WealthTech on Deck

This week, Jack Sharry talks with Kevin Mitchell, CEO and Co-Founder of Graphene. After nearly two decades building and operating regulated wealth platforms across the UK and Europe, Kevin co-founded Graphene to help wealth firms take greater control of the infrastructure on which their businesses depend.

Jack and Kevin examine why platform infrastructure has become an enterprise-level strategic decision. Kevin outlines how owning more of the value chain can give wealth firms greater authority over their data, operating model, client experience, and economics while still allowing them to use institutional partners for capabilities such as custody. They also discuss Graphene’s approach to data sovereignty, the relationship between infrastructure and enterprise value, and why firms should establish secure, interoperable foundations before applying AI.

In this episode:

Quotes

"A lot of these wealth management companies didn't necessarily have the expertise, the resources, the budget, or, in some cases, even the willingness to build and own the thing that their entire business ran on." ~Kevin Mitchell

"We all know that any successful business, whether you're a financial services company or otherwise, those that succeed will have full control of their data." ~ Kevin Mitchell

"If you don't have the data in a secure environment, if you don't understand who those counterparties are and where they store your data, if you don't understand the compliance restrictions and the regulated environment you work in, you will be left in a very dark place." ~ Kevin Mitchell

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This week, Jack Sharry talks with Max Lane, CEO of Flourish. Since joining the company in 2017, Max has helped build Flourish around one central idea: advisors need better tools to serve clients beyond the investment portfolio. 

Jack and Max explore the shift from holistic advice to holistic implementation and why clients increasingly expect advisors to do more than hand them a financial plan and a list of homework. Max unpacks how Flourish is helping independent advisors close that gap, allowing clients to maintain control of their money while giving advisors new ways to uncover held-away assets, expand wallet share, generate referrals, and compete more effectively with private banks and wirehouses. He also looks ahead to how new capabilities, enterprise infrastructure, data, and AI could help advisors deliver more proactive financial advice.

In this episode:

Quotes

"The challenge we have, and that we've worked through, is that independent advisors aren't necessarily used to talking about cash. First and foremost, they're investment-focused. They start and end with the portfolio." ~ Max Lane

"The ideal end state of wealth management is that I, as an end client, am paying a trusted sole advisor to look out for and advise on all of my money. I want technology and the advisor to implement this on my behalf." ~ Max Lane

"As a holistic fiduciary advisor, if you don't have the capabilities and tools to be involved in the most costly, impactful, emotional, and financial decision in your client's life, you're probably not meeting expectations." ~ Max Lane

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This week, Jack Sharry talks with Jim Patrick, Senior Business Advisor at McKinsey. Jim has more than 25 years of experience in wealth management, asset management, institutional investing, and family office advisory services. A former Group President at Envestnet, he now advises McKinsey and other financial services firms on growth strategy, operating model transformation, product development, distribution, regulation, AI enablement, advisor productivity, alternatives, and serving the evolving needs of affluent and ultra-high-net-worth clients. 

Jack and Jim explore how the role of the financial advisor is changing as investment products, information, and technology become increasingly accessible. Jim argues that greater choice and complexity make advisors more valuable—not less—as clients look for help making better decisions, managing their behavior, and connecting investments to long-term goals. They also discuss the looming advisor capacity shortage, the growing complexity of alternative investments and regulation, and why UMH can position advisors as the trusted quarterback across a client’s entire financial life. Jim also explains how AI can improve advisor productivity while giving advisors more time to focus on what technology cannot replace: human connection and trust.

In this episode:

Quotes

"The biggest shift over the last 29 years I've been in the business is that it's no longer about access to products, services, solutions, or asset allocation, as those things have become more ubiquitous. It's about decision-making and decision-making consistency. Because as consumers engage with more and more information, they become paralyzed." ~ Jim Patrick

"While innovation and technology have increased transparency and removed friction, advisors are getting the productivity lift they need, but it's not enough to overcome the real needs of end clients, and that is better and more consistent decision-making." ~ Jim Patrick

"The end clients need help managing their expectations, their goals, and the activities they complete to achieve results. And they fail because they panic. They fail because they chase performance. They fail because they get focused on a shiny new lure that goes by." ~ Jim Patrick

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This week, Jack Sharry talks with Ann Covington, Founder & Financial Advisor at CovingtonAlsina. Ann is passionate about helping strong, successful women navigate increasingly complex financial lives. She brings a personal understanding of the challenges women face and the value of thoughtful financial guidance. 

Ann talks with Jack about how the rise of women investors is reshaping wealth management. She also discusses the systems and workflows that have helped her scale the firm while delivering a consistent client experience, how tax planning can demonstrate the tangible value of advice, and why brand awareness built through education and community involvement matters more than any other marketing tactic.  

In this episode:

Quotes

"You have to go small to get big. When your marketing and branding are focused on one area, people opt in. People come to us to buy." ~ Ann Covington

"On average, women see money as what it enables them to do for their family." ~ Ann Covington

"We take the really complex, crazy stuff and make it simple for clients and give them peace of mind." ~ Ann Covington

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This week, Jack Sharry talks with Andrew Ang. Andrew is a leading voice in quantitative investing, factor research, tax-efficient portfolio construction, and AI. He spent 15 years as a professor at Columbia Business School and 10 years as Managing Director at BlackRock, where he led work across factors, sustainability, and investment solutions. Today, he is the Co-Founder of Tau Balance, where he applies technology, tax expertise, and AI to wealth management. 

Andrew talks with Jack about factor investing and tax-efficient portfolios, why taxes can significantly affect what investors actually keep, and how advisors can think beyond pre-tax returns when building portfolios. Andrew also shares his vision for the "self-driving portfolio," an agentic investment strategy where AI agents can specialize across asset classes, challenge one another's assumptions, and continuously learn.

In this episode:

Quotes

"Taxes constitute the biggest wedge between returns that you seem to participate in, or that are reported, and the returns that you actually get to keep." ~ Andrew Ang

"The really big gains come when we don't just substitute something for AI, but completely change the way that we work with it." ~ Andrew Ang

"Where the agents disagree, those are the most interesting and important areas for investing. That's probably where alpha lies, or where we actually have to be very careful to construct robust portfolios." ~ Andrew Ang

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This week, Jack Sharry talks with Mike Perry, Head of Client Solutions and Wealth Management at Guardian Life. With leadership experience spanning Guardian, Nuveen, UBS, and Merrill Lynch, Mike has spent his career helping firms evolve their wealth management strategies while expanding access to comprehensive financial planning.

Jack and Mike discuss Guardian’s protection-first philosophy and why holistic planning begins long before retirement. They explore the firm’s “living balance sheet” framework, the growing importance of strategic partnerships, Guardian’s investment in Avantos, and why AI is best viewed as a tool that helps advisors deepen client relationships—not replace them.

In this episode:

Quotes

"What clients need is trusted advice from an advisor. So, the real engagement, where trust gets built, and problems are solved, is in that back-and-forth planning discussion with the end client." ~ Mike Perry

"Our opportunity here is protection first, because we're engaging clients earlier in their lives and marrying it with a much broader set of questions and client engagement across all of our planning." ~ Mike Perry

"Innovation has to be a constant thing you focus on, because across financial services, one day you may provide something at less cost, but it's immediately replicated. So you need to keep doing that." ~ Mike Perry

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This week, Jack Sharry talks with Indivisible Partners' Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Alok Kapoor, and Founder and Chief Operating Officer, John Hogarty. Alok oversees and guides the firm's technology direction and brings leadership experience from Fidelity Investments and Merrill Lynch. John leads the company's growth by optimizing operations and technology, with a track record of managing large-scale initiatives and building platforms at Merrill Lynch's Global Wealth and Investment Management for Bank of America.

Alok and John discuss how technology and operations serve as competitive differentiators for wealth firms. They share how they built a fully integrated platform, powered by technology and human expertise, to align clients', advisors', and firms' objectives. Alok and John also discuss what it means to deliver total wealth advice and how the future of wealth management will be shaped by those with the capabilities to serve clients best and build processes and efficiency into their businesses.

In this episode:

Quotes

"When you're dealing with people's wealth, you can't make mistakes in the back office. The soundness and safety, the consistency, and the quality of the reporting and interaction in this day and age, the movement of money, and the protection of those assets are so important." ~ John Hogarty

"We needed a capability where every advisor could lay out their desktop exactly the way they want to see information, in the order they want to see it." ~ John Hogarty

"Everybody out there will talk about the capabilities they're building into their products. It's really easy to move quickly on a rocky foundation. We work really well in making sure we're moving very quickly on an extremely solid foundation." ~ Alok Kapoor

"Most firms treat technology and operations as back-office cost centers. They're measured on risk. They're measured on budget. We think of them as the product. Because to the advisor and client, this stuff working is the product. It has to work." ~ Alok Kapoor

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This week, Jack Sharry talks with Andrew Guillette, Vice President of Global Insights at Broadridge. Founder of Verge Advisory and former COO of Cerulli, Andrew has a track record of delivering industry-leading market research to U.S. asset managers. With specialized expertise in research and product development, he can leverage cutting-edge technologies to transform business operations and create new revenue streams. 

Andrew talks with Jack about what investors actually want, based not on surveys, but on real behavior from 55 million retail investors.  Drawing from the Broadridge Investor Pulse dataset, Andrew breaks down five critical trends reshaping the investor landscape today. Their conversation also challenges long-held industry assumptions and offers a data-backed look at how firms can better align with evolving investor behavior.

In this episode:

Quotes

"Advice still reigns, but the mix is shifting. The self-directed growth is real. Now, one-third of all investors have a relationship with a self-directed firm." ~ Andrew Guillette

"The number one reason that investors straddle is diversification and enjoyment. Diversification was highest among women, and then enjoyment was highest among men, particularly younger men." ~ Andrew Guillette

"Don't rely on legacy assumptions about who your investor is and how you think you should engage. Get the data to gain more precision about investor behavior. The firms best positioned to win will be the ones that understand the end investor." ~ Andrew Guillette

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This week, Jack Sharry talks with Summit Wealth Group Founder & CEO Randy Morris and Head of Advisor Success Seamus O’Brien. After leading the firm’s successful transition to independence, Randy and Seamus are now focused on building an advisor-first organization designed for long-term growth. Randy brings more than four decades of industry leadership, while Seamus draws on more than 25 years of experience helping advisory firms scale through advisor development, client experience, and strategic growth initiatives.

Randy and Seamus reflect on Summit’s first year as an independent RIA, discussing what it took to transition thousands of client accounts without losing a single team member. They explain why organic growth extends far beyond client acquisition, how a strong data foundation is essential for putting AI to work, and why building an intentional culture becomes even more important as firms scale. They also challenge common misconceptions about growth and share what comes next for Summit.

In this episode:

Quotes

"Organic growth is the hardest kind of growth. It is the number one driver of valuation and success once you get past that cultural alignment conversation." ~ Seamus O'Brien 

"There's no real silver bullet for growth. What works for some might not for others. So we have to be adaptable, and not be afraid to take some calculated risks and make some mistakes." ~ Seamus O'Brien

"In a growing company, if you're not intentional with pulling everybody together, you're going to end up with silos. Those silos create fractures in the organization's health." ~ Randy Morris

"Intentional pulling together of advisors and their teams in our local communities is paramount to really accomplishing the growth objectives the company is trying to achieve." ~ Randy Morris

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This week, Jack Sharry talks with Jack Hannah, President & Chief Operating Officer at GeoWealth. Jack oversees the firm's operations, service, and both digital and investment product divisions. He is also fully dedicated to GeoWealth's strategic business initiatives, ensuring that the platform's capabilities evolve in line with their clients' unique needs. 

Jack talks about what enables firms to grow and what holds them back. He discusses how operational efficiency can boost RIA growth without breaking their back office and how modern platforms are reshaping investment management. Jack also shares the importance of partnerships and how GeoWealth is pushing the boundaries of what a single client account can deliver.

In this episode:

(00:00) - Intro

(01:09) - Jack's early career in RIA operations 

(04:30) - Jack's transition from an RIA environment to GeoWealth 

(05:35) - How GeoWealth helps advisors

(07:02) - GeoWealth's value proposition and modern TAMP model 

(08:44) - GeoWealth's platform capabilities and integrations 

(10:42) - Why investors choose GeoWealth 

(12:24) - What partnerships look like at GeoWealth 

(15:51) - How GeoWealth expands its investment capabilities

(19:11) - Jack's interests outside of work

Quotes

"We want to provide scale to an advisor's practice, no matter what shape or size they might be." ~ Jack Hannah

"We want to meet these advisors or these firms right where they are. I know that's overused, but we really mean that." — Jack Hannah 

"The investment management world is rapidly changing. We are on the cutting edge of what a UMA is and how it should actually work in a client account." ~ Jack Hannah

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