This week, Jack Sharry talks with David Goldman, Chief Business Officer at Pontera. At Pontera, David leads strategy, partnerships, and the company’s mission to help Americans retire with greater security by giving financial advisors secure access to their clients’ held-away retirement accounts.

Jack and Dave discuss how Pantera is transforming the retirement landscape by empowering investors and their advisors to securely manage 401(k) assets. Dave discusses the firm’s public clash with Fidelity, the broader consumer-choice issues at stake, and why secure advisor access is essential for better outcomes. He also highlights Pantera’s new partnerships with major recordkeepers like John Hancock, the growing need for coordinated and tax-optimized household management, and how AI will enhance—not replace—human advice. 

In this episode:

(00:00) - Intro

(01:28) - Security, consumer rights, and the Fidelity dispute

(04:52) - How Pontera enables advisors to manage held-away 401(k)s

(08:40) - David’s path from Google to fintech and financial literacy

(11:19) - Scaling Pontera: integrations, partnerships, and evolving client needs

(15:01) - The holy grail of unified, tax-optimized household management

(18:49) - How AI serves as a force multiplier for advisors

(21:29) - David's key takeaways

(23:59) - David's interests outside of work

Quotes

"The holy grail of wealth management is  being able to collectively manage the entirety of a client's assets based on their risk profile, their preferences, and their needs on a personalized basis. You need one quarterback for that. You can't have siloed accounts with different managers and pull that off effectively." ~ David Goldman

"The convergence is no longer coming. It's here. The plan advisors are more and more helping their clients with wealth. The wealth advisors are more and more helping clients with their 401(k) plans. And we just needed somebody to build a bridge to connect them all." ~ David Goldman

"If you're a financial advisor and you're not offering holistic wealth solutions, including managing the 401(k), you're likely being left behind. You're disadvantaged as an advisor, and you're disadvantaging your clients." ~ David Goldman

Links 

David Goldman on LinkedIn

Pontera

Morgan Stanley

Orion Advisor Solutions

Addepar

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LifeYield

Jack Sharry on LinkedIn

Jack Sharry on Twitter

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