Legacy systems just can't keep up with technology that's driving 300% AUM expansion in a year when other managed account frameworks are faltering.
SMArtX thrives on disruption. The turnkey asset management platform (TAMP) may still be an underdog according to industry metrics, but that's changing fast as much larger fund complexes embrace its technical edge.
In just the last few days, SMArtX got to ring the bell as giants like Invesco and T Rowe Price bring their strategies to the platform . . . not to mention top-ranked boutique manager Dana Investment Advisers, the brains behind American Funds and Franklin Templeton and more.
Vanguard and Fidelity signed up last month. All in all, advisors affiliated with SmartX now have access to 720 strategies selected from the best shops across the financial landscape.
Reading between the lines, advisors looking for an efficient and robust way to structure client portfolios are finding everything they need here. SmartX assets under management are now up a breathtaking 300% YTD. By the time you read this, it's likely that $9 billion will be running on the platform.
That growth is playing out in a virtuous cycle, management says. Advisors and institutional investors alike are looking for established asset managers to relieve the tension surrounding the pandemic and the election.
What they don't want is any kind of drag from legacy systems that can't keep up with the modern world.
"Technology provides an expansion opportunity in terms of enterprise growth and the ability to disrupt and drive efficiencies," says president/COO Jonathan Pincus.
"It's nimble and fast. If advisors have learned anything from COVID, it is the need to think both offensively and defensively."
Meanwhile, top-tier asset managers are attracted to the opportunity to deliver their investment ideas to advisors in a more efficient format. More choices naturally attract more advisors, who in turn bring more assets into the strategies.
"It's why the SMArtX platform is attracting the best asset managers on the planet," says CEO Evan Rapoport.
"They realize leveraging a playbook that puts the financial advisor at the center of the value chain—backed by real-time technology tools and best execution—is key to their success."
What's interesting is the way these gigantic managers are viewing the pandemic upheavals as an opportunity to evolve, and not as a threat to wait out.
Some evidently found their existing distribution networks weren't up to the times, Rapoport says.
"The disruptive impact of COVID-19 caused an immediate stress test to legacy systems that couldn't possibly keep up with SMArtX."
What's on the platform? You can learn for yourself via our new direct TAMP messenger, but the real thrill comes when you combine the raw building blocks to build customized, risk-sensitive and truly competitive portfolios for your clients.
Active, indexed, alternative . . . if they don't have what you need, I suspect they'll be happy to find it. And if you have a proprietary strategy of your own, SMArtX is evidently the place to be.
Call it the Olympus of the post-COVID financial landscape. Or if you want something a little more down-to-earth, the "app store of investing." SMArtX provides the technology. The best portfolio programmers on the planet fill in all the moving parts end users could ever need.
Want to know more? You can reach out to them directly via the Wealth Advisor TAMP Digital Dashboard.
