Impartial advisors trying at custody platform choices past the massive three (Schwab, Constancy and Pershing) ought to observe the most recent addition to Apex Fintech Options.
Apex introduced the agency acquired AdvisorArch, a portfolio administration firm with its personal rebalancer.
The custodian introduced its integration with AdvisorArch in August 2023. Along with easy portfolio rebalancing, AdvisorArch’s platform is supposed to assist advisors in supporting tax loss harvesting, direct indexing, fractional share buying and selling and managing concentrated inventory positions. AdvisorArch launched in 2022 and is the most recent creation of RobustWealth co-founders Michael Kerins and Robert Cavallaro and a small workforce.
In January, Apex launched a new person interface for advisors referred to as Astra, and extra not too long ago, it introduced integrations with Advyzon in February. Apex has additionally not too long ago constructed out new capabilities, together with fractional buying and selling, direct indexing, digital account opening, and digital funding utilizing ACATS, amongst others.
In October 2023, Apex launched a brand new fixed-income investing platform.
Alois Pirker, founder and CEO of Pirker Companions, stated the acquisition of AdvisorArch represented a change in route for Apex, which was beforehand extra centered on integrations than acquisitions.
“They’re getting extra into that advisor area the place you might want to have extra performance to ship to them to win that enterprise,” he stated.
Apex might want to put in additional work to construct out AdvisorArch now that the acquisition has taken place, Pirker stated.
“(This) might be a bonus as … you’ll be able to construct right into a route that works … and make it extra becoming to your setting,” he stated. “It’s on the cash. That is the place this type of platform must be going.”
Pirker stated Apex’s acquisition reminded him of when TD Ameritrade acquired portfolio rebalancer iRebal in 2007.
“They personal the piece,” he stated. “That has a bonus. … It’s an identical technique that TDA had again within the day.”
William Trout, director of securities and investments practices at Datos Insights, stated with the custody enterprise evolving, the wants of unbiased advisors are “a lot broader and deeper than they had been even a number of years in the past.”
“Companies attempt to purchase that complete toolkit for the monetary advisor to allow cradle-to-grave help for these advisors who’re unbiased and people who are considering of breaking away,” he stated.
Consolidation among the many massive three has opened the door to custodians like Apex to supply a better stage of service to smaller advisors who might in any other case really feel misplaced within the shuffle, stated Trout.
“They simply received’t get that kind of consideration from the bigger custodians,” he stated. “They received’t get the help for his or her development trajectory {that a} smaller custodian can present. There may be a gap.”
Though Apex needs to “unfold its wings,” Trout stated he didn’t see Apex placing any bigger custodians out of enterprise. As an alternative, this can present extra alternative.
“For smaller practices that want end-to-end digital help, together with for issues like customization and rebalancing, it’s a terrific mixture,” he stated.