move provides ByAllAccounts with the independence and focused investment needed to power the digital transformation of the wealth management ecosystem while remaining a key utility for advisors and platforms. Knote: Pello Companies is B2-grade stealth. Nobody seems to know who owns it, runs it, or funds it. A little strange given that they are presumably going to be asking people for their financial login information. I'm sure we will get more details shortly. Link to Source

WEALTHTECH SAFARI A Guided Tour of WealthTech News Week of April 7, 2026   FMG’s new CEO wants AI to solve what advisors couldn’t automate before •      FMG, a leading marketing platform for financial advisors, is charting a new course under CEO Dave Christensen, who aims to leverage artificial intelligence to tackle workflow challenges that were previously unsolvable—opening the platform’s ecosystem to new tool categories and supporting advisors with early-stage prospecting. •      The move signals that advisor-facing marketing platforms are evolving from content distribution engines into full-stack practice management hubs, with AI as the connective tissue between prospecting, engagement, and conversion. Knote: The advisor marketing space has been a content factory for years—same drip campaigns, same compliance-approved templates. Christensen seems to understand that the real unlock isn’t better content; it’s using AI to connect the dots between who an advisor should talk to, what they should say, and when. If FMG can pull that off, they’re not competing with Snappy Kraken anymore—they’re competing with the CRM. Read More →   InvestSuite launches StoryTeller to turn portfolio reports into AI-narrated conversations •      InvestSuite, a Belgian-born WealthTech firm, has launched StoryTeller in the U.S. market—a tool that transforms static portfolio performance reports into dynamic, AI-generated narratives designed to make client reviews more engaging and accessible. •      Performance reporting has long been one of the most expensive yet least differentiated parts of the advisor tech stack; an AI layer that converts data into plain-language dialogue could meaningfully reduce the time advisors spend prepping for review meetings. Knote: Quarterly performance reports are the tofu of wealth management: everybody produces them, nobody gets excited about them. StoryTeller is betting that the format—not the data—is the problem. If clients actually read these things for once, that’s a moat worth defending. Read More →   CRED revamps Kuvera, doubling down on India’s wealth-tech opportunity •      Indian fintech giant CRED has overhauled its Kuvera wealth management platform with a simplified “do less but better” investing philosophy, aiming to deepen its presence in the rapidly growing Indian wealth management sector. •      The redesign reflects a broader trend among Indian consumer fintechs to move upmarket from payments and credit into wealth management—a segment where India’s expanding affluent class and digital-first habits create a massive addressable market. Knote: India’s WealthTech story keeps accelerating. CRED already has the trust layer from its credit card bill payments franchise and a user base that skews affluent. Kuvera gives them a natural on ramp to wealth. The “do less” philosophy is smart positioning in a market where analysis paralysis kills conversion. Read More →   Private placement BDCs met 74% of redemption requests in Q1 •      Private placement business development companies fulfilled $1.2 billion in redemption requests during the first quarter of 2026, satisfying 74% of total investor demand, according to a Robert A. Stanger & Company analysis of 19 private placement BDCs. •      The data provides a rare liquidity transparency window into the semi-liquid alternatives space and suggests that BDC structures are managing redemption pressure more effectively than some other alternative vehicle types facing similar headwinds. Knote: Seventy-four percent isn’t perfect, but in the world of semi-liquid alts, it’s a passing grade. The real story is that we’re finally getting standardized redemption data for these vehicles—something the industry desperately needs as advisors are asked to put more client capital into products with gates and queues. Read More →   FinTech Global releases WealthTech 100 for 2026 •      FinTech Global has published its annual WEALTHTECH100 list, identifying the world’s most innovative companies across wealth management, asset management, private banking, and financial advisory for 2026. •      A dominant theme among the profiled companies is the integration of artificial intelligence to automate workflows, generate predictive analytics, and deliver personalized client advice at scale—confirming AI’s transition from novelty to infrastructure in the sector. Knote: These lists are always a mix of genuine innovators and well-funded marketing departments, but they’re a useful barometer of where the narrative is heading. This year’s message is unmistakable: if you’re a WealthTech company without an AI story, you’re already behind. Read More →   Global wealthtech market projected to hit $23.8 billion by 2032 •      The global WealthTech solutions market is projected to reach USD 23.81 billion by 2032, nearly tripling from a 2025 valuation of USD 8.64 billion, according to a new analysis from Maximize Market Research. •      The forecast underscores the structural growth trajectory of the sector, driven by digital transformation of advisory services, rising demand for automated portfolio management, and the proliferation of AI-powered tools across the wealth value chain. Knote: Take the exact number with a grain of salt—market sizing in WealthTech depends heavily on where you draw the boundaries—but the direction is right. A near-tripling in seven years matches what we’re seeing on the ground: every RIA, every bank, every insurance company is buying or building wealthtech. The TAM conversation has shifted from “is this a real market?” to “who captures the most value?” Read More →   Farther launches multi-family office for ultra-high-net-worth clients •      Farther, the technology-forward RIA platform, has launched a dedicated multi-family office offering designed to provide specialized wealth management services for ultra-high-net-worth families, integrating the firm’s proprietary technology throughout the client experience. •      The launch marks an ambitious upmarket expansion for Farther and tests whether a tech-native advisory firm can credibly compete with established MFOs that have traditionally relied on relationship depth and bespoke service models rather than platform leverage. Knote: This is a bold move. Multi-family offices live and die on trust, relationships, and white-glove service—not exactly the domain where tech-first firms have historically excelled. But Farther’s bet is that the next generation of UHNW families wants the sophistication without the stuffiness. If they can blend their tech stack with genuinely differentiated advice, this could redefine what “family office” means. Read More →

Business Wire. (2026, April 9). Farther Launches Multi-Family Office, Setting a New Standard for Generational Wealth Management. Morningstar. https://www.morningstar.com/news/business-wire/20260409681670/farther-launches-multi-family-office-setting-a-new-standard-for-generational-wealth-management Farther has officially launched a dedicated multi-family office to provide specialized wealth management services for ultra-high-net-worth families. The new offering integrates the firm’s proprietary technology platform with bespoke advisory solutions to manage complex financial structures. The multi-family office focuses on generational wealth transfer, estate planning, and sophisticated tax optimization strategies. Families gain access to real-time reporting and visibility across diverse and illiquid asset classes through a centralized digital interface. This expansion is designed to bridge the gap between traditional family office services and modern, tech-enabled wealth management. Farther’s approach incorporates philanthropic planning and family governance to ensure the long-term preservation of family legacies. The launch follows a period of significant institutional growth and increasing demand for integrated, high-touch financial services. Knote: It's not exactly in our Family Office as-a-Service theme, but close. And if we know Farther, they are going to make extensive use of technology to create at least a semi-scaled product for the advisor.

Maximize Market Research. (2026, April 9). WealthTech Solutions Market Size to Surpass USD 23.81 Billion by 2032, Shows New Maximize Market Research Analysis. EIN Presswire. https://www.einpresswire.com/article/904711024/wealthtech-solutions-market-size-to-surpass-usd-23-81-billion-by-2032-shows-new-maximize-market-research-analysis The global WealthTech solutions market is projected to reach USD 23.81 billion by 2032, expanding from a 2025 valuation of USD 8.64 billion. The industry is expected to maintain a compound annual growth rate of 15.58% throughout the forecast period from 2026 to 2032. Asia-Pacific dominates the sector with a global market share exceeding 37%, largely fueled by digital transformation initiatives in India. Cloud deployment solutions currently command a significant 68% share of the market, facilitating scalable infrastructure for emerging financial startups. Retail investors have emerged as the primary growth driver, accounting for 55% of the market as they adopt automated retirement and investment applications. The robo-advisory service segment is experiencing the most rapid expansion, growing at a rate of 22% as digital assistants gain traction with users. Future market development is characterized by the integration of AI and blockchain technologies to offer hyper-personalized financial planning for high-net-worth individuals. Knote: There are not a lot of industries planning on growing top line 15-16% per year for the next 5 years, let alone the 22% growth rate for digital advice, which is considered somewhat dormant in the US but virtually exploding in India.

FinTech Global. (2026). WEALTHTECH100. FinTech Global. WealthTech 100 Report The WEALTHTECH100 is an annual list compiled by industry experts identifying the world's most innovative companies in wealth and asset management, private banking, and financial advisory. A prominent trend across the profiled companies is the integration of artificial intelligence to automate workflows, generate predictive analytics, and provide personalized client advice at scale. Many firms are focusing on resolving data fragmentation by building unified, cloud-native infrastructure that connects legacy banking systems with modern portfolio management tools. Technology solutions are increasingly adapting to support complex, multi-asset portfolios by bridging the analytical and reporting gaps between public securities and alternative or private market investments. Regulatory compliance and risk management remain central to WealthTech innovation, with platforms embedding automated surveillance, suitability checks, and audit trails directly into advisor workflows. Companies are also modernizing niche sectors like philanthropic planning and retirement accounts by offering digital-first, white-labeled platforms that integrate directly into the broader wealth management ecosystem. The overall objective of these technologies is to reduce operational costs and manual errors while empowering financial advisors to deliver more holistic, data-driven, and engaging client experiences. Knote: It's always nice to see this every year from our friends at Fintech Global. Congratulations to all the winners!

Misonzhnik, E. (2026, April 9). Private Placement BDCs Meet 74% of Redemption Requests. Wealth Management. https://www.wealthmanagement.com/alternative-investments/private-placement-bdcs-met-three-fourths-of-redemption-requests-in-first-quarter Private placement business development companies (BDCs) fulfilled $1.2 billion in redemption requests during the first quarter of 2026, satisfying 74% of total investor demand. A report from Robert A. Stanger & Company analyzed 19 private placement BDCs representing $27.5 billion in aggregate net asset value (NAV). Data indicates that 15 of the surveyed funds met all redemption requests, while five funds implemented proration to manage withdrawal volumes. Investor withdrawal activity spiked late in 2025 due to concerns regarding loan portfolio health and overall market liquidity. Redemption demand reached a record high of 4.6% in late 2025, which is nearly triple the historical long-term average of 1.6%. Analyses by research firm Preqin suggest that the credit quality of these BDC loan portfolios aligns with the performance of the broader market. Fund managers are employing standard 5% redemption caps and liquid reserves to safeguard the interests of non-exiting investors during this period of elevated activity. Knote: It certainly didn't take long to get a test of the liquidity of interval-type funds. It will be interesting to see what consumer fallout is. I suspect it might be one of those little things we look the other way on in order to secure higher yields, but could go the other way too. Meanwhile, PE firms are building vulture funds to grab cheap assets if someone is forced to liquidate. They never miss a beat.