Oisin Breen

Yes, there are significant payroll differences for companies with 0-50 employees, 50-100 employees, and 100+ employees, but I really think a lot of times, they're overblown. I use and recommend AMS Payroll because it has the software tech, modular products, and price points that are attractive to small and medium-sized employers. &lt;a href="https://www.1099-etc.com/" rel="nofollow"&gt;https://www.1099-etc.com/&lt;/a&gt;

Vestwell makes hard-charging payroll startup, Namely, its portal to win plan sponsors for RIAs and IBD reps it services

Fisher Investments

Financial Engines

Fidelity Investments

Vestwell Inc.

ADP Retirement Services

Aaron Pottichen

CLS Partners

John Bunch

Aaron Schumm

The days when RIAs were the outsiders at the 401(k) party are fast coming to a close. What's new is that the mass of 401(k) assets 
is getting critical at about $3 trillion; fiduciary advisors are getting appreciated; fat fees and questionable kickbacks are getting exposed and stepping out of line is getting dicier as the Department of Labor tightens the regulatory screws.

The old reasons why the 401(k) business is attractive are still in place: there are fresh assets pouring in every month and when employees leave jobs or retire, they produce rollovers that build up IRA accounts for financial advisors. The drawbacks of getting into the 401(k) business are still in place, too. Dealing with retirement assets is really a second line of business and it remains -- unless you overcharge with hidden fees -- a low margin business with high potential fiduciary liabilities.

Still, the outsourcers, infrastructure and accumulated knowledge for RIAs to capitalize on is growing daily and a the mega-shift of assets away from brokers is making the 401(k) business riskier and riskier -- to ignore.

401(k) Stories

Stripped down to its essentials, financial advice is a fairly straightforward proposition. Done well, a highly ethical individual stewards the assets and actions of an investor in a personal and professional interchange.
 
But now a vibrant new class of entrepreneurs is staking their fates and their fortunes on the premise that financial advice can be delivered in a better, cheaper, easier, more ethical, more transparent manner and, as a bonus, in a way more devoid of human annoyance on both ends of the transaction.
 
Cue the robo-advisors, arguably a callous misnomer for automated asset management. 
 
The prototypical robo-advisory entrepreneur has more brands on his or her resume than NASCAR. The bona fides of these industry upstarts often include Ivy-level colleges and MBA programs at Harvard or Stanford. They are often flush with IPO dollars realized at concerns like LinkedIn, Facebook, eBay, Amazon  and Microsoft. 
 
Robo-folk believe that technology is not an enabler of advice but rather, if engineered correctly, advice itself in digital form. 
 
And, they believe the best solutions originate in Silicon Valley or academia, not Wall Street. Robo-entrepreneurs are white-boarding the whole business model, culture and technology from scratch in the conviction that little can be learned from a legacy advice system still rooted in an investment banking culture acting under the core premise that if stockbrokers get rich some of the good effects will trickle down to clients – with the clients none the wiser. 
 
Robo-advisors are a scintillating topic for students of the advice game as they grow by hundreds of millions in assets every month, constantly evolve their business models and receive cash infusions from ever-larger swaths of venture capitals.
 
Throw in the fact that robo-advisors have yet to see a dime in profits -- and won’t in the foreseeable future -- and you have real intrigue. 
 
RIABiz has avidly covered the fast-evolving robo-advice phenomenon and will continue to do so. We present the growing body of articles here.

Robo-Advisors

CEO Aaron Schumm is helping advisors get the benefit of feet already wedged in doors thanks to pervasive payroll service apps

Vestwell makes hard-charging payroll startup, Namely, its portal to win plan sponsors for RIAs and IBD reps it services

Garrett

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Vestwell makes hard-charging payroll startup, Namely, its portal to win plan sponsors for RIAs and IBD reps it services

Garrett

Related Moves

July 11, 2019 at 4:26 AM

January 11, 2025 at 3:01 AM

March 21, 2024 at 4:41 AM

March 12, 2024 at 1:08 AM

RIABiz Directory

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