The news of Judson “Jud” Bergman and his wife Mary Miller’s deaths shocked the financial world on Thursday. The 62 year-old Envestnet CEO, chairman and co-founder and his wife were killed early Thursday morning when their taxi cab was struck by a vehicle heading the wrong direction on Highway 101 in the San Francisco area. The taxi driver and the women controlling the other vehicle were also killed in the crash. The accident occurred at 12:30 a.m.
Following Bergman’s passing, Envestnet released a statement saying, “It is with immeasurable sadness that we share the news that Judson Bergman, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, passed away today in San Francisco, CA in an automobile accident. Mr. Bergman’s wife, Mary Miller, also sadly perished in this tragedy. On behalf of our Board of Directors, management team and employees, we extend our deepest sympathies to Jud and Mary’s family. As Envestnet’s founder, Jud was a remarkable leader whose vision, brilliance and drive built the foundation for Envestnet’s success.”
“We have all experienced a great loss at Envestnet,” stated Ross Chapin, the Lead Independent Director of Envestnet’s Board of Directors. Adding, “Jud was a giant as a businessman and human being. We will miss him immensely.”
Bergman founded Envestnet in 1999, revolutionizing the financial services technology sector and fueling a wave of independent financial advisers. He left his job as head of mutual funds at Nuveen Investments to start the company, setting out on his own to create software tools that would help financial advisers break away from big institutions to start their own shops.
He believed in the intersection of humans and technology
Bergman believed in the power technology could give advisors. Speaking about the changes in the advisory world during the 2016 Advisor Summit, he said, “Now we’re seeing that the pattern is evolving towards more of a financial planning-centric, truly wealth management-centric process and the key to making all of that work, we believe, is financial technology. Integrated technology gives a productivity lift to advisors because there’s a drain when you take disparate acts and try to bring them together.”
He believed in the opportunity for financial advisors to improve the lives of their clients
During his welcome speech at the Retirement Symposium two years ago, Begman reminded attendees, “It’s the goal of Envestnet to empower advisors through better intelligence, enabling advisors and financial enterprises to deliver better financial outcomes for your clients and to help improve the lives of your clients.”
He was a visionary who had a love for history
During the 2019 Advisor Summit, Bergman spoke about his love for history and Winston Churchill, explaining how the former British Prime Minister was an astonishing example of “transformative leadership in a time of seismic change.”
Bergman went on to explain how Churchill’s visionary ability is what is expected of financial advisors todays market. In reality, it was Bergman who possessed the ability to see the impact technology could have on advisors and the entire financial sector.
He believed that advisors were the true “disruptors”
Bergman always credited the advisors who used his platform as the true “disruptors.” During the Envestnet’s 2018 Advisor Summit, he reminded attendees that Envestment was just the “enabler”, but the “disruptors” are the “advisors who are using good use of technology and gaining share at a faster rate than their competitors are.”
He passed his love for music onto his children
Jud and Mary shared several children, including the duo, Natalie and Elliott, who comprise indie band Wild Belle. On the day of their father’s death, Wild Belle were set to perform and the Radio City Music Hall. Their career may partially due to their father who, as well as being an entrepreneur, also referred to himself as a “hack guitarist.”
