Wealth Management Staff. (2026, June 25). Hightower's next phase: Signature Wealth, Hightower One and the role of wealthtech. WealthManagement.com. https://www.wealthmanagement.com/ria-edge/hightower-s-next-phase-signature-wealth-hightower-one-and-the-role-of-wealthtech CEO Larry Restieri states that Hightower's next phase focuses on consolidating around its new brand, Hightower Signature Wealth, which he describes as the firm's in-house, fully integrated RIA model. Restieri explains that the firm is building on its middle-office stack, a platform called Hightower One, aimed at making onboarding and investment management best-in-class so advisors can focus on their clients. He frames Hightower's goal as working with all of its independent firms to help them grow, enabling advisors at the firm level while supporting them from the home office. Restieri reframes the AI conversation more broadly as technology, citing fintech and WealthTech firms that are making it easier for advisors to deliver more for their clients. He maintains that wealth management is fundamentally a people business and that the client-advisor relationship is the cornerstone, asserting that new tools cannot replicate that relationship even as note-taker and AI solutions proliferate. He describes setting a clear vision with full transparency under the firm's "Hightower 3.0" strategy, ensuring everyone understands what the firm is doing, why, and how it benefits them and their clients. Knote: It's always good to hear Larry's thoughts. He seems to be focusing quite a bit on the tech stack. I have no argument there.

Robinhood Markets announced on June 22, 2026, that it has priced a private offering of $2.0 billion in aggregate principal amount of 0.00% convertible senior notes due 2029, sold to qualified institutional buyers under Rule 144A. The company granted initial purchasers an option to buy up to an additional $200 million in notes, and the offering is expected to close on June 25, 2026. Net proceeds are estimated at approximately $1.97 billion after discounts and expenses. Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD) is the brokerage best known for popularizing commission-free, self-directed trading among retail investors. Robinhood described the raise as an opportunistic move to enhance strategic flexibility. It intends to use roughly $290 million to repurchase Class A shares, $112 million to fund capped call transactions designed to limit dilution, and the remainder for general corporate purposes that may include organic growth investments, potential acquisitions, and capital expenditures. The notes will not bear regular interest and carry an initial conversion price of about $174.42 per share. For the WealthTech industry, the raise highlights the theme of self-directed trading as lead generation. Robinhood's large base of self-directed users is aging into prime savings years, when demand for advice grows, and flexible capital positions the firm to monetize that base through expanded services and acquisitions. Knote: This structure is a bit more like straight debt than a normal convertible bond. The company sells a convertible bond (so they are selling a bond plus a call option, effectively). They then enter into an OTC derivative transaction with a bank(s) to buy back that call, basically making it straight debt, and then they sell a call struck much higher to help finance the purchase of the call (a call spread). The net effect is like they sold a straight bond and a way out of the money call (154%, according to the company). Fancy. https://investors.robinhood.com/node/16066/html

Arca, an AI-native wealth management company, emerged from stealth on June 24, 2025, announcing it had raised $64 million across a seed round and a Series A. The $48.5 million Series A was led by General Catalyst, with participation from Index Ventures and Venrock. Venrock also led the company's earlier $15.5 million seed round. Arca currently manages more than $1 billion in client assets and employs 28 people across wealth management operations, product, and engineering. Founded by Rron Rexha, a former product leader at Plaid, Arca pairs human financial advisors with purpose-built AI infrastructure designed to eliminate the operational friction that consumes advisor time. The company argues that more than a third of U.S. households holding tens of trillions in assets lack access to proactive, personalized wealth management, in part because advisors at the more than 15,000 SEC-registered RIAs spend less than 20% of their time with clients. Arca's platform is built to change that ratio by handling manual, repetitive back-office workflows automatically. The funding will be used to grow Arca's client base, expand its advisory team, and continue developing its platform and brand. The company's board and advisors include Bill McNabb, former CEO and chairman of Vanguard Group, Jason Wenk, founder and CEO of Altruist, and Morgan Housel, author of The Psychology of Money. Arca's approach positions the advisor, not the algorithm, as the primary driver of client outcomes, using AI to support rather than supplant the human relationship at the core of wealth management. Knote: This is the latest in the new breed of "tech-forward RIAs" looking to "lift-up" advisors instead of "roll-up" advisors. It's the slower road, but considering that Farther is now at $28B, there is not too much wrong with slow these days. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260624333055/en/Arca-Raises-%2464-Million-to-Revolutionize-and-Humanize-Wealth-Management-at-Scale

Janowski, D. (2026, June 23). RightCapital launches Iris AI agent to streamline financial planning workflow. Wealth Management. https://www.wealthmanagement.com/artificial-intelligence/rightcapital-launches-iris RightCapital has introduced Iris, an AI planning agent built to help financial advisors create and manage client financial plans without disrupting existing workflows. The company states that Iris is the first AI agent capable of directly analyzing client information within financial planning software to review profile data, identify plan inconsistencies and execute retirement simulations in real time. The agent's Double Check function scans client profiles for missing information or data inconsistencies that could affect plan accuracy. The Cash Flow Reviews feature highlights critical planning considerations such as anomalies, assumption risks and potential gaps that may create future financial concerns. The Plan Builder tool lets advisors set probability targets and receive three customized strategies based on adjustable variables like retirement age or living expenses. All outputs originate from RightCapital's proprietary calculation engine, restricting insights to the platform's verified solutions, while firms retain control over team access at the organizational level. Iris is immediately available at no additional charge to all financial planners and assistants on RightCapital's Premium and Platinum subscription tiers.

FusionIQ, a digital wealth management platform serving financial institutions and advisors, has completed its acquisition of Marstone, Inc., a pioneering independent digital wealth technology provider founded in Providence in 2013. The combination unites FusionIQ's enterprise platform, which spans digital advice, self-directed brokerage, an advisory workbench, and multi-custodian integrations, with Marstone's goal-based financial planning and financial wellness tools. Together the firms aim to serve banks, credit unions, broker-dealers, RIAs, and non-financial companies seeking wealth management capabilities. Marstone's founders are joining FusionIQ's leadership team. Co-founder and CEO Margaret J. Hartigan becomes Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Marstone Digital, while co-founder Christopher D. LaVine becomes Chief Delivery and Growth Officer. FusionIQ CEO Eric Noll said the two companies share a mission of making financial guidance accessible to everyone. The combined platform offers deep institutional connectivity across custodians such as Pershing, asset managers including BlackRock, and banking systems like Q2 and Jack Henry. For advisors and institutions, the deal reflects a broader Family Office as-a-Service trend, in which firms expand beyond pure portfolio management toward integrated planning, wellness, and holistic services delivered at scale. By pairing client-facing journeys with industrial-grade portfolio and custodial integrations, the merged platform shortens onboarding and brings high-touch capabilities further down-market. The transaction signals continued consolidation in WealthTech as institutions digitize and compete to reach clients across the full arc of wealth creation. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260622054913/en/FusionIQ-Acquires-Marstone-Uniting-Two-Digital-Wealth-Management-Pioneers

Clark, G. (2026, June 22). Jade enters WealthTech fray to arm advisors against concentrated stock risk. BriefGlance. https://briefglance.com/articles/jade-enters-wealthtech-fray-to-arm-advisors-against-concentrated-stock-risk Jade, a Boston-based financial technology firm co-founded by Jared Lucas and Steven Dorval, launched on June 22, 2026, with an integrated options platform aimed at helping registered investment advisors manage concentrated stock positions. Concentrated positions, frequently arising from executive compensation or business sales, present diversification challenges that options strategies can address but whose operational complexity has historically limited advisor adoption. The platform supports covered calls, protective puts, and collars while automating trade execution, monitoring, and performance reporting to reduce administrative burden. Jade incorporates integrated compliance oversight and direct integrations with major custodians including Schwab, Fidelity, and Pershing to eliminate manual data reconciliation. Jade positions itself against generic WealthTech tools, packaged overlay products, and manual processes by offering advisor-level customization combined with integrated compliance and scalable execution. The founders, whose careers span John Hancock and New York Life, launched an early access program called the Jade Alpha Circle to build a user community and iterate on advisor feedback.

Vanguard. (2026, June 16). Vanguard's 25th "How America Saves" reveals a quiet retirement revolution. Vanguard. https://corporate.vanguard.com/content/corporatesite/us/en/corp/who-we-are/pressroom/press-release-vanguards-twenty-fifth-how-america-saves-reveals-quiet-retirement-revolution-061626.html The 25th annual report analyzes the retirement behaviors of nearly five million American workers and indicates savers are in a stronger position than ever. Participation in retirement plans reached a record 86% of eligible employees, up from 65% over the period covered by the report series. Nearly two-thirds of plans now default participants at a 4% or higher automatic enrollment rate, with about one-third defaulting at 6%. Approximately 70% of participants use professionally managed allocations, and employer matching contributions rose to a record 4.7%. The average participant savings rate reached an all-time high of 12.1% in 2025, with 45% of participants increasing their savings rate during the year. Account balances rose 13% year over year, while only 5% of participants traded during periods of market volatility. The report notes increased hardship withdrawals, signaling ongoing gaps in short-term financial resilience that require additional participant support solutions.

SyntheticFi has raised $13 million and surpassed $2 billion in regulatory assets under management, the company announced on June 15, 2026. The financing came from Y Combinator, NextGen VP, Social Leverage, The Compound Capital Fund, and other investors across the wealth management ecosystem. Founded in 2023, the SEC-registered firm is now used by more than 3,000 advisors across 300-plus advisory firms, roughly tripling its platform since the start of the year. SyntheticFi gives advisors a single platform for sophisticated financing strategies such as box spreads and variable prepaid forwards, tools historically available only to institutions and ultra-high-net-worth investors. The company says these approaches can help clients lower borrowing costs, improve tax efficiency, and access liquidity without selling appreciated assets. According to the firm, advisors are increasingly weighing financing alongside investment and tax decisions rather than treating borrowing as a standalone transaction. That shift reflects the broader move toward Family Office as-a-Service, in which technology brings the high-touch capabilities of a family office, including liability optimization, down-market to everyday advisory firms. By embedding financing into holistic planning, SyntheticFi positions advisors to collaborate closer to the center of a client's financial life. The company plans to use the new capital for product development, deeper advisor partnerships, and team expansion. https://www.syntheticfi.com/blog/syntheticfi-raises-13m-surpasses-2b-in-regulatory-aum

Redseer Strategy Consultants. (2026, June). Inside India's digital investing boom. Redseer. https://redseer.com/reports/indias-digital-investment-market-report/view/94889/ The report frames the market's next growth phase as coming from depth rather than discovery, shifting the source of expansion from acquiring new accounts to deepening engagement with the existing base. Growth is being driven by rapid accumulation, with the average investor holding approximately ₹10 lakh and adding close to ₹3 lakh each year, an inflow equal to nearly a third of holdings. Digital platforms are capturing a rising share of household savings, and the high inflow-to-portfolio ratio signals a young, fast-growing base whose investing habits are not yet fixed. A substantial growth runway exists in underused products, as the share of investors aware of but not using each item reaches 65% for loans against securities, 57% for US and global stocks, 56% for personal loans, 55% for margin trading, and 50% for ETFs. Concentration in two simple products limits current depth, with mutual fund SIPs and direct equity holding the majority of investable money, leaving room to broaden investors into multi-product portfolios. The report identifies the largest growth opportunity in converting passive Guided Savers and learning Aspiring Investors into more active, multi-product participants similar to Confident Builders. Redseer concludes the next growth leader will be a "depth winner" that monetizes engagement rather than scale, earning the next product through experience and contextual relevance before a better-capitalized entrant captures it. Knote: The average digital investor in India only has about $10,600 in their account, but they are contributing $3,200 per year. What they don't have in assets they make up for in numbers: 131M investors and growing at 30% per year. It's really just a matter of time.

Denmark’s Festina Finance has secured a growth investment valued at more than €25 million (roughly $29 million USD) from Birchway Capital, a deal that values the Værløse-headquartered fintech at approximately €200 million (about $230 million USD). Founded in 2007, the company operates two platforms for the wealth and pension industry: Festina Advisor, which delivers financial planning and advisory tools for businesses, and Festina Life and Pensions, a cloud-based system that manages pension policies, capital administration, and payment processing for more than 3 million customers across Europe. The company says the capital will fund development of its flagship Life and Pensions platform, expand its team, and accelerate international growth, with the UK named as a key strategic market. The move builds on a foothold established a year earlier with support from Netcompany, an IT consulting and software provider that has held a stake in Festina since September 2023 and has now increased its holding to 22 percent. The two firms will continue integrating Festina’s pension capabilities into Netcompany’s AMPLIO Life and Pension platform and its banking services. The investment lands as the industry prepares for Peak 65, the period beginning in 2026 when more people in the US and across developed markets reach retirement age than at any point in history. As demand for retirement income solutions and pension administration grows, infrastructure providers such as Festina that handle pension policies, capital administration, and payments are positioned to benefit from advisors and platforms seeking scalable, fiduciary-friendly retirement tools. For integrators and platforms, Festina’s expansion signals continued investment in the pipes that will carry a generation into retirement. https://www.fintechfutures.com/venture-capital-funding/festina-finance-lands-25m-to-fuel-uk-expansion

WEALTHTECH SAFARI A Guided Tour of WealthTech News Week of June 19, 2026 Scale, Differentiate, or Get Left Behind: Inside the 2026 TAMP Growth Summit Leadership Panel The 2026 TAMP Growth Summit leadership panel convened executives from Envestnet, AssetMark, Orion, SEI, Dynasty Financial Partners, and others to examine how AI convergence, expanded platform capabilities, and differentiation strategies are reshaping the future of outsourced wealth management.. As TAMPs evolve into comprehensive advisor operating systems, firms that fail to develop distinctive value propositions and AI-integrated workflows face increasing commoditization in a market consolidating around scale and client outcomes. Read More: WealthTech Strategy Partners Blog "We Are Very Acqusitive": eToro Considers Buying Wealth Tech Firms, Mulls Banking License Following its Nasdaq IPO, eToro CEO Yoni Assia confirmed the company is actively evaluating multiple wealth-tech acquisitions and exploring the possibility of obtaining a banking license to expand its full-service financial platform. eToro’s aggressive post-IPO acquisition posture signals a broader consolidation wave in WealthTech as trading platforms seek to capture the entire wealth management value chain from investing to banking. Read More: WealthTech Strategy Partners Blog First State Financial Management Selects Mili, Bringing AI-Powered Advisor Workflows to Community Bank Wealth Management First State Financial Management, the wealth management subsidiary of First State Community Bank, has selected Mili as its AI platform to automate advisor workflows and streamline client service delivery within a community bank channel. This selection signals that AI-powered workflow automation is expanding beyond large RIAs into community bank wealth management, where purpose-built tools are enabling smaller firms to compete on advisor productivity and client experience. Read More: WealthTech Strategy Partners Blog Agentic AI is Not a Chatbot. Here is What It Actually Means for Your Firm The Oasis Group CEO John O’Connell argues that agentic AI—systems that pursue multi-step goals across platforms without prompting at each step—represents a fundamentally different capability than chatbots, and offers a practical framework for RIAs to deploy it starting with clean data and documented workflows. With enterprise-level agentic AI infrastructure now accessible to mid-market firms, wealth managers that treat it as a future-year priority are ceding a compounding operational advantage to competitors already in production. Read More: WealthTech Strategy Partners Blog Aviso Advances Technology Modernization with Broadridge's Wealth Platform Canadian wealth services provider Aviso is deploying Broadridge’s Wealth Platform, featuring open API architecture and a next-generation Advisor Workstation, to modernize its Correspondent Partners business and enhance advisor productivity and client experience. This expanded multi-year collaboration reflects the accelerating technology modernization cycle in Canadian wealth management, where open-architecture platforms are becoming essential infrastructure for firms competing on advisor productivity, scalability, and long-term growth. Read More: WealthTech Strategy Partners Blog Feel free to reach out if you want to discuss any of the above or if you just want to chat about WealthTech. We love talking WealthTech! Subscribe and receive these insights directly: wealthtechstrategy.com

Broadridge Financial Solutions. (2026, June 16). Aviso advances technology modernization with Broadridge's wealth platform. Yahoo Finance. https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/aviso-advances-technology-modernization-broadridges-113000089.html Canadian wealth services provider Aviso is collaborating with Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. to support the next phase of technology modernization for its Aviso Correspondent Partners business by deploying Broadridge's Wealth Platform. The initiative forms part of Aviso's long-term strategic vision and expanded multi-year relationship with Broadridge, deepening collaboration as part of a broader partner ecosystem. Aviso will leverage Broadridge's Wealth Platform, which provides a next-generation open API architecture and innovative Advisor Workstation components. The solution combines Broadridge's technology and books and records engine with Aviso's own capabilities and select third-party partner applications to deliver a seamless, scalable experience for partners. The enhanced Advisor Workstation is intended to increase advisor productivity, enable accelerated onboarding of new tools, reduce internal integration work and costs, and provide real-time access to data and insights while digitizing operations. Bill Packham, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aviso, stated that the strategy focuses on delivering smarter, more agile digital experiences for clients and advisors while creating a foundation for future innovation. The modernization positions Aviso to capitalize on growth opportunities while responding more readily to industry evolution and regulatory developments.