CG Financial Services. (2026, October 1). CG Financial Services builds on rapid growth momentum with strategic leadership appointment. Business Wire. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261001839356/en/ CG Financial Services, an independent wealth management firm, was recognized by Citywire at its conference as one of the fastest-growing registered investment advisors, with annual growth of 17.2%. The firm appointed Jon Patullo as chief operating officer and chief information officer, a dual role overseeing operations, technology strategy, advisor platform development, vendor relationships, and enterprise-wide scalability initiatives. Patullo brings nearly 30 years of experience leading operational, technology, and growth initiatives across the RIA industry, including helping build an advisor platform at TD Ameritrade. CEO Tony Mazzali said the firm is investing in the leadership, technology, and operational infrastructure needed to scale with discipline as it continues expanding. Patullo will focus on strengthening the operating model, advancing digital capabilities, enhancing advisor workflows, and building scalable processes to support the firm's continued expansion. The release states that the firm's momentum reflects the broader appeal of the independent advisory model as advisors and clients seek objectivity, flexibility, personalized guidance, and modern technology. Recent staffing additions also include Gino DeRango, who joined last year as director of CG Advisor Network. Knote: If a $5B RIA hires Jon Patullo, my guess is that they are not planning on being $5B for long...or even $50B.

Pravar AI. (2026, September 30). Pravar AI launches Wealth OS to bring white-glove service to every client. https://www.pravarai.com/company/news/pravar-ai-launches-wealth-os Pravar AI launched the Pravar Wealth OS and its first product, Pravar for Advisors, which is designed to give every client on an advisor's book the proactive attention most firms currently reserve for their largest relationships. The release cites Cerulli Associates findings that only 27 percent of heirs expecting a share of the more than $120 trillion set to change hands over the next 25 years plan to keep their benefactor's advisor, and the 2026 WealthStack Study finding that just 16 percent of wealth firms have put an AI agent into production. Pravar for Advisors reads across each family's accounts, holdings, activity, and history to flag moments such as upcoming liquidity events, assets held at another firm, early signs of client attrition, or heirs who have never met the firm. For each flagged moment, the advisor sees what has changed, why it matters to the family, and what to do next, with the follow-up already prepared. The Wealth OS runs on each RIA's own investment views, planning philosophy, policies, and voice, and a proprietary continuous evaluation layer screens personal data, scores every interaction for quality, routes anything below threshold to human review, and leaves an audit record for every action. The platform sits above the CRM, custodial, and planning systems a firm already runs, so nothing needs replacing, and firms can add capabilities on the same foundation without buying another tool. Pravar for Advisors is available now to RIAs and wealth management firms in the United States and India, and the company, founded by CEO Ayon Banerjee and Malavika Lakireddy, operates out of New York and Bengaluru. Knote: I am not sure this will be the product that brings them fame and glory, but they indicate they have more coming. What I do like is that they are leading with governance.

RBC Wealth Management, & Campden Wealth. (2026, September 29). 2026 RBC and Campden Wealth Report: North American family offices shift from caution to optimism amid Great Wealth Transfer, AI acceleration. https://www.rbcwealthmanagement.com/en-us/newsroom/2026-10-01/2026-rbc-and-campden-wealth-report-north-american-family-offices-shift-from-caution-to-optimism-amid-great-wealth-transfer-ai-acceleration The 2026 North America Family Office Report, based on 155 survey responses from single-family and private multi-family offices, finds North American family offices raising their expectations after a strong year amid the Great Wealth Transfer, new wealth creation, and technology transformation. Nearly a quarter (23 percent) of family offices experienced a generational transfer within the past five years, while half report an incomplete or non-existent succession plan. After expecting an average annual return of just 5 percent a year ago, respondents now expect 84 percent of direct private equity investments and 74 percent of private equity funds to match or beat 2025 results in two to five years. Artificial intelligence is the top investment pick over the next 12 months for 85 percent of family offices, and half of offices report AI is embedded and essential to their workflow. Despite AI adoption, 73 percent of offices still believe investment reporting is too manual, a top concern for three years running. Cybersecurity and data breaches are now the top near-term operational concern, cited by 59 percent of respondents, up from 16 percent last year, while failure to upgrade technology tops the long-term risk list at 51 percent. Some 86 percent of offices invest in private markets, with direct investments averaging 45 percent of the private markets book ahead of funds at 36 percent. Knote: What surprised me was the percent of direct private markets investments vs funds. Seems high at 45%.

Edward Jones. (2026, September 30). Edward Jones kicks off development of groundbreaking retirement plan management tech. PR Newswire. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/edward-jones-kicks-off-development-of-groundbreaking-retirement-plan-management-tech-302893024.html Edward Jones announced the development of the Retirement Plan Management Center, an AI-powered, end-to-end workplace retirement plan management tool built in collaboration with Aboon and Retirement Plan Advisory Group (RPAG), part of Great Gray Group. The platform will roll out to Edward Jones financial advisors beginning in 2027 and cover the full workplace retirement plan lifecycle, from prospecting to plan servicing. Capabilities will span prospecting, plan type evaluations, recordkeeper analysis and selection, proposal generation, onboarding, benchmarking, and ongoing plan servicing, along with a plan dashboard featuring integrated metrics, insights, alerts, and notifications. The center will leverage Aboon Workplace, an AI-native platform that helps advisors find and win retirement plans and is designed to support additional third-party administrators. RPAG, whose technology platform supports more than 120,000 plans and 10 million participants, will support recordkeeper proposal comparisons, implementation, and plan servicing capabilities such as fee benchmarking and investment reporting. Edward Jones advisors in the U.S. serve over 263,000 workplace retirement plans with $106.9 billion in assets under care for more than 1.3 million plan participants. The firm cited its research with Gallup finding that 90% of respondents considered financially fulfilled had a retirement account, compared with 57% of those considered financially stressed. Knote: With an average company plan size of only around $400K, I am highly confident their advisors will weep with joy to get some technology assistance.

Available: VP Digital Media, Performance Marketing, and Growth In One Sentence: Boston-based digital media and performance marketing leader with 20+ years across agencies, consulting, and WealthTech. Ties paid, organic, and owned channels together into measurable customer acquisition. Role Desired: Head of Marketing, VP/Director of Digital Marketing, or Head of Growth at a WealthTech or wealth management firm. Location: Greater Boston on-site. Also remote or hybrid. Most Recent Position: Senior Director - Digital Media, Unlock Health (Apr 2026 – Sep 2026). Years of Experience: 20+ years (career began November 2003 at Mediahub / Mullen Lowe US) WealthTech Experience: MassMutual, FinMason, and Upromise Geography: Greater Boston, MA. Name: Gina (Romani) Preziosa LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ginaromanipreziosa/ Contact Info: mediaginap@gmail.com Available immediately. ______________________________________________________________________________ Work Experience: Senior Director, Digital Media, Unlock Health (Apr 2026 – Sep 2026) — Led a team of campaign managers and specialists at a healthcare marketing agency, running a ~$1M/month client portfolio across SEM, Meta, programmatic and social; role eliminated in a restructuring. Director, Performance Media Accounts, Gannett / USA Today Co. – LocaliQ (Aug 2024 – Apr 2026) — Managed digital practitioners across SEM, SEO, social and display, and led measurement strategy and performance analytics. Global Director of Digital Marketing, L.E.K. Consulting (Mar 2021 – Aug 2023) — Managed a 5-person global digital marketing team supporting the Consumer, Industrial and Healthcare sectors. Media Director, The Mighty (formerly Boston Group) (Jan 2017 – Jan 2020) — Head of media and performance analytics; media and marketing strategy lead for B2B clients Raytheon and Analog Devices and B2C client National Grid. Director of Digital Marketing, FinMason, Inc. (Nov 2014 – Sep 2016) — Launched a fintech retirement-planning consumer product and owned all marketing (site, SEM, SEO, CRM, PR, social, email, content distribution, events); the company pivoted to B2B within two years and was sold to investors. VP, Group Digital Media Director, Mediahub / Mullen Lowe US (Nov 2003 – Jan 2014) — Developed and led multi-channel campaigns, pitched and won new business that drove agency growth, and ran staffing and team operations. ______________________________________________________________________________ Education and Certifications: ● BS, Speech Communications, Emerson College ______________________________________________________________________________ Items of Note: Areas of expertise: Integrated paid media; performance analytics; customer acquisition and lead generation; organic and paid search (SEO/AEO/GEO); social; programmatic and cross-screen video; email, CRM and marketing automation; ABM/sales enablement; conversion optimization. Financial services results: MassMutual: grew digital share of investment from 7% to 67% YOY while lifting brand awareness. Upromise: brand launch beat its $6.50 cost-per-enrollment goal by 70%. Media efficiency: American Greetings Cardstore.com: held YOY orders and revenue flat on 50% less media investment. Hands-on martech: GA4, Google Ads, YouTube, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Pardot, HubSpot, Optimizely, Drupal, Tableau, Datorama, Looker Studio, Sprout, Simplifi and TapClicks. Community leadership: Founder of Boston Media Mavens, a Lean In circle of 150+ women working in marketing across Greater Boston.

Pave Finance, Inc. has closed a $15 million Series A financing round, exceeding its original target due to strong investor demand. The round was backed by former executives and board members of major financial services firms. Pave built an AI-powered platform that lets investment advisors customize, personalize and automate portfolio construction and management at scale. The system tracks more than 10,000 publicly traded securities globally through an alpha scoring algorithm, optimization engine and trading platform that integrates with major custodians. Led by Chief Executive Officer Christopher Ainsworth, the company's team draws on more than 200 years of combined experience from firms including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, JPMorgan, Fidelity, Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon and Wealthfront. Pave's software already supports more than 60,000 accounts representing $18 billion in assets under management, and the company says its standard model has outperformed the S&P 500 by an average of 285 basis points annually over the past 15 years. The new capital will accelerate product development and support Pave's commercial rollout to advisory firms. As wealth management firms face growing pressure to deliver individualized portfolios without adding headcount, platforms that automate customization at scale are drawing increasing attention from advisors and enterprise wealth management platforms alike. MMnote: I got to see the demo at futureproof and the response of the crowd was very positive. It's slick, intuitive, and captures real value by allowing customization of portfolios at scale. https://www.pavefinance.com/newsletter/series-a

Arch. (2026, September 29). Arch extends AI portfolio monitoring to pre-investment diligence, supporting the full private markets lifecycle. Business Wire. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260929501875/en/Arch-Extends-AI-Portfolio-Monitoring-to-Pre-Investment-Diligence-Supporting-the-Full-Private-Markets-Lifecycle Arch announced Arch Investment Research, extending its private markets platform into pre-investment due diligence for investment teams at RIAs, single-family offices, and institutional investors. Until now, Arch focused on the post-commitment process, automating document collection, data extraction, capital call workflows, and portfolio insight generation across private equity, venture capital, hedge funds, real estate, and other private investments. Investment Research lets customers analyze opportunities against their own investment criteria, extracting terms from offering materials that remain fully auditable to source documents. The underlying diligence materials follow the investment after close, providing ongoing visibility into the terms and investment thesis throughout the investment's lifespan. The tool is already used by RIAs and family offices, with some cutting due diligence time by as much as 50% per opportunity. Investment Research is available as a standalone product or alongside Arch's existing suite, and Arch is extending its API approach so customers can analyze private markets data through the systems and LLMs they already use. Arch supports over $600 billion in private assets across more than 650 allocators, including Fortune 100 financial institutions, four of the top 20 banks, and eight of the top 20 accounting firms.

Charles Schwab. (2026, September 30). Meet Charley, Schwab's new AI-powered assistant designed to help clients get answers and take action. https://pressroom.aboutschwab.com/press-releases/press-release/2026/Meet-Charley-Schwabs-New-AI-Powered-Assistant-Designed-to-Help-Clients-Get-Answers-and-Take-Action/default.aspx Charles Schwab announced Charley, a generative AI-powered assistant that will roll out in phases beginning in October to eligible U.S. retail clients on Schwab.com and Schwab Mobile. Through voice or text, clients can ask questions in their own words, receive information and suggested next steps, complete select tasks, and connect with a Schwab representative when additional support is needed. At launch, clients can use Charley for everyday tasks, market information, account and service information, and select actions such as updating watchlists, enrolling eligible securities in dividend reinvestment, adding beneficiaries, and updating contact information. Charley is powered by large language models, grounded in Schwab's data, expertise, security, and safeguards, and accessed through the existing chat entry point on Schwab.com and in the Schwab Mobile App. In a Schwab survey of more than 500 clients and prospects, 65% said AI can either help execute routine tasks or play a meaningful role in investing when paired with human expertise. Investors surveyed were most comfortable using AI to answer questions, find account information, and handle routine updates, while preferring a person for more meaningful account actions. Schwab employees piloted Charley earlier this year, and the launch follows Schwab's May introduction of an AI-powered portfolio insights capability.

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) and iCapital announced a strategic collaboration on September 28 to advance private markets infrastructure, alongside a strategic investment by DTCC in iCapital. Terms were not disclosed. The firms plan to further integrate DTCC's Alternative Investment Product (AIP) with iCapital's alternative investment platform, and Talia Klein, DTCC's Head of Wealth & Investment Solutions, will serve as an observer on iCapital's board. iCapital provides a marketplace, enterprise solutions, and technology and data services that help financial advisors and wealth managers access and manage alternative investments, structured investments and annuities. The platform services $1.2 trillion in assets globally, including $327 billion in alternative platform assets, and serves nearly 3,900 wealth management firms and 144,000 active financial professionals. The partnership will connect transaction processing, data exchange, administration and reporting across the private investment lifecycle, and the firms will explore blockchain-enabled distributed ledger technology and tokenization where appropriate. The deal speaks directly to the Alts2Wealth theme. Advisors want alternatives, and managers want access to wealth channel capital, but transparency, liquidity, onboarding friction and manual processing still slow adoption. DTCC CEO Frank La Salla said broader adoption "will depend on making the ecosystem easier to navigate, more efficient to operate, and highly resilient." Tying post-trade infrastructure to a distribution platform already used across thousands of wealth firms is the kind of plumbing that moves private investments closer to the standardized processing advisors expect from traditional funds. MMnote: iCapital is moving from being a marketplace for alts to being the rails they run on. Alts2Wealth needs more infrastructure partnerships like this before alts become a normal part of the advisor's toolkit. Link to Press Release

Jump. (2026, September 22). Northwestern Mutual selects Jump as its enterprise AI partner. https://jump.ai/blog/northwestern-mutual-selects-jump-as-its-enterprise-ai-partner Northwestern Mutual selected Jump as its enterprise AI partner, making Jump's enterprise suite available to approximately 22,000 financial representatives, advisors, and team members across 85 network offices and its home office. According to Jump, Northwestern Mutual, which has a nearly 170-year history of building its own technology, determined that partnering with Jump would deliver greater long-term value than continuing to build internally. The rollout includes AI-powered meeting support that captures and organizes meeting information in real time so advisors can focus on the client conversation. Jump's financial professional intelligence tools give advisors actionable insights on client needs and give the home office visibility into the practices driving success so they can be scaled across the field organization. Integrated AI workflows connect Jump with Northwestern Mutual's technology ecosystem, putting AI inside the tools advisors already use. Jonathon Gais, vice president of field enablement at Northwestern Mutual, cited Jump's enterprise-grade security and compliance, its understanding of financial professionals' workflows, and its ability to operate at the firm's scale. Jump describes the partnership as part of a broader industry shift in which leading firms are deploying AI across entire distribution organizations rather than piloting it at the edges. Knote: Note that this is a bonafide enterprise deal, not a license to hunt deal. Jump just picked up 22,000 users!

XYPN. (2026, September 29). XYPN adds Income Lab as a member benefit, expanding access to a leading financial planning platform. GlobeNewswire. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/09/30/3371471/0/en/xypn-adds-income-lab-as-a-member-benefit-expanding-access-to-a-leading-financial-planning-platform.html XYPN announced a partnership with Income Lab, a financial planning platform known for its retirement income planning capabilities, making Income Lab available as a member benefit through the XYPN Partner Program. Income Lab has ranked among XYPN's five most-requested member benefits for three consecutive years and reached the top position in 2026, with more than 300 XYPN members already using the platform. The platform covers retirement income projections, tax-aware withdrawal strategies, Roth conversion planning, Social Security optimization, and Medicare and IRMAA planning. Income Lab's methodology focuses on spending power and potential adjustments over time, moving advisors beyond traditional probability-of-success discussions toward a more practical framework for guiding client decisions. The company is expanding beyond its retirement planning roots with new planning capabilities, productivity enhancements, and AI-driven functionality across the financial planning process. Income Lab has won the XYPN AdviceTech Competition twice, earned a 9.0 satisfaction rating in the 2023 and 2025 Kitces AdvisorTech studies, and was named the top-rated retirement distribution planning software in the T3 Software Survey in 2024, 2025, and 2026. The partnership officially launched September 29, 2026. Knote: The fact that XYPN, a network known for attracting younger advisors, is fielding a retirement income distribution tool is all you need to know about the importance of distribution planning.

Robinhood. (2026, September 29). Robinhood puts the power of hedge funds in every trader's pocket. Robinhood Newsroom. https://robinhood.com/us/en/newsroom/hood-summit-2026/ At HOOD Summit 2026 in Houston, Robinhood announced Robinhood Agents, a fully embedded AI experience that can analyze the market, build strategies, and trade on a customer's behalf around the clock. Since Robinhood launched agentic trading in May for tech-savvy customers connecting their own third-party AI agents, more than 150,000 customers have opened agentic trading accounts, and agents now use Robinhood's tools almost 30 million times a day. Robinhood Agents lives inside the Robinhood app, where customers name an agent, open a dedicated agentic account, and choose a model from several AI labs including OpenAI, with usage on OpenAI GPT-Luna free until the end of the year. Agents can only access funds in the dedicated agentic account, and manual approval of each trade defaults to on and can be adjusted at any time. A forthcoming feature called Loops will let customers turn a strategy into a standing instruction that the agent executes on repeat around the clock, such as a morning market check or a continuous overnight strategy. New Agent Apps will let customers subscribe to premium data and tools from 11 providers, including Unusual Whales, Nasdaq, SpotGamma, Quiver Quantitative, and Token Terminal, each with a one-month free trial. Robinhood also announced plans for weekend equities trading pending regulatory review, perpetual futures for eligible U.S. customers, and earnings contracts offered through Cboe. Knote: The techy in me thinks this is very cool. The father in me worries.