Advizr gets Series A $7-million investment in bid to create software with best of eMoney, MoneyGuidePro and Mint.com rolled into one

Franklin Templeton, SEI and Fenway Summer place $7-million wager on Hussain Zaidi, a former Ameriprise broker who cites his 'unfair advantage' in starting from scratch against a software category that got going decades ago

Author Brooke Southall June 22, 2017 at 12:28 PM

8 Comments

Hussain Zaidi: I wouldn't be here if it weren't for my time at Ameriprise.

Technology

Steve Lockshin

Joel Bruckenstein

Wayne Withrow

MoneyGuidePro

eMoney

AdvicePeriod

Mint.com

Advizr Inc.

Hussain Zaidi

Jorge Alvarez

Mustapha Baassiri

Jenny Johnson

The Leaders Group

Jeff Spears

June 22, 2017 — 3:42 PM

Advisor trading and support seem to be missing. Without both the software could be amazing but adoption will be low.

Stephen Winks

June 22, 2017 — 4:37 PM

With fiduciary duty being the threshold one must cross when rendering advice. None of the planning software cited afford a simplifying prudent process authenticated back to statute which supports expert fiduciary standing. Until they do, there are too m any moving parts that must be managed which are beyond the reach of the the individual advisor that would assure professional standing and by extension-adoption. Expert fiduciary standing requires collaboration likely entailing a large scale RIA without the constraints of a b/d. There are no software vendors who can achieve professional standing in advisory services alone. If there were, they would assume fiduciary liability SCW

Sean Livingston

June 22, 2017 — 7:38 PM

I have evaluated all 3 platforms within the past 2 months. Advizr has nothing over MGP and eMoney outside of the mobile app. Their planning capabilities are not in the same league as these two providers. All of this sounds good on paper but they seem overly optimistic that they will not run into the roadblocks that established firms have already been through.

brooke southall

June 22, 2017 — 7:46 PM

Sean, Anything you can add about the mobile app? That sounds potentially important and in keeping with the pitch that they can do certain things better as a late-comer. Thanks, Brooke

Keena Pettijohn

June 23, 2017 — 8:19 PM

Totally agree that Financial Planning is not the DNA of a traditional advisor and having having the proposal capability of SalesForce, Ease of E Money, and Budget Planning of Mint make this offering a competitive incumbent. Could it be the next Triple Crown of Advisor tools?

Jason

June 23, 2017 — 10:25 PM

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Stephen Winks

June 24, 2017 — 9:44 PM

If a software vendor represents they support espert fiduciary duty of a broker, they must be prepared to assume fiduciary l;iability on ebery recommendation the broker has ever made. This is why a large scale RIA is essential in the support of expert fiduciary standing of the advisor. This espert support is not likely going to come from a b/d. SCW

Sean Living

June 26, 2017 — 7:05 PM

They have a mobile app in the app store that clients can directly download. Unfortunately, this feature sounds much more meaningful than it actually is. I believe all 3 of these players have mobile experiences but Advizr just had theirs updated which essentially just allows clients to log in and view their net worth. Their planning capabilities are still elementary which is the whole idea behind advisors investing in this type of software

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Mentioned in this article:

eMoney Advisor LLC
Financial Planning Software
Top Executive: Edward O’Brien

MoneyGuidePro
Financial Planning Software
Top Executive: Bob Curtis

SEI Advisor Network
TAMP
Top Executive: Wayne Withrow

Technology Tools for Today
Consulting Firm
Top Executive: Joel Bruckenstein

Advizr Inc.
Financial Planning Software
Top Executive: Hussain Zaidi