Robos & Wealth

Wedmont Private Capital increased its holding in the fund by acquiring 80,721 additional shares during Q3 2025. The estimated trade value, based on the quarterly average price, was $6.25 million. This brought the fund’s total position to 1,083,517 shares, worth $84.80 million. This buy increased the VTC stake to 3.2% of Wedmont’s reportable portfolio. Top holdings after this filing:

• VEA (Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF): $238,887,044 (8.9% of AUM)
• VWO (Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF): $154,227,148 (5.7% of AUM)
• VTI (Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF): $130,832,882 (4.9% of AUM)
• VOO (Vanguard S&P 500): $105.17 million (3.9% of AUM) as of 2025-09-30
• IEFA (iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF): $99.44 million (3.7% of AUM) as of 2025-09-30

As of October 7, 2025, shares were priced at $78.26, up 0.23% over the past year, underperforming the S&P 500 by 12.04 percentage points.  The fund reported an annualized dividend yield of 4.68% as of October 8, 2025, and closed 0.94% below its 52-week high. Vanguard Total Corporate Bond ETF (VTC) is gaining attention as yields stay high and investors look to add balance after a volatile year for equities. The ETF tracks investment-grade corporate bonds, while offering exposure to major U.S issuers across industrial, utility and financial sectors. With a dividend yield of near 4.7%, VTC provides meaningful income at a time when bonds are finally paying investors to wait. The Fed’s policy remains tight which created an environment where quality bonds can deliver solid returns without taking on excessive credit risk. For investors, the combination of steady income and potential price recovery makes VTC a valuable portfolio anchor in a diversified portfolio. If rates start to decline in 2026, today’s yields could look even more attractive in hindsight. In that scenario, high quality bond funds may once again play a leading role in portfolio performance.

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A new federal regulatory framework for payment stablecoins marks a pivotal moment for digital assets in the United States by establishing a legal definition and oversight by banking regulators that may enable commercial scaling. The new GENIUS framework provides several pathways for institutions to become issuers, with regulatory oversight based on the issuer’s legal entity structure. It will create opportunities for a wider range of issuers in the U.S., including non-banks. The requirements generally take effect in late 2026 or early 2027, depending in part on when regulators issue implementation guidance.  The GENIUS Act’s requirements will affect not only banks, but also non-bank issuers, payment processors, digital asset service providers, corporates, and customers. Each group faces unique operational, compliance, and business model decisions as they navigate the new framework and position themselves in the evolving stablecoin market. Each group also needs to consider risks in areas such as operations, cybersecurity, fraud, tax, regulation, and reputation. Subsidiaries of federally and state-chartered banks, non-bank entities, and uninsured national banks are among the entities eligible to become payment stablecoin issuers under the new regulatory framework. Issuers will be required to comply with prudential standards similar to those for traditional banks and to maintain one-to-one reserves of high-quality liquid assets, publish monthly attestation reports, and adhere to rigorous risk management and compliance measures. The act prohibits payment stablecoins from paying interest, although rewards may be offered by other parties. The requirements of the GENIUS Act will likely drive strategic decisions, significant operational changes, and new compliance processes regarding whether and how to participate in the stablecoin market. Companies that facilitate the transfer, settlement, or processing of payments also face strategic decisions about whether, when, and how to begin or scale payment stablecoin transactions. After evaluating the risks and opportunities, companies can take proactive measures to comply with the new regulatory framework now that payment stablecoins have been legitimized for use by financial institutions. Exchanges, custodians, and wallet providers will need to adjust their operations to meet the new regulatory standards, particularly related to risk management, reporting, and customer protection. They should prepare for the transition period by updating their compliance and risk management frameworks so that they only support or list stablecoins issued by entities that meet the new law’s standards. These providers should also monitor regulatory developments and adapt their offerings to remain compliant and competitive.

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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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Broadridge Financial Solutions has announced a strategic partnership and minority investment in Uptiq, an AI platform for financial services. The partnership aims to modernize wealth management by addressing the growing demand for artificial intelligence in financial services and developing a better wealth lending process. Uptiq’s AI-powered tools and Broadridge’s Wealth Lending Network will enable advisors to deliver smarter lending recommendations, save time, and help clients access the liquidity needed to achieve their financial goals. The integration will streamline the process of accessing securities-based lending solutions, particularly for financial advisors and wealth management firms not affiliated with banks. Broadridge’s investment supports Uptiq’s growth and reinforces a shared vision for transforming wealth lending.

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