Ortolani, A. (2026, September 1). Hightower picks FinTech Dispatch for onboarding in its Signature Wealth channel. WealthManagement.com. https://www.wealthmanagement.com/ria-news/hightower-to-use-dispatch-for-signature-wealth-channel Wealthmanagement.com is reporting that Hightower Advisors, a Chicago-based wealth management firm with more than 800 advisors, will work with fintech Dispatch to provide advisor transitions, client account opening and management, and data syncing across platforms for Hightower Signature Wealth. Under the agreement, Dispatch will provide the movement, validation and synchronization of client data across custodians, including Schwab and Fidelity, and across advisory systems as Hightower brings advisors into the channel. Hightower Signature Wealth, the firm's nationally branded employee advisor practice launched last year under CEO Larry Restieri, has reached $35 billion in AUM across 30 locations and 100 advisors, and announced its second external RIA acquisition to the channel in August. Restieri stated that Dispatch provides the data infrastructure that keeps client information accurate and synchronized across supporting systems, reducing operational friction for advisors. Dispatch launched in late 2022 as OneAdvisory, rebranded in 2024 alongside additional seed funding, has raised $28 million in total funding, and reports more than $9 trillion in client assets on its platform. Dispatch added former Hightower CEO Bob Oros to its board according to an August announcement, and in May launched Advisor Transitions, software for moving advisors, client accounts and assets between firms. Dispatch was one of the first third-party providers to use custodian Schwab's API-based account onboarding process, allowing users to initiate an account opening from their CRM into the Schwab Advisor Center without leaving the Dispatch system.

GCash. (2026, August 27). Ph fintech Mynt scales GStocks into country's largest online retail platform for local stock market. PR Newswire Asia. https://en.prnasia.com/releases/apac/ph-fintech-mynt-scales-gstocks-into-country-s-largest-online-retail-platform-for-local-stock-market-545470.shtml GStocks PH currently serves over 2 million Filipinos through broker AB Capital Securities Inc. and accounts for over 50% of all online retail stock market accounts with the Philippine Stock Exchange, making GCash the country's largest online retail platform for investing in local stocks. Mynt, the parent company of the Philippines' number one finance super app GCash, is expanding access to investing through its wealthtech platform alongside its digital payments business. The Philippine Stock Exchange recorded 3.64 million stock market accounts in its 2025 Stock Market Investor Profile report, of which 99.2%, or 3.61 million, belong to retail investors and 3.22 million are held online through digital platforms and e-wallets. The same report found online retail accounts grew 30.5% year over year. GCash has 8.8 million registered GFunds users, and as of 2025 as much as four in five unit investment trust fund transactions in the Philippines were conducted through GFunds via partners ATRAM, BPI-IMI, and Manulife IM. Winsley Bangit, Group Head of New Businesses at Mynt, said simple signup and paperless registration that eliminates the need to physically visit a bank or brokerage enables more Filipinos to invest in-app via GStocks, GFunds, GBonds, and other products. GCash is preparing for the anticipated sandbox introduction of GStocks Global with the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission, which will give more Filipinos access to US-listed stocks, and also offers Pera Coach, an AI-powered wealth coach providing on-demand financial guidance in-app. Knote: Half my family is Filipino and I can assure you that they know how to save money. And 2 million users is off-the-charts given that only about 2% of the population invests in the stock market (vs 62% in the US).

RQD* Clearing announced on August 27 a $74 million minority growth investment led by Bain Capital Tech Opportunities, with participation from ABN AMRO Clearing Bank and Nyca Partners. The firm plans to use the capital to expand across North America, Asia, and the Middle East and to continue investing in technology and product development, including digital asset custody and tokenization capabilities. RQD provides clearing and custody services to broker-dealers, registered investment advisors, and foreign financial institutions seeking access to U.S. markets. Built on proprietary infrastructure rather than legacy systems, the platform supports equities, options, ETFs, and mutual funds, offers 24x5 U.S. equity market access, and gives clients real-time risk management and operational visibility. Year to date, the firm has cleared 515 million equity transactions representing roughly $2 trillion in notional value, about 2.43% of the NMS equities market. CEO Michael Sanocki called the investment a significant milestone validating the platform and the opportunity ahead, while Bain Capital partner Michael Grandfield said RQD provides the mission-critical infrastructure financial institutions need as markets become more global, digital, and continuous. For advisors, platforms, and integrators, the deal signals continued investor appetite for the infrastructure layer of wealth management, where modern clearing rails increasingly differentiate the custodians and platforms serving advisory firms. MMnote: This had to have already been in the works, but on top of Altruist<>Vanguard this week, clearing and custody is looking hot. Specifically, how to do so effectively with all asset classes. Link to Article

Nexedge Capital, an Indian wealth management and multi-family office firm, has raised $20 million in its first funding round, co-led by Mirae Asset Venture Investment and Elev8 Venture Partners. The round valued the firm at about $250 million. Nexedge said it will use the capital to strengthen its technology platform, expand its network of senior bankers, and extend across India, including smaller Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. The firm was founded in February 2025 by Anirudha Taparia, previously co-founder and joint chief executive of 360 ONE Wealth, formerly IIFL Wealth. In 18 months it has reached more than $3 billion in assets under management across over 1,300 clients, with more than 95 senior bankers. Nexedge is built on employee ownership, with over 150 senior staff investing their own capital in the firm. Mirae Asset Venture Investment is the venture arm of Mirae Asset Global Investments, a South Korean group managing more than $1 trillion across 19 countries. Nexedge aims to become India's first net-worth management firm, managing a family's entire balance sheet rather than only its investible surplus, bringing together investments, portfolio management, estate planning, business expansion, and support for relocating abroad. That ambition sits squarely within the Family Office as-a-Service theme, where technology carries the high-touch, low-scale services of a traditional family office down-market. For advisors and platforms, the signal is that growth increasingly comes from widening the service set rather than simply adding more clients. MWnote: India's affluent and mass affluent population is expanding faster than the supply of experienced advisors available to serve it, so a firm that can push family office style services into Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities on a technology platform is addressing demand that traditional relationship coverage cannot realistically reach.

april. (2026, August 27). april expands Integrated Tax Platform with precise tax planning insights, powered by IRS tax data. Business Wire. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260827184313/en/april-Expands-Integrated-Tax-Platform-with-Precise-Tax-Planning-Insights-Powered-by-IRS-Tax-Data april announced expanded capabilities within its Integrated Tax Platform that give wealth management firms personalized tax planning insights informed by client-authorized IRS tax data. The company combines tax transcript data with its proprietary, IRS-approved tax engine so firms can gain a more complete view of a client's financial picture and identify tax-optimized planning opportunities. With client consent, april securely retrieves IRS tax data and processes it through a tax engine that filed more than 1.4 million federal and state tax returns in 2026. Access to historical tax data is intended to help advisors uncover planning opportunities tied to equity compensation, concentrated stock positions, Roth conversions, and estimated tax payments. Firms can access the tax data and planning insights directly within their existing software and advisor workflows rather than adding another point solution to the technology stack. The capabilities reflect demand from advisory firms seeking to move beyond traditional tax preparation and incorporate tax intelligence into onboarding, financial planning, and ongoing client management. april states that in 2025 its AI-powered tax engine became the first in 15 years to receive full IRS e-file authorization, and that the company is backed by $80 million in funding from QED Investors, Nyca Partners, and Team8. Knote: It sounds like Intuit and H&R Block need to get their heads off their pillows.

Gronow, C. (2026, August 27). FE fundinfo launches Product Mastering Core fund data platform. IFA Magazine. https://ifamagazine.com/fe-fundinfo-launches-product-mastering-core-fund-data-platform/ FE fundinfo launched Product Mastering Core, a pre-configured, governed data layer that gives firms a trusted source for fund, share class and registration data and sits at the starting point for connected workflows. The platform is built on an Openfunds-aligned data model spanning more than 600 market-ready fields across umbrella, fund, share class and registration data, extensible with a firm's own internal codes and operational attributes. Pre-configured Nexus validation and change-event automation catch errors and flag related data at the point of change before inconsistencies reach downstream systems, with every change validated, approved and logged in a full audit trail. FE fundinfo says the solution goes live in days with no implementation project, and new firms receive 10 hours of consultancy and training plus knowledge base access. Product Mastering Core is built for firms adopting governed product data mastering for the first time and complements Product Mastering, FE fundinfo's configurable solution for firms needing bespoke validation rules, workflow automation or dynamic pricing and holdings data. Data created, validated and approved in the platform flows into connected Nexus for Investment Managers workflows including document production, global funds registration, and data dissemination and distribution, without a new integration for each one. FE fundinfo's Asset Managers Report 2026 found 65% of investment management leaders say fragmentation limits operational efficiency, 69% say the speed and accuracy of fund data shapes which managers distribution partners choose, 33% named vendor consolidation as the second-highest investment priority, and 64% believe AI will only deliver meaningful value once underlying data quality and structure improve. Knote: The big win here is probably ease of AI access. AI is not a computational exercise - it is a data exercise.

Advisor360°. (2026, August 26). Press release: Advisor360°'s new AI capabilities and multi-custodian support. https://www.advisor360.com/press-release-advisor360s-new-ai-capabilities-and-multi-custodian-support Advisor360° announced an August platform release spanning three areas: proactive intelligence, multi-custodian connectivity, and client data collection. The release builds on the company's Unified Data Fabric®, which consolidates reconciled data within a single connected platform. Enhanced Client Intelligence applies AI to generate personalized insights inside reports, summarize client financial pictures, and flag opportunities. Practice Intelligence surfaces criteria such as clients reaching RMD age or policies missing beneficiaries, and VIDA® AI agents answer questions about households and books of business. The company states that its Meeting Prep capability reduces preparation time by 60%. Native Schwab account opening is available through Digital Onboarding, and straight-through trade processing with Fidelity allows advisors to enter, modify, and track trades within Advisor360°. Client Connect, in limited pilot, allows advisors to send digital fact finders to clients through the Investor360° portal, with data syncing to CRM systems.

AssetMark. (2026, August 26). AssetMark launches AI-powered Talk Tracks to strengthen advisor-client conversations. https://www.assetmark.com/resources/blog/press-release/assetmark-launches-ai-powered-talk-tracks/ AssetMark released Talk Tracks, an AI feature in the AssetMark Advisor Portal that converts portfolio information into client-ready insights. The feature synthesizes portfolio data, market context, performance activity, and related news into personalized talking points presented in a side panel. Advisors can review portfolio summaries, market context tied to holdings, sector-level explanations, and tax-savings insights within that panel. More than 100 advisors tested the feature during development. Survey data from AssetMark's 2026 Gold Forum found that 94% of 107 advisors surveyed believe AI could reduce meeting preparation time, while 65% do not use it consistently. Chief Product and Technology Officer Alex Pape said AI creates the most value when it becomes part of how advisors already work rather than another destination to manage. The company reported more than 10,000 financial advisors and more than 340,000 investor households with over $180 billion in assets as of June 30, 2026, and said planned AI work addresses proposal generation and model creation.

Growhill Wealth. (2026, August 26). Growhill Wealth launches AI workforce to power independent advisors across Asia. PR Newswire. https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/growhill-wealth-launches-ai-workforce-to-power-independent-advisors-across-asia-302859499.html Growhill Wealth, previously GROW Digital Wealth, introduced an agentic AI workforce for independent financial advisors across Asia, operating under human oversight. The Hong Kong-based platform reports a network of 200 advisors and $800 million in assets under management and advice. The AI workforce monitors client portfolios continuously, flags priority issues, prepares research and proposals, and handles routine administrative tasks. The firm operates under Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission Type 1, 4, and 9 licenses and an Abu Dhabi Global Market Category 3C license. Prior investors include Julius Baer-backed GROW Investment Group and Animoca Brands. The company plans to open an office at One Peking Road this year and a Central location in the first quarter of 2027. Executive Chairman Alan Lau tied the initiative to structural wealth expansion in Asia, and Chief Investment Officer William Ma said the industry's direction depends on technology, operations, and service delivery.

Scalable Capital. (2026, August 25). Scalable Capital becomes first bank in Europe to open platform to AI assistants via Agentic Investing. https://de.scalable.capital/en/newsroom/scalable-agentic-investing Scalable Capital launched Agentic Investing, which allows clients to interact with their investment accounts through natural-language prompts in AI assistants including ChatGPT, Claude, and Grok. Supported functions cover trading, savings plans, watchlists, price alerts, news, and market data, including real-time quotes and historical pricing. Clients can access Scalable Insights tools through the interface for portfolio analysis, diversification assessment, scenario modeling, and risk evaluation. Connectivity is offered through a CLI option and an MCP server, using the Model Context Protocol supported across major AI assistants. Clients activate the capability under Profile and Security settings, with credential login and two-factor authentication required and existing account permissions preserved. All trades require explicit client confirmation, standard pre-trade documentation and notifications apply, and deposits and withdrawals remain limited to the web and app interfaces. The company positions the release as a successor to its August 2025 Insights AI chatbot and reports more than one million clients and 60 billion euros on its platform.

Flanks. (2026, August 26). Flanks partners with Perplexity to power AI-driven financial advisory. https://www.flanks.io/articles/flanks-partners-with-perplexity-to-power-ai-driven-financial-advisory Flanks joined Perplexity's connector ecosystem, making regulated portfolio data available within Perplexity's answer engine and Computer agent. The connector aggregates data from more than 700 financial institutions across 33 countries. Flanks reports processing 8.2 million portfolios monthly, representing 43 billion euros in assets. Advisors can query holdings, positions, and transaction history in natural language within workflows for client reporting, portfolio monitoring, meeting preparation, and ETF overlap analysis. The stated problem addressed is the absence of a unified source of truth for portfolio data spread across multiple custodians and legacy systems in Europe's fragmented banking market. Flanks operates as an Account Information Service Provider regulated by the Bank of Spain under European Central Bank supervision. The company holds SOC 2 Type II and SOC 3 certifications.

Practifi. (2026, August 25). Practifi launches Sentir, an AI-native intelligent CRM built for the future of wealth management. Business Wire. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260825428543/en/Practifi-Launches-Sentir-An-AI-Native-Intelligent-CRM-Built-for-the-Future-of-Wealth-Management Practifi launched Practifi Sentir, an intelligent CRM designed with AI as a core component rather than an addition, built on the company's existing enterprise infrastructure. Sentir includes 16 named AI agents that provide expert-level analysis across tax strategy, financial planning, and client sentiment assessment. Named capabilities include a Meeting Prep Workspace, daily briefings compiled from firm data and CRM records, an AI Notetaker that captures video and in-person meetings, a Universal Timeline consolidating meetings, emails, service requests, and life events, a built-in chat interface, and an MCP server providing a secure and permissioned connection. The platform's knowledge base covers more than 200 primary sources spanning industry guidance, academic research, and legislation. Sentir runs within Practifi's existing enterprise-grade security and permissions framework, eliminating separate configuration or compliance review. Practifi's existing configurable CRM is now designated Practifi Naya, remains available to current and new customers, and supports transition to Sentir without workflow disruption. CEO Adrian Johnstone stated that with Sentir ingrained in operations, client service, and account management, advisors can view their CRM as a giver rather than a system requiring constant data entry. Knote: It will be interesting to see how this stacks-up against the AI native challengers.