Page 32 - Investment Advisor September 2021

learning curve and put advisors on a solid path, the company Smarsh, a communications archiving
first created a library of customizable marketing campaigns. provider for regulated organizations,
Peak’s team also deploys and manages social media and digital earlier this year published the 10th Annual Risk & Compliance
campaigns for participating advisors, and provides training so Survey Report. The survey found that last year’s rapid shift to
that advisors are more knowledgeable, proactive digital mar- work-from-home models proved to be a double-edged sword for
keters going forward. This complementary initiative drives businesses. Technology made it possible to connect, collaborate
leads to advisors and makes a meaningful contribution to the and be productive, but the lack of oversight for those new channels
growth of their business. created significant regulatory and reputational risks. The findings
exposed an urgent need for financial services firms to bridge a
growing gap between the use of digital communication and col-
FIRMS – FINTECH/TAMP PLATFORMS laboration platforms and their existing compliance procedures.

Envestnet’s Institute on Campus, SMArtX Advisory Solutions is a platform
now in its sixth year, is creating a that allows firms to run a scalable, modular
diverse pool of workplace-ready, infrastructure catered to their specific
entry-level talent for the wealth management industry. The operational requirements. The company provides access to over
online career-training initiative includes 43 participating 757 strategies provided by 196 managers and represents $15.56 bil-
colleges and universities that work with the fintech innova- lion of AUM across 60,356 accounts and over 1,000 advisors. In
tor to build a future industry foundation by strengthening 2020, the company created The SMArtX 2021 Virtual Awards
diversity and inclusion. The curriculum consists of seven Program & Podcast to recognize individuals and companies for
self-paced, hourlong eLearning classes that have seven highest performance. SMArtX also created content around the
required exams and are available at no cost to participating awards program to reach new audiences of financial advisors who
schools and students. More than 4,700 students have com- could potentially benefit from learning about different asset man-
pleted the program since its 2015 inception, including 1,617 agers and strategies.
women and 1,461 minorities.
Snappy Kraken believes that though
FMG Suite provides a variety of advisors generally may be amazing at
resources to help educate advi- serving people, they struggle to be great
sors. The firm hosts monthly marketers. And yet, marketing is vital to their success. The market-
webinars and guest speakers to share their successes around ing automation firm for advisors is focused on helping them get
digital marketing. It also creates eBooks for advisors who pre- better at growing their business by using methods that are proven
fer long-form content and in-depth learning. Additionally, it to work, rather than repeatedly failing at experiments. Snappy
provides biweekly podcasts from other influencers or thought Kraken’s most recent study, How 2020 Has Changed Financial
leaders on trending topics. During the pandemic, FMG Suite Adviser Marketing, analyzed more than 32 million data points.
designed a content series to support advisors during the crisis, This study was provided, for free, to tens of thousands of advisors
which included a crisis communications checklist, an article to help them improve their businesses.
on how to become a virtual financial advisor and a 26-point
checklist of COVID-19 related planning opportunities.
FIRMS – OTHER
iCapital Network has increased its
education efforts with the develop- BNY Mellon Wealth Management’s
ment of an online program designed to Annual Charitable Gift Report pro-
support advisors in understanding alternatives and how to vides analytics and observations on
incorporate them into their practices. In January 2021, iCapi- charitable gift annuity and charita-
tal acquired AI Insight, an education and compliance plat- ble remainder trust activity for more than 100 nonprofit orga-
form that offers advisors investment research, training, nizations. The report is intended to help nonprofit stakeholders
qualification and compliance support for a range of alterna- better understand the planned giving landscape. Among other
tive investments. In February 2021, iCapital Network and the findings, the study revealed the number of charitable gift
Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association annuities rose 21% over the prior year and the average gift
announced a partnership launching AltsEdge, an education amount was up by 56%, suggesting nonprofits should consider
program for advisors that offers research-based, CE-accredited an increased focus on marketing gift annuities. The report has
modules to prepare advisors to optimize the use of alterna- served as a benchmark for clients to compare their own pro-
tives in client portfolios. gram metrics around gift activity and donor profiles.

30 INVESTMENT ADVISOR SEPTEMBER 2021 | ThinkAdvisor.com