Vestwell, who started out as a Workplace 401k provider, and since, has expanded, recently secured $385 million in Series E funding to expand the modern savings ecosystem. This investment round was led by Sixth Street Growth and Blue Owl Capital with participation from several major financial institutions including Morgan Stanley and Franklin Templeton. The company provides the underlying technology for a variety of savings programs such as 401k plans and ABLE accounts which are used by more than 2 million active savers and 30,000 plans. The firm intends to ‘close the $50 trillion savings gap in America’ by embedding its services more deeply into the channels where people earn their income. Vestwell aims to reach workers directly and simplify the process of building long-term wealth. This focus on intelligent infrastructure allows the company to automate administration and offer more personalized investment solutions that were historically available only to large institutional plans. Of course, we are entering Peak 65 zone where 4.1 million Americans are expected to turn 65 annually starting this year. Wealth management platforms and advisors are increasingly focused on retirement income solutions and the competition for 401k rollovers as this demographic shift takes place. Vestwell is positioning itself as the connective layer for the savings economy to help a broad range of individuals prepare for these major life milestones through a unified and modern infrastructure. Knote: Link to Article

Avantos, an AI layer for onboarding and servicing clients, recently completed a $25 million Series A funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners, bringing its total capital raised to $35 million. The investment featured participation from major strategic partners including Vanguard, SEI, and The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America. This capital injection follows a $10 million seed round led by the MIT affiliated E14 Fund in 2024. The New York based company provides an artificial intelligence native operating system designed to transform how financial institutions manage the full lifecycle of client relationships. The platform uses a knowledge graph architecture to establish deep context around client data, service teams, and workflows. By unifying these elements into a single intelligent environment, Avantos enables firms to move beyond simple automation into complex execution of onboarding and ongoing servicing tasks. This technology is currently in production with major wealth managers and has demonstrated a 30% increase in advisor productivity alongside a 50% reduction in operational and technology costs. It aims to replace fragmented legacy systems that often hinder the delivery of consistent and personalized client experiences. This funding will support continued investment in the platform, including the expansion of specialized AI agents and deeper integrations with custodians, CRMs, and portfolio management tools. For the WealthTech industry, the growth of Avantos signals a shift toward context aware systems that streamline workflows. As wealth management firms face increasing pressure to scale while maintaining high touch service, this solution offers a path to institutionalize client data and streamline administrative burdens. These advancements are particularly relevant for platforms and integrators seeking to modernize their operations for the AI era. Knote: They are using the headline suggesting they raised $35 million, but that includes $10 million they raised back in 2024. They are not lying, but usually we only see the current raise in the headline so there is some confusion. Link to Article

Aviva Investors. (2026, February). Aviva Investors seeks to tokenise products with Ripple. https://www.avivainvestors.com/en-gb/about/company-news/2026/02/aviva-investors-seeks-to-tokenise-products-with-ripple Aviva Investors has announced a partnership with Ripple to explore the tokenization of its investment funds and financial products. The collaboration utilizes Ripple’s blockchain infrastructure to represent traditional assets as digital tokens on the XRP Ledger. This initiative is designed to increase market liquidity and streamline the management of asset classes for global investors. By adopting distributed ledger technology, the firm aims to reduce the administrative costs associated with manual settlement and reconciliation. The project focuses on improving transparency and security within the asset management lifecycle through real-time tracking of ownership. This move represents a strategic effort by Aviva Investors to modernize its service delivery in response to the growing demand for digital asset solutions. Both organizations are working closely with regulatory bodies to ensure the new tokenized products meet all legal and compliance standards. Knote: While it might be an exaggeration to say that public markets continue their march towards tokenization, unless we are talking about the French Foreign Legion's "Slow March", in the private investment arena it is a full-on sprint to tokenize.

Burgess, R. (2025, February 14). Edward Jones Adds Cash Flow Optimization to Services . WealthManagement.com . https://www.wealthmanagement.com/smas/edward-jones-adds-cash-flow-optimization-to-services Edward Jones has introduced a new cash flow optimization tool designed to help clients manage their spending and saving more effectively. The feature is powered by Envestnet’s MoneyGuide technology to provide a comprehensive view of a client's financial health. Financial advisors can now leverage real-time data from both internal and held-away accounts to better monitor client liquidity. The tool identifies surplus cash within a client's budget that can be redirected toward long-term investment goals or debt repayment. This initiative is part of a broader strategic shift by Edward Jones toward offering holistic and digitally integrated wealth management advice. By automating the analysis of income and expenses, the firm aims to improve the operational efficiency of its branch teams. The optimization service helps ensure that client portfolios remain aligned with their financial objectives through proactive liquidity management.

Stable Money, an Indian WealthTech startup that has built a self-directed fixed income platform, has secured $25 million in a pre-Series C funding round. Peak XV Partners led the investment with participation from existing backers including Z47, RTP Global, and Fundamentum Partnership. This latest capital infusion brings the total funding raised by the firm to $65 million and values the company at approximately $175 million. The platform allows retail investors to compare and manage low risk financial products like bank fixed deposits and corporate bonds. Stable Money has already onboarded over 4 million users who have facilitated more than $600 million in investments. By partnering with thirteen banks and operating as a licensed bond provider, the firm simplifies the discovery process for Indian households. Its mission is to provide a transparent gateway for stable wealth creation without the volatility associated with equity markets. This funding will support expansion into smaller cities and the addition of new asset classes like real estate investment trusts. The company aims to scale its customer base significantly while strengthening its technology. For the wealth management industry, this growth highlights the rising demand for digital platforms that cater to conservative investors. Providing accessible and secure savings tools remains a critical priority for the evolving Indian financial landscape. Knote: India is not exactly in a retirement income crisis with only about 7% of the population over 65. But the popularity of the Stable Money platform shows that some savers prefer the safety of fixed income and it is an easy step into savings for many. The US has an even greater need for fixed income solutions since 18% of our population is over 65 with a record number of people turning 65 this year. Link to Article

Uptiq has successfully secured $25 million in Series B funding to accelerate the deployment of its artificial intelligence platform for financial institutions. Curql led the investment round with participation from several strategic partners including Silverton Partners, 645 Ventures, and Broadridge. This new capital follows a previous $12 million round in October and brings the total equity funding to approximately $70 million. The company provides a proprietary orchestration platform called Qore that enables wealth management firms and banks to deploy domain trained AI agents. These digital workers automate critical back-office processes such as client onboarding, compliance documentation, and credit underwriting. For wealth advisors, the technology integrates with existing systems to provide real time portfolio insights and streamline the often tedious task of repapering client accounts. This development is significant because it helps financial firms transition from experimental AI pilots to scalable production environments. By automating repetitive documentation and data entry, the platform allows advisors to focus on high touch client relationships rather than administrative burdens. Early adopters have reported substantial improvements in efficiency, including faster decision cycles and reduced operational costs across their lending and wealth management operations. Knote: We feel that the value of AI in WealthTech is becoming more the infrastructure around the AI versus the AI itself. Enter the Qore platform, an AI orchestrator, because AI is good at many things, except structured processes since it tends to try and figure out the process from scratch each time. Also note Curql, a VC fund that basically serves as an outsourced CVC for credit unions and brings together the innovation with the distribution. That’s a winner, in my view. Link to Article

Bengaluru-based digital advice startup Otto Money has successfully closed a $1.3 million pre-seed funding round led by Pravega Ventures. The capital injection also saw participation from a group of prominent angel investors including Rishi Kohli and founders from InMobi and NoBroker. Founded in 2025 by former engineering leaders from Cohesity and Google, the company is developing a platform designed to provide institutional-grade financial guidance to the growing population of retail investors in India. The startup provides an artificial intelligence platform that delivers data-driven and multi-asset wealth guidance without the typical conflicts of interest found in product-focused distribution models. By leveraging sophisticated algorithms, the platform helps users understand financial trade-offs and manage risks while staying aligned with their long-term objectives. This focus on unbiased, goal-based advice aims to address the information asymmetry and fragmented portfolio views that often lead to reactive decision-making among digitally native investors. This investment will support the company as it strengthens its proprietary intelligence layer and enhances personalization features over the next eighteen months. The founders plan to allocate the funds toward hiring across engineering and data science teams while launching go-to-market initiatives in major metropolitan areas. For the broader wealth management industry, Otto Money represents a shift toward technology-led advisory services that prioritize clarity and disciplined wealth building over simple product sales. Knote: It's nice to see some good, old fashioned, early stage WealthTech funding from a VC. Of course, it is in India, which we still feel is one of the hottest direct-to-consumer digital advice plays globally. Link to Article

Funds Society. (2024, February 7). Mariner Partners with State Street to Use its Charles River Wealth Management Platform. https://www.fundssociety.com/en/news/business/mariner-partners-with-state-street-to-use-its-charles-river-wealth-management-platform/ Mariner has entered into a strategic partnership with State Street to implement the Charles River Wealth Management platform across its national advisory business. The collaboration is designed to modernize Mariner’s technological infrastructure and streamline investment management workflows for its wealth advisors. The Charles River platform provides a comprehensive, end-to-end solution covering portfolio management, trading, and compliance. Mariner intends to leverage the platform’s advanced tools to improve advisor productivity and enhance the overall client service experience. The integration will allow Mariner’s investment teams to manage high volumes of accounts more efficiently through automated portfolio construction and rebalancing. State Street’s platform was selected for its capability to scale effectively alongside Mariner’s rapid growth in assets under management. This initiative reflects a broader industry trend of wealth management firms adopting sophisticated enterprise technology to maintain a competitive operational edge. Knote: It looks like Mariner is going for strong portfolio management and scalability, key strengths for Charles River. I just hope they are still going to focus on ancillary services and Family Office as-a-Service too.

Your guided tour of the interesting events in WealthTech for the week Alina Invest Secures $22.5 Million in Financing for User Acquisition  Alinea Invest has obtained a $22.5 million credit facility from PvX Partners to scale its AI-powered investment platform for Gen Z and female investors.  The use of non-dilutive capital for marketing highlights a growing industry trend where fintechs prioritize performance metrics over traditional equity dilution to fund growth.  Click here to read full report Sidekick Raises $10.6 Million to Expand Personal Investing Platform  London-based Sidekick secured $10.6 million in Series A funding to provide mass-affluent professionals with private market access and Lombard lending products.  By bridging the gap between retail apps and private banks, Sidekick is positioning itself to capture the "rich-but-not-wealthy" segment through sophisticated digital credit.  Knote : Instead of marketing their personal trading and investing app to the entry-level investor, Sidekick looks to service more sophisticated investors by offering things like private assets, customized indexing, margin, and cash management (bank slicing). It’s an interesting point of differentiation, in my view.  Click here to read full report Goodfin Launches AI Agent Platform for Private Market Investing  Goodfin Go has debuted an automated system featuring over 30 specialized AI agents to manage research, compliance, and documentation for private equity investments.  This AI-native approach significantly lowers the operational barriers to alternative assets, allowing accredited investors to manage complex late-stage venture deals with minimal manual oversight.  Click here to read full report Max Launches Comprehensive Private Banking and Lending Capabilities for RIAs    Max has expanded its automated cash management platform to include private banking and specialized lending infrastructure for Registered Investment Advisors.  Enabling advisors to provide competitive credit and banking directly within their ecosystem strengthens the RIA value proposition against large integrated wirehouses.  Knote : Don't let those clients get within 20 nautical miles of a Chase branch!  Click here to read full report CIO Group Launches COLOR AI, an Advanced Multi-Asset Multi-Strategy AI for Institutional-Grade Portfolios  CIO Group introduced COLOR AI, a deep-learning platform designed to identify market inefficiencies and manage risk dynamically across global asset classes.  The platform represents the democratization of hedge-fund-style quantitative modeling, providing wealth managers with high-performance computational tools for institutional-grade portfolio construction.  Click here to read full report Altruist Adds AI Tax Planning to Hazel Platform  Altruist integrated AI-powered tax planning into its Hazel platform, enabling advisors to generate personalized strategies from uploaded financial documents without manual entry.  By automating the high-friction task of tax modeling, Altruist is moving beyond simple custody into high-value planning services that deepen the advisor-client relationship.  Click here to read full report Intelliflo launches AI Suite ‘Intelliflo IQ’ for adviser platform  Intelliflo has partnered with Multiply to launch Intelliflo IQ, a suite of AI tools that automates client interaction documentation and data entry.  Claiming an 85% reduction in administrative workload, this integration signals a shift toward "invisible" back-office automation where AI handles the heavy lifting of data hygiene.  Click here to read full report Nasdaq Launches New Private Capital Indexes, Expanding its Private Capital Solutions  Nasdaq released three new private capital indexes to provide transparent benchmarking for venture capital and buyout fund performance using eVestment data.  Standardized indexing is a critical prerequisite for the broader adoption of alternative assets, as it provides the performance context necessary for traditional portfolio allocation.  Knote : Ultimately, we need indexes to really get the Alts2Wealth movement into high gear. We need indexes to give advisors and allocators understanding on how to use alternatives, what the risk/reward is, and how they can be mixed into a public asset portfolio. We all say that people should not invest based on past performance, but everyone still does.  Click here to read full report Grab Enters U.S. Wealth Market with Stash Acquisition    Southeast Asian giant Grab has agreed to acquire a controlling 50.1% stake in the U.S. investment app Stash for $425 million.  This acquisition allows Grab to export Stash’s fractional investing and AI coaching technology to its massive Southeast Asian user base while securing a foothold in the American market.  Knote : Well, we didn’t see this one coming. I’m not sure the ultimate purpose is to enter the US market with this, but it is perhaps a nice benefit. I think they are going to be more interested in rolling out Stash-like products across their massive user base in SE Asia and, hopefully, South Asia. Note that their press release said the initial investment was at an enterprise value of $425 million, but we believe that is just what they paid for the first 50.1%, which makes more sense given that Stash has raised approximately $670 million to date.  Click here to read full report Dispatch Announces Upcoming Early Access to Industry-First Automated Schwab Account Onboarding API  Dispatch has opened a waitlist for a new API that automates the account opening and funding process specifically for the Charles Schwab platform.  By providing straight-through processing for onboarding, Dispatch is addressing one of the most persistent operational bottlenecks in the independent wealth management space.  Click here to read full report The Oasis Group and Practifi Release White Paper on CRM Selection in Wealth Management  The Oasis Group and Practifi published a research paper identifying data architecture and change management as the primary drivers of CRM success.  The paper highlights that a unified data model is no longer just an organizational preference but a fundamental requirement for firms intending to deploy AI.  Click here to read full report

https://www.investmentnews.com/wirehouses/morningstar-warns-robinhoods-new-venture-fund-a-potential-disaster-for-investors/262121 Kelly, B. (2025, September 16). Morningstar warns Robinhood's new venture fund a potential 'disaster' for investors . InvestmentNews. Robinhood Markets recently registered Robinhood Ventures Fund I, a closed-end fund designed to provide retail investors access to private, pre-IPO companies. Morningstar analyst Bryan Armour issued a stark warning, labeling the fund's potential launch as a "disaster" and "reckless" for average investors. Critics point out that Robinhood lacks a significant track record in money management and has no prior experience managing private market access in the U.S. The fund's management subsidiary was only formed in August 2025, leading to concerns that the firm is operating outside its "circle of competence." While Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev frames the fund as a way to democratize elite investment opportunities, analysts suggest better-managed alternatives already exist. Established firms like Fidelity, T. Rowe Price, and Baron Capital already offer retail exposure to private firms like SpaceX through existing mutual funds. The rise of "semiliquid" funds has provided a $400 billion market for private access while incorporating more robust risk management than the proposed RVI structure. Knote: This reads to me as Morningstar being defensive for some reason. It is not clear to me that managing a pre-IPO fund requires decades of experience and it is hard to say that the established funds are better managed when this fund has not even launched yet. The bottom line is that Robinhood is looking to be the new Charles Schwab in 15-20 years and so far it looks like they are on track. That probably does put a lot of players on the defensive, but I think Morningstar does not have anything to fear here.

The Oasis Group (2026, February 11). The Oasis Group and Practifi Release White Paper on CRM Selection in Wealth Management. Morningstar. https://www.morningstar.com/news/business-wire/20260211951559/the-oasis-group-and-practifi-release-white-paper-on-crm-selection-in-wealth-management The Oasis Group and Practifi have released a new white paper titled "CRM Selection in Wealth Management: Beyond the Build-vs-Buy Decision" to provide a strategic roadmap for financial advisors. The research indicates that 75% of CRM implementations fail due to rollout strategy, data architecture, and change management rather than software defects. The white paper identifies three primary paths for CRM selection: generic enterprise platforms, niche wealth management solutions, and purpose-built hybrid platforms. A three-phase implementation framework—Foundation, Automation, and Integration—is proposed to ensure firms establish core data architecture before scaling. The report highlights three mission-critical workflows that drive measurable value: new client onboarding, activity tracking, and client review preparation. Modern CRM selection is reframed as a strategic business decision centered on unified data models rather than a simple checklist of software features. Implementing a structured data foundation is presented as a prerequisite for wealth management firms to successfully leverage future AI capabilities.

Dispatch (2026, February 11). Dispatch Announces Upcoming Early Access to Industry-First Automated Schwab Account Onboarding API. Business Wire. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260211138014/en/Dispatch-Announces-Upcoming-Early-Access-to-Industry-First-Automated-Schwab-Account-Onboarding-API Dispatch has announced an upcoming early access program for its new API designed to automate the account onboarding process for Charles Schwab. The solution aims to eliminate manual data entry and streamline the traditionally complex workflow of opening and funding new brokerage accounts. By leveraging this automated API, wealth management firms can significantly reduce the administrative burden on operations teams and improve the client experience. The platform provides real-time status updates and direct integration with Schwab’s systems to ensure data accuracy and compliance during the transition. Dispatch’s technology is built to serve independent software vendors and wealth management firms looking to scale their digital infrastructure. This development represents a significant step in the industry-wide effort to digitize back-office functions and provide straight-through processing for financial advisors. Interested firms are invited to join the waitlist for the early access program to begin testing the integration ahead of a broader market release.