Robos & Wealth

AlgoFusion 5.0 has introduced a suite of real-time risk management enhancements designed to help traders and portfolio teams identify threats early, mitigate performance shocks, and maintain logic integrity under volatile conditions. The live risk alert engine scans strategy activity and market conditions simultaneously, issuing early warnings when performance deviates from expected thresholds or when structural conflicts arise across parallel executions. AlgoFusion’s adaptive infrastructure allows rules to evolve mid-stream—without halting operations—ensuring continuity and responsiveness even in stressed markets. The platform also includes configurable escalation protocols—enabling alerts to be routed to team members, logged for compliance, or linked to automated de-risking actions such as position scaling or temporary strategy suspension. Key risk control enhancements in AlgoFusion 5.0 include: Drawdown Threshold Alerts – Automatically pauses or adjusts strategies when predefined risk levels are breached; Conditional Logic Overrides – Allows users to insert emergency filters or override execution parameters in response to market turbulence; Exposure Correlation Mapping – Visualizes overlapping risk across asset classes and strategy clusters; Trigger Sensitivity Calibration – Fine-tunes how strategy signals respond to short-term volatility or structural market shifts; Real-Time Strategy Health Scoring – Ranks each strategy based on performance stability, signal integrity, and risk adherence.

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The push to embed payments in vehicles is gaining traction, with projections by Juniper Research showing in-car transactions will grow from 87 million in 2021 to over 4.7 billion by 2026. Automakers like Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, and BMW have rolled out systems enabling payments for fuel, parking, and charging via in-car interfaces, biometrics, and stored card info. Mercedes uses fingerprint sensors in Germany, Hyundai Pay has expanded across models via software updates, and BMW has launched features in Germany with plans to scale. Despite the progress, challenges remain, such as lack of a unified infrastructure, the presence of non-connected vehicles, and complications in shared vehicle models. Apps like PACE Drive, Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, and Amazon Alexa are emerging alternatives, enabling voice and app-based payments. Companies like Metropolis are also enabling AI-powered, checkout-free experiences at thousands of locations. For banks, this shift poses a threat to interchange revenue if consumers bypass card networks. To stay relevant, banks need to understand evolving customer preferences, mitigate fraud risks, and consider partnerships with automakers. “At the end of the day, this has to work with all banks and all cards,” said Glenbrook’s Chris Uriarte.

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One new entrant to the family office industry, LinePoint Partners, aims to help advisors leaving wirehouses and private banks build up an array of services needed to work with wealthy clients. Andrew Sternlight, LinePoint’s president and chief investment officer, said what sets family offices apart from other wealth managers is the priority family offices place on preserving wealth for future generations, charitable causes or other recipients. “That’s where we think, by extending that sort of family office infrastructure to advisors or to one or two executives of a family office without building out their teams entirely,” Sternlight said. “That’s where we can provide a bit of a solution that has the benefits with that multigenerational lens, but not the cost of designing from scratch in-house.” Andrew Lom, U.S. head of financial services and global head of private wealth at the law firm Norton Rose Fulbright, agreed that the true differentiator for family offices is the emphasis they place on making sure clients can bequeath their wealth exactly how they want.  Ron LaVelle, a principal in the private wealth practice of the accounting and consulting firm Baker Tilly, said clients have the ultimate say on what their family office does. With the list of possible service offerings always growing, and the number of multifamily offices serving several wealthy families also rising, it’s becoming ever more rare for firms to be able to do it all. In fact, LaVelle said, he tends to be wary of firms that claim to be everything for everyone.

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Wealthtender, a digital marketing platform for financial advisors and wealth management firms, announced the launch of AI-Optimized FAQs, extending its range of features that play a valuable role in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO). By embedding FAQ schema, a specialized code recognized by search engines and answer engines, Wealthtender automatically structures FAQ content to be more easily surfaced in Google AI Overviews and as direct answers in AI tools. Brian Thorp, Wealthtender founder and CEO. “With traditional search engines evolving to include AI Overviews and the rapid adoption of AI-powered tools like ChatGPT and Gemini, FAQs published on advisor websites and Wealthtender profiles, especially when enhanced with FAQ schema, are more powerful than ever for building trust, visibility, credibility, and increasing the likelihood of an advisor landing on a prospect’s shortlist.” Upon activation of the AI-Optimized FAQs feature, advisors can publish up to 10 questions and answers on their Wealthtender profiles that showcase their expertise and areas of specialization, address common questions, and appear more prominently when prospective clients use Google, ChatGPT, Gemini, and other AI search tools to find and evaluate financial advisors.

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Bernstein Research has identified 10 best practices for investors integrating generative AI into asset management, emphasizing the importance of structured data, targeted workflows, and measurable outcomes. The brokerage emphasizes the need for clean, structured internal data, prompt engineering, centralizing data, breaking down daily workflows into specific use cases, and developing vertical AI champions. To scale AI effectively, firms should prioritize top use cases, structure offsite exercises, and engage in regular knowledge-sharing sessions within teams. Developing vertical AI champions in departments such as equities, fixed income, legal, or compliance ensures solutions remain close to real use cases. Dedicated AI talent is also needed, with some firms assigning specific team members to focus on AI tools or hiring external specialists. Tools like Daloopa and ModelML are cited for model automation and internal data integration. Early engagement with implementation partners or adopting ready-made AI tools can speed progress without requiring deep technical expertise. In the future, organizations should prepare to work with hybrid teams of humans and artificial intelligence, requiring robust data infrastructure and governance. Clear metrics to evaluate Gen AI’s impact include operational efficiency, error rate reduction, time to generate insights, volume of AI-generated ideas, and comparisons with human output. Success in portfolio management can be assessed by time saved during scenario analysis and the frequency of bias avoidance in decisions post-AI implementation.

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Buffered ETFs, also known as defined outcome products, have gained traction in recent years by offering partial downside protection in exchange for capped gains. Each fund is structured to shield investors from a set percentage of losses, typically 10% to 20%, over a fixed period. In return, gains are limited, and the terms reset at the end of each outcome window. Buffered ETFs struggled to gain traction after their late 2018 debut — and for good reason. From 2019 through 2021, the S&P 500 returned an average of 24% annually, leaving little appeal for products that cap upside. But a sharp downturn in 2022 changed the equation. With the index falling nearly 20% that year, investors poured nearly $10 billion into buffered ETFs, breathing new life into the once-overlooked product. During times of declining equities, investors often rely more heavily on bonds. But in recent years that strategy hasn’t always worked out, according to Charles Champagne, head of ETF strategy at Allianz Investment Management. “When you have an equity and fixed income portfolio, if equities are in a tougher market, you expect your fixed income to offset those losses, and that just really hasn’t happened in the past [couple of years],” Champagne said. “So these products really help in that capacity.” To build buffered ETFs, issuers like Allianz use options to shape both downside protection and upside limits. They start by buying a deep-in-the-money call to mirror market exposure. Then, to create the buffer, they buy an at-the-money put and sell an out-of-the-money put, defining how much loss the fund will absorb. To offset the cost of this protection, they sell a call option, which in turn sets the cap on gains. This options mix allows issuers to offer defined outcomes over a set time frame, typically one year.

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A massive generational wealth transfer is underway, with heirs moving inherited assets away from community banks 70% of the time — threatening deposit stability as over $30 trillion changes hands by 2030.  Community banks are adopting digital estate planning tools — like Thomaston Savings Bank’s partnership with Paige — to help families prepare proactively and help banks retain relationships with the next generation. Adding Paige allowed the bank to scale estate planning services and make guidance more accessible. When community institutions help parents plan, and since they have the largest share of that age group, removing bad experiences enables banks to transition from a reactive to a supportive role in the estate for the next generation. Through its Paige partnership, Thomaston Savings is also doing more than covering the practicalities of estate planning; they’re reaching deeper into the relationship to establish a brand connection. Customers of Thomaston Savings can get a head start on gathering and storing family videos and photos. They can even schedule a calendar of messages for loved ones to receive in the years after they are gone. (All of these services are offered through one discounted subscription to depositors and provided via a cobranded portal from the bank’s website.) It’s not a deposit service, but community institutions are turning to partners for differentiation – especially when up against the largest nationwide banks – in services at “the edge on money,” as Alloy Labs Alliance CEO Jason Henrichs describes it. It’s about deposit effects created “looking beyond the account and the transactions for new ways to create value for the customer,” he says. “That can require partnering with technology companies that didn’t start out pursuing bank partnerships. They’ve built valuable services that created new value for customers and the banks.” Since it launched, Paige has also partnered with the American State Bank, as well as Claremont Savings Bank. These technology companies “give the service to the banks for free,” says Josh Seigel, Chairman and CEO of StoneCastle Partners, and also an investor in Paige. “There’s really no process other than vendor due diligence for banks. Customers can use this service and pay a monthly fee of approximately $2; it’s intended for individuals who don’t have an estate attorney.

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YELO Software, has launched its full-service offerings alongside YELOsphere Connect the first module of its proprietary, AI-driven private markets intelligence platform designed to help teams identify and connect with key players across private equity and portfolio companies. Private equity teams work in high-stakes, low-visibility environments. YELOsphere is built to change that — delivering verified data, strategic insights, and AI-driven foresight in three stages: 1) YELOsphere Connect (Live) – Accurate, CRM-ready contact data on PE and portfolio decision-makers. 2) YELOsphere Insights (2025) – A dynamic map of firms, sectors, and interconnections to reveal hidden opportunities. 3) YELOsphere Analytics (In development) – Interactive dashboards and predictive strategy tools, powered by AI. YELOsphere Connect enables investment and marketing teams to move faster with cleaner, more actionable data, powered by smart automation and AI-driven data validation. Continuously validated contacts across PE firms and portco executive roles; Smart filters by firm, title, sector, and investment profile; Decision-grade contact intelligence across investors and operators; Built to move teams from research to outreach, faster.

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Halo Investing has launched Advanced Wealth Solutions — a suite of sophisticated investment capabilities designed to elevate how advisors serve their clients. With Advanced Wealth Solutions, advisors have access to investment products and strategies typically offered by institutional and private bank environments. Halo’s Advanced Wealth Solutions offering provides advisors and their clients with access to hedging and monetization, securities-based lending, secondary and pre-IPO markets, and soon, tailored option portfolios and overlays — capabilities that have traditionally been reserved for institutional channels. With Advanced Wealth Solutions, advisors can leverage strategies to manage concentrated equity risk, access liquidity, optimize tax outcomes, and tap into private market investment opportunities, including private company secondaries and pre-IPO investments. Advisors can also offer flexible credit lines backed by clients’ investment portfolios, providing liquidity without disrupting market exposure. With access to sophisticated strategies and exclusive investment opportunities through Advanced Wealth Solutions, advisors can deliver tailored, results-focused solutions that deepen relationships and drive long-term business growth. Matt Radgowski, CEO of Halo said “With Advanced Wealth Solutions, we’re leveling the playing field by putting institutional-caliber solutions within reach of advisors who want to deliver more for their clientele.”

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