For decades, the asset management industry has remained largely unchanged. Despite headlines about innovation and disruption, the landscape today bears a striking resemblance to that of a decade ago. The last significant product innovation, the Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), came from my previous firm BlackRock back in 1993!
Recent industry changes have primarily focused on two areas: pricing and consolidation. Many custodians have dropped commissions to zero, and asset managers have been lowering their fees year over year. However, this lack of pricing power is more indicative of commoditization than innovation. When nothing has changed, the only way to differentiate is to charge less. Simultaneously, we've seen widespread consolidation of advisors, asset managers, TAMPs, and everything in between. Commodity businesses often become businesses of scale, and scale requires extreme consolidation.
Then I saw Vise. In my 25 years in finance, I've never encountered anything quite like it. Here was a single platform that brought together portfolio construction, trading and rebalancing, reporting, and asset management—all in one place. It wasn't just another incremental improvement; it was a complete reimagining of how wealth management could work.
The moment I understood what Vise had built, I knew I had to be a part of it. That's why I'm thrilled to announce that I'm joining Vise as its President. This isn't just a new job; it's an opportunity to be at the center of the bold, radical thinking our industry desperately needs.
As President, I'll be working to ensure that Vise continues to push the boundaries of what's possible in wealth management.
The investment advice industry has undergone a significant transformation since I started at Merrill Lynch 25 years ago. Once dominated by banks and wirehouses, the landscape now features Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) as major players. Modern RIAs have grown exponentially, with some becoming a hundred times larger than their counterparts from two decades ago. This growth has elevated them to national prominence, often surpassing traditional competitors. While various factors contributed to this expansion, private equity's injection of capital, talent, and expertise has been crucial. By 2024, private equity directly or indirectly backs the majority of the largest RIAs. As these firms continue to scale, they face an urgent need for advanced technology—solutions that not only address current issues but also anticipate future industry challenges.
I believe Vise is that technology. We're not offering a point solution or a stopgap measure. We're providing a comprehensive platform that brings together personalized portfolio construction, investment centralization, ongoing management, direct indexing, and execution—all in one seamless, scalable workflow.
The true revolution lies in democratization. Vise is bringing capabilities once reserved for the largest institutions and the wealthiest clients to advisors and clients of all sizes. In a world where personalization is the new standard, Vise is making it universally accessible in wealth management.
We're empowering advisors to do more for their clients, changing the game in terms of what's possible in wealth management. With Vise, advisors can build and manage more portfolios in less time, while delivering potentially significant tax advantages and the personalization that end-clients demand.
The opportunity ahead of us is massive. We're standing at the threshold of a new era in wealth management—an era defined by personalization, scalability, and unprecedented efficiency.
I'm thrilled to join Runik, Samir, and the Vise team to help drive our growth as we enter this new chapter. Over the past year and a half, I have had the privilege of working closely with Vise's co-founders and the talented team at Vise. During that time, I shared my experience and learnings with them to help refine their strategic priorities—but I truly felt like I was learning even more from them—as I witnessed their ambitious vision come to life.
We're creating a future where technology enhances rather than replaces the human touch in financial advising, enabling advisors to focus more on their clients and less on administrative tasks.
*Times indicate typical average period for aggregators to transition newly acquired firms as per Ansarada
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