Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services, which has more than 4,000 advisors across its independent broker-dealer network, has taken a stake in Newday Financial Technologies, an impact investing robo-advisor. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Ladenburg Thalmann made the investment through its Ladenburg Innovation Lab, which will be working with Newday to identify areas of collaboration "to drive even greater value for investors and for Ladenburg advisors," Newday CEO Doug Heske tells ThinkAdvisor.
Dan Sachar, who heads the Ladenburg Innovation Lab, said in a statement the investment reflects the firm's belief that "millennial and the generations that follow will continue to both seek out technology-enabled entry into the world of investing and prioritize cause- or mission-based investing that aligns with their values. Younger investors want to be engaged citizens of their communities and the world and Ladenburg and Newday want to help those clients meet this need."
Newday is the second investment for the Ladenburg Innovation Lab, which focuses on early-stage companies involved in "transformative social, economic and/or cultural trends" in order to adopt their tools for use by the firm's independent advisor and brokerage firm subsidiaries: Securities America, Triad Advisors, Investacorp, KMS Financial Services and Securities Service Network. Last July the innovation lab invested in Track Technologies, a digital provider of tax automation for independent contractors, freelancers and other workers who generate self-employment income.
Ladenburg Thalmann's investment in Newday could eventually expand its advisors' options for sustainable investing, which has been growing in popularity among investors. Sustainable funds attracted an estimated $8.9 billion in net flows in the first half of this year – far more than the $5.5 billion in net flows for all of 2018, according to Morningstar data.
