FolioDynamix and Apex Clearing Partner to Deliver Next Generation of Automated Investment Advice

Fintech firms aim to advance wealth management industry into fiduciary era with new configurable digital experience for advisor-investor collaboration

Leading wealth management technology solution provider FolioDynamix announced its partnership with Apex Clearing, an independent, full-service clearing firm, to usher in a new wave of customer-centric investment technology in the wake of the DOL Fiduciary Rule. The collaboration of these two leading companies in the financial services industry combines turnkey investment technology from FolioDynamix with automated and expedited account opening and verification from Apex. This is an important step forward in the effort to evolve standard robo management into a fully configurable digital experience for advisors and investors.

Whether or not the DOL Fiduciary Rule ultimately emerges from its political quagmire to force compliance and enforce the Rule, wealth industry experts recognize the need to reform their mindset, approach and products for the best interest of investors. The FolioDynamix-Apex partnership allows the two financial service leaders to spearhead that process by innovating the next generation of automated investment tools.

"Rather than debate the pros and cons of regulation, we believe the more compelling and productive focus for our industry and the people we serve is simply, how to best serve the investor, or end customer, period," FolioDynamix President and COO Steve Dunlap said. "We should be looking at ways to change the current narrative about financial advisors and frankly, what threatens the advancement of financial services. It is incumbent upon us all to meet the quickly evolving needs and expectations of our customers."

"Apex Clearing has been at the forefront of financial innovation for years, with our technology able to eliminate the paper-laden onboarding process and reduce the time it takes to open, verify and fund an account from days to literally minutes," said Apex Clearing CEO Bill Capuzzi. "Our exciting partnership with FolioDynamix allows us to help usher even more investment advisors into the digital age and provide their clients with the kind of efficient, responsive experience they have come to expect and demand in all aspects of their lives."

"The account opening and onboarding process needs to be improved and automated across the industry," Dunlap said. "Apex has committed its resources to digitizing the entire custodial experience, placing itself on the leading edge of transforming this archaic, cumbersome and paper-driven process. We're thrilled to partner with this team to scale that process and deliver the delightful user experience that our customers are looking for."

"This partnership is part of a necessary industry transformation where we consider the entire investment process and re-imagine it in a digital construct, so we can determine how to facilitate investor-advisor interaction and development of trust and rapport," Dunlap said. "We think this effort to deliver a digital experience by which the investor considers, creates and consumes financial advice in new ways, makes the advisor more relevant, not less."

WEALTH MANAGEMENT INDUSTRY: BY THE NUMBERS

• 48% of Millennials with $100,000 in investable assets (the demographic that currently controls the largest portion of at-risk assets managed by traditional financial advisors) say they "probably will" or "definitely will" leave their current firm and advisor, compared with just 8% among all other generations of investors. Source: J.D. Power.
• 64% of Millennials say they prefer hybrid investment advice over either a dedicated human adviser or conventional robo-advisory services, compared with just 28% of Baby Boomers. Source: Survey of 1,300 investors by the professional services firm Accenture.
• 69% of Millennials say they are amenable to receiving investment advice from Google, Facebook, Amazon and other non-financial companies – tech giants who have already cracked the code on how to address the needs of what are every industry's most important customer. Source: Accenture survey.

ABOUT FOLIODYNAMIX

FolioDynamix is leading the evolution of the wealth management experience, with an integrated end-to-end technology solution paired with a suite of advisory services including model portfolios, institutional-quality manager research and overlay management. Through our powerful technology platform, advisors can manage the entire client lifecycle from proposal generation to account opening to account management (trading and rebalancing) to reporting, all through a sophisticated but easy-to-use cloud-based solution. FolioDynamix is an Actua company ACTA. Visit www.foliodynamix.com

ABOUT APEX CLEARING CORPORATION

Apex Clearing Corporation is a leading provider of digital wealth solutions that is powering the innovation behind 21st century investing. An independent, full-service clearing firm and prime brokerage, Apex partners with financial services firms ranging from disruptive fintechs to Fortune 500 enterprise advisors to succeed in the digital age. Apex's fully-integrated, customized solutions allow registered investment advisors (RIAs), digital advisors, fintech firms, broker dealers and full service firms to operate more efficiently, maximize profitability, give customers more control, and reach new investors. Founded in 2012 and based in Dallas with offices in New York City, Chicago and Portland, Oregon, Apex Clearing Corporation is registered with the SEC, a member of FINRA, and a participant in SIPC. For more information, visit www.apexclearing.com.

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