Refinitiv announced the acquisition of strategic assets from Advisor Software Inc. (ASI), adding key digital functionalities to Refinitiv’s Wealth Management offering including enhanced digital advice capabilities and digital portfolio analysis. ASI’s technology is interoperable and cloud enabled and will be integrated into the recently launched Refinitiv Digital Investor.

The acquisition of ASI’s assets represents Refinitiv’s continued commitment to building out its digital wealth management solutions. The ongoing transformation within the wealth management industry is the result of customers seeking compelling and curated digital experiences. This shift has impacted the way in which customers communicate with advisors and in turn created a market for digital advice models where clients communicate via digitalized and automated channels.

ASI’s assets provide Refinitiv with a complete digital advice platform that enables tax-aware portfolio rebalancing, Monte Carlo-based progress-to-goal tracking, cash flow and portfolio analysis, investment modeling, and proposal generation. ASI also offers a series of lean, portable APIs that are customizable and fully-brandable to enable a wealth management firm to construct its own digital advice experience. With these tools financial institutions, wealth managers and advisors can deliver advice in a more flexible, efficient and scalable way.

Joe Mrak, Global Head of Wealth Management at Refinitiv, said: “In what continues to be an eventful year for Refinitiv’s Wealth Management group, I am pleased to share the news of our acquisition of ASI. The digital capabilities that ASI brings to our existing Refinitiv Digital Investor platform perfectly complement our growing suite of widgets and APIs. We remain focused on delivering enhanced digital offerings to the Wealth Management industry and our clients as the digitalization and personalization of Wealth Management continues.”

Ashley Longabaugh, Wealth Management Senior Analyst at Celent, said: “A superior client experience is a true differentiator for wealth management firms and platforms in today’s highly commoditized and digital world. Today, the client experience is about creating a proactive and engaging relationship between the client and advisor. Refinitiv’s acquisition of ASI demonstrates Refinitiv’s focus on strengthening the client-advisor experience by addressing the needs of the digitally-inclined client and advisor.”

Research shows that acquiring advanced digital capabilities remain an ongoing industry challenge, compounded by the way COVID-19 has forever changed how financial firms engage with clients. At Refinitiv, these are the challenges that drive us to enable our clients through technologies such as Digital Investor and ASI. According to a global survey (cited in the white paper below) of consumers conducted in April 2020, 24 percent say they will increase their long-term use of digital and 61 percent expect to use both digital and offline channels. These challenges are explored further in a recent white paper, Putting the Hammer Down: Accelerating Your Digital Transformation, which discusses the traditional buy versus build choice for delivery and new approaches that blend these choices together to deliver the advantages of both.

Refinitiv will continue to address the evolving industry needs. We are working hand-in-hand with our clients to improve digital wealth workflows, analytics, client acquisition and onboarding. 

Refinitiv has a rich history of servicing the Wealth Management industry from front to back office. Over the last year, the firm has invested heavily in the business and is committed to bringing the most advanced solutions to the market. The ongoing transformation includes building out the firm’s solutions through strategic acquisitions such as Scivantage and the launch of Refinitiv Digital Investor.   

To learn more about Refinitiv Digital Wealth solutions, visit: https://www.refinitiv.com/en/wealth-management-solutions/digital-wealth-management.