March WealthTech Rundown: Retirement Planning, MarTech, and Financial Wellness
By Jack Sharry
In the month of pots of gold and four-leaf clovers, I was lucky to speak with four individuals making a difference in the wealth management space. Here’s a recap.
How Edward Jones is Redefining Financial Planning with Russ Tipper
I also spoke with Russ Tipper, an industry veteran who is currently general partner in charge of products at Edward Jones. We talked about Edward Jones’s fast-moving and far-reaching investments in financial planning, portfolio development, insurance underwriting, and generative AI.
Russ touched on these topics:
- Edward Jones’ goal of improving financial wellness for investors through personalized advice in a scalable and efficient manner.
- The movement to eliminate “swivel-chairing” for advisors by focusing on connectivity between systems.
- The importance of providing solutions that match clients’ needs.
Listen to Russ’s episode here.
The Convergence of Workplace and Wealth with Matthew Gray
I had an enlightening conversation with Matthew Gray, head of employer markets at Allianz Life. He spoke about the recent convergence of wealth management and workplace retirement services, explaining how Allianz has partnered with Empower to offer a fixed index annuity option within defined contribution plans.
Matthew’s key takeaways:
- Flexibility is crucial in the retirement planning process.
- Financial advisors and plan sponsors have a responsibility to help participants and clients navigate the complexity of retirement planning.
- Lifetime income solutions are already here — and they’re already helping people.
Listen to Matthew’s episode here.
Wealth as a Service: A New Era in Financial Strategy with Doug Fritz
Doug Fritz is the co-founder and executive chairman of F2 Strategy, a firm that provides technology and marketing consultation to the wealth management industry. He explained the important role of marketing technology, or martech, plays in developing content, nurturing leads, strengthening client relationships, and measuring results.
Tune in to Doug’s episode to hear:
- His comparison of F2’s approach to the one that an advisor uses to assemble an investment portfolio.
- How F2 helps clients identify the purpose, performance, and effectiveness of each tool and vendor in its stack.
- Why the wealth management industry needs to take advantage of all that martech has to offer.
Listen to Doug’s episode here.
Redefining Career and Purpose with Steven Miyao
March’s final guest was Steven Miyao, an executive coach and mid-career transition expert with decades of experience in entrepreneurship. He helps clients redefine their purpose and pivot to opportunities that align with their values and lifestyle.
Here’s some advice that Steven had for our audience:
- Identify your “why” and makes the changes necessary to live true to it.
- “Go for it.”
- “Get unstuck and live the life that you want to live.”
Listen to Steven’s episode here.
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