Page 28 - Investment Advisor - November 2023

Center and Riskalyze’s flagship product, Ultimate, which the firm emily Wilcox, Practifi
used to generate over 150 opportunities in the first three months. Wilcox was this Australian startup’s first hire in
2015. Two years later, she oversaw the perfor-
david Knoch, docupace mance optimization platform’s entrance into the
In the past 12 months, Knoch oversaw Docupace’s U.S. market. She established Practifi’s learning
expansion and transformation following the and development team to further client education and enable-
acquisition of PreciseFP, a client onboarding plat- ment. Under her leadership, the team introduced PractifiU in May
form, which transformed Docupace from a back- 2022, an on-demand training experience that covers the funda-
office solutions provider to a wealthtech firm with game-changing mental workflows and day-to-day features users experience when
resources, resulting in recurring revenue and profitability increas- accessing Practifi’s platform. Wilcox also prioritizes mentorship
es in the double digits and a more than a tripling of sales in 2022. and coaching. Through a firmwide “Summit” series, she advocates
Following the acquisition, Docupace was able to bring to market for content covering everything from the value proposition of
solutions, such as the RIA Productivity Suite, designed to serve the Practifi’s clients as wealth advisors to understanding how venture
needs of the rapidly growing RIA channel. Docupace also reported capital funds make investment decisions.
record-high female employee engagement scores, indicative of
Knoch’s commitment to gender parity and inclusive leadership. natalie Wolfsen, AssetMark
Under Wolfsen’s strategic leadership, AssetMark
scott MacKillop, First Ascent grew from a TAMP to a holistic wealth man-
Asset Management agement platform. The firm acquired Adhesion
MacKillop founded First Ascent in 2015, the first Wealth in 2022 to complement its end-to-end
TAMP to offer its services on a flat fee basis. In outsourcing offering with modular solutions for advisors seek-
April 2023, he closed the acquisition of the firm ing to do some or all components of advice delivery themselves.
by GeoWealth, a modern technology TAMP that serves the RIA AssetMark continued to optimize its digital ecosystem to deliver a
community. The resulting organization, with more than $20 billion differentiated experience that champions client engagement and
in assets under management, focuses exclusively on serving RIAs, drives efficiency. The firm expanded its investment platform to
ranging from start-ups to large enterprises. The platform offers full include enhanced income planning capabilities and personalized
service for a flat fee, making outsourcing affordable for any RIA. investment solutions. AssetMark also enhanced its turnkey busi-
MacKillop also informs, educates and inspires advisors through his ness programs and invested meaningfully in its personalized con-
articles, social media presence, and educational initiatives. sulting services designed to maximize practice growth. (Wolfsen
completed her tenure at AssetMark in early September.)
Brian McLaughlin, orion Advisor solutions
Following Orion Advisor Solutions’ 2022 acquisi- retirement and other Products/services Companies
tion of Redtail Technology, a firm McLaughlin co-
founded in 2003, he assumed the role of president scott Golde, Jackson
of Orion Advisor Technology. Redtail revolution- In 2022, Golde and Jackson’s government rela-
ized CRM software in fintech. Now, with direct access to Orion tions team provided input on policies affecting the
solutions geared toward trading, rebalancing, planning, compli- financial services and retirement landscape. He
ance and risk, he has successfully merged Orion’s and Redtail’s also advocated for more uniform and consistent
development teams, who are building new connections between regulatory requirements among states and various federal regula-
all these platforms to improve the experiences of both advisors tory regimes to ensure that American consumers’ access to lifetime
and clients. McLaughlin is also striving to build solutions that income solutions are not adversely affected by proposed or enact-
scale so advisors might efficiently serve families of limited means, ed regulations. In October 2022, he led the planning and facilita-
who typically have not had access to advisors. tion of Jackson’s two-day Legal and Compliance Summit, which
aimed to promote partnership, collaboration and transparency
tom o’Connor, IncomeConductor between distribution, legal and compliance leaders at Jackson and
Besides heading up IncomeConductor’s marketing their counterparts at more than 20 distribution partner firms.
efforts, O’Connor also performs the duties of chief
tech, chief product and chief operating officer. His eric thomes, Allianz Life Insurance Company
efforts over the past 12 months have led to a 19% of north America
year-over-year revenue growth in the business. During this period as In the last year, Thomes has led successful
well, he has overseen the firm’s software development team, which promotions of Allianz products, including
is on the verge of launching the IncomeConductor Pro solution. the relaunch of its Accumulation Advantage

26 Investment AdvIsor November 2023 | ThinkAdvisor.com