Building on the launch of an integration with Envestnet | MoneyGuide announced in early 2021, Envestnet and MaxMyInterest released an expansion that offers advisors who use the Envestnet and Envestnet | Tamarac platforms more options to assist their high-net-worth clients to earn higher yields on their cash, the companies said Tuesday in a joint announcement.
With 22.1% of HNW households' liquid net worth in cash, "there is a significant opportunity for advisors to provide their clients with expanded FDIC-insurance and higher interest rates, including preferential rates available exclusively through Max," the companies said.
One key benefit of the integration is that it enables a "set-it-and-forget-it cash solution for clients that monitors interest rates and helps clients allocate cash to their highest-yielding bank accounts, even as rates change," the firms said.
The integration also "enhances productivity of advisors and client service teams as clients' held-away cash balances appear seamlessly" in Envestnet | Tamarac and Envestnet, they said. Last, it provides increased visibility into client cash balances for advisors, allowing asset discovery and "more holistic advice," they added.
WisdomTree to Test Digital Wallet
WisdomTree announced a new digital wallet, WisdomTree Prime, that will be available as a mobile app.
The company is "targeting a beta launch in Q2 2022, with the goal of a national rollout later in the year," it said in a statement provided to ThinkAdvisor. The beta testing waitlist is now open.
"We are targeting beta launch in certain states in the second quarter," Will Peck, head of digital assets at WisdomTree, said Friday in a blog post. "While starting as a retail app, over time we look forward to serving institutions and financial advisory firms," he noted.
"WisdomTree Prime will be a curated experience," he explained. "We aren't aiming to be an app for trading and speculation, but rather provide a core suite of savings, payments and investments exposures and services. For example, we are building features like a debit card that can be linked to certain of these assets."
The blockchain-native app was "designed to allow users to save, spend and invest in 1) certain crypto assets like bitcoin or ether, 2) blockchain-enabled funds (which may include stocks or bonds based on WisdomTree's indexes) and 3) tokenized versions of physical assets like gold, all in the same place that they can send instant payments, make transactions and more," the company said in its statement.
The firm described WisdomTree Prime as "a place where crypto interacts with traditional assets." The goal of Prime is to provide a better financial services experience, "embodying choice, transparency, and inclusivity," WisdomTree said.
The Prime announcement followed several other digital asset initiatives from the firm, including the WisdomTree Enhanced Commodity Strategy Fund that it said was the first ETF to provide exposure to bitcoin futures, WisdomTree's second investment in blockchain-based infrastructure provider Securrency, and the launch of new crypto indexes.
WisdomTree also isn't giving up on trying to get approval for its spot Bitcoin ETF application, which the Securities and Exchange Commission rejected in December.
