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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This week, Jack Sharry talks with Morgan Bell, Managing Director of Advisory at Constellation Wealth Capital.  Morgan leads the firm's technology consulting efforts and focuses on helping advisors and firms optimize technology for efficiency and growth. As a CFP® with an MBA in financial psychology and behavioral finance, Morgan offers a distinctive perspective that merges technological expertise with a deep grasp of human behavior and the advisor-client relationship.

Jack and Morgan discuss the intersection of technology, AI, and financial psychology in wealth management. Morgan shares how technology can be used to drive organic growth, how to cut through the noise of endless vendor options, and why financial psychology remains at the heart of wealth management. From tech roadmaps and data integration to AI strategies and client relationships, Morgan brings her perfect mix of advisor experience, tech expertise, and behavioral finance insights to the conversation.

In this episode:

(00:00) - Intro

(01:42) - What Constellation Wealth Capital does and who they serve

(04:49) - How Morgan helps firms optimize technology

(07:56) - Bridging the gap between "tech geeks" and "business geeks"

(09:28) - How technology connects to organic growth strategies

(12:04) - How AI plays a role in wealth management

(14:03) - Morgan's career journey

(15:34) - The role of financial psychology in client relationships and tech adoption

(18:59) - Constellation's future and long-term goals

(22:47) - Morgan's key takeaways

(24:22) - Morgan's interests outside of work

Quotes

"The more clarity and understanding firms have around how they should be using a system and why they're using it, and the value it provides to them and the firm, the better adoption they have of the technology overall." ~ Morgan Bell 

"The vast majority of the decisions that are being made related to technology tie back to either the client or the advisor experience. That's what fuels organic growth." ~ Morgan Bell 

"Firms should strive to use AI to complement, not compete. AI is a skill, so results can certainly be improved based on human knowledge of AI." ~ Morgan Bell

Links 

Morgan Bell on LinkedIn

Constellation Wealth Capital

Pershing

Creighton University

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This week, Jack Sharry talks with Suzanne Schmitt, Managing Director at Next Chapter. Suzanne brings a wealth of knowledge from her extensive career at firms such as Fidelity Investments, New York Life Insurance, Prudential Financial, and Lincoln Financial. At Next Chapter, Suzanne reframed and realigned needs to outcomes that benefited advisors and three generations of clients and their families. Today, she leads the NextGen engagement and growth strategies. 

Suzanne talks with Jack about the implications of aging and its impact on consumers, advisors, and the industry as a whole. She shares key findings from Next Chapter's advisor study, which highlights the industry's need to better prepare advisors to navigate complex family dynamics, health events, caregiving challenges, and solo aging.

In this episode:

(00:00) - Intro

(01:49) - Suzanne's career background

(04:04) - Next Chapter's advisor study 

(05:44) - Key findings from Next Chapter's advisor study 

(08:54) - How Next Chapter addresses the aging population issue

(12:50) - Helping advisors connect with families during moments that matter

(18:11) - Age and gender weighted revenue

(21:57) - Highlights from the Next Chapter's white paper

(24:28) - Suzanne's key takeaways

(25:05) - Suzanne's interests outside of work

Quotes

"The industry is not adequately prepared to help advisors engage families on health and non-financial matters. The industry is also not adequately prepared to help advisors detect cognitive change in their clients." ~ Suzanne Schmitt

"Knowing the percentage of the current revenue in your book held by women is incredibly important, and engaging them on issues of caregiving is an absolute home run." ~ Suzanne Schmitt

"A lot of advisors don't start because they don't know where to start. Getting used to asking simply 'what has changed with your health since we last talked' is one of the best questions you can work into your repertoire." ~ Suzanne Schmitt

Links 

Suzanne Schmitt on LinkedIn

NextChapter

Steve Gresham

Fidelity Investments

New York Life Insurance

Prudential Financial

Lincoln Financial

LPL Financial

McKinsey

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This week, Jack Sharry talks with John Amore, President of Kestra Financial. John is committed to building out capabilities that empower advisors and support the financial independence of their clients. He focuses on creating a thriving community of complete wealth managers. Before becoming President, John led Kestra's Wealth Management division, where he drew on his global leadership experience to drive growth, innovation, and advisor success.

John shares with Jack why he made the leap from wirehouse to the independent space, how Kestra is building out a holistic ecosystem for advisors, and what the firm is learning about one of the most critical issues facing the industry today—succession planning. John also discusses the recent industry study on succession planning and why it's a necessary and often deeply personal issue for financial advisors.

In this episode:

(00:00) - Intro

(01:25) - John's career journey

(05:10) - Lessons learned as president of Kestra

(06:27) - Kestra's ecosystem and wealth management capabilities

(10:03) - Why succession planning is important at Kestra

(13:46) - The personal side of business and relationships

(16:29) - How John operationalizes succession planning

(18:29) - Kestra's new ventures

(19:38) - John's key takeaways

(20:20) - John's interests outside of work

Quotes

"It's always been my goal to make sure that our advisors can be complete wealth managers, and that means meeting all the needs of their clients." ~ John Amore

"It's one thing to have the expertise. It's another thing to have it built into the platform so that it's easier for our advisors to use." ~ John Amore

"It's interesting to learn that only 6% of the advisors surveyed have a written succession plan, which is fascinating for an industry that gets paid to give financial planning advice." ~ John Amore

"Anyone who has been successful in this business, chances are they started because they were good or appreciate the power of relationships." ~ John Amore

Links 

John Amore on LinkedIn

Kestra Financial

UBS

Stephen Langlois

Kestra Holdings

James Poer

Kestra Investment Management

Kara Murphy

CBS Brokerage

Bluespring Wealth Partners

LPL Financial

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This week, Jack Sharry talks with Ritik Malhotra, Founder & CEO of Savvy Wealth, a digital-first platform for financial advisors centered around modernizing human financial advice. Ritik shares how his frustration with outdated advisor technology pushed him to design an AI-powered platform that helps financial advisors grow, operate efficiently, and deliver better client experiences. He highlights how focusing on the advisor first, integrating AI into workflows, and reimagining client engagement can unlock scale and independence in wealth management.

In this episode:

(00:00) - Intro

(01:42) - Ritik's background and how he started Savvy Wealth

(04:43) - The business plan that launched Savvy in just three bullet points

(06:42) - How Savvy  built and stress-tested the platform from the ground up

(11:34) - The $72 million Series B and what it means for Savvy

(13:43) - A look under the hood at how Savvy’s digital-first platform works

(16:18) - What’s next for Savvy

(19:58) - Ritik's key takeaways

(20:29) - Ritik's interests outside of work

Quotes

"The worst that you can do is try to build something for everyone. It just won't work." ~ Ritik Malhotra 

"Listen to the feedback from the core user. Let's literally listen to customers and then build what they need." ~ Ritik Malhotra

"There's something really satisfying about enabling independence in any industry—especially one as important as wealth management. There's something nice about helping someone beat the rat race." ~ Ritik Malhotra

Links 

Ritik Malhotra on LinkedIn

Savvy Wealth

Box

Mark Casady

Vestigo Ventures

LPL Financial

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This week, Jack Sharry talks with Parker Ence, CEO & Co-founder of Jump Advisor AI, a fast-growing startup that brings an AI-enhanced client meeting cycle to financial advisors. Parker is an entrepreneur and operator with 12 years of CEO/Co-founder experience across advisortech, data/DaaS, AI, SaaS, and insurtech. 

Jack and Parker discuss how Jump helps RIAs and broker-dealers slash client meeting admin time by up to 90%. From real-time meeting prep and automated CRM updates to actionable insights and compliance-ready workflows, Parker shares how Jump revolutionizes the client meeting cycle for financial advisors. He also explores the company's rapid growth, significant enterprise partnerships, and his vision for the future of AI in financial services.

In this episode:

(00:00) - Intro

(01:39) - The origin of Jump Advisor AI

(03:30) - Jump's most popular product and what it does

(05:01) - Jump's enterprise-level partnerships

(06:18) - Parker's startup journey

(11:29) - Jump's three core products

(13:35) - Parker's outlook on AI in financial services

(15:29) - Parker's key takeaways

(17:34) - Parker's interests outside of work

Quotes

"What we're best known for is our AI meeting assistant that's made for advisors. And whatever the compliance team has approved, that's the most popular." ~ Parker Ence

"Don't worry so much about getting replaced by AI. Worry about getting outcompeted by other advisors who are adopting AI faster." ~ Parker Ence

"Everything that is inside the Jump product is there because an advisor requested it. So, we love partnering with RIAs, broker-dealers, solo advisors, and any of our customers to co-create the future." ~ Parker Ence

Links 

Parker Ence on LinkedIn

Jump AI

Cetera

Osaic

LPL Financial

Tim Chaves

Stanford Graduate School of Business

Google Cloud

Salesforce

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This week, Jack Sharry talks with Pete Hess, President of PureFacts. Before joining PureFacts, Pete served as Chief Revenue Officer for Americas at InvestCloud, and earlier in his career, he was CEO of Advent Software. At PureFacts, Pete leverages the firm's revenue management solution for global wealth and asset management firms, helping clients unlock new revenue streams and uncover new avenues for growth.

Jack and Pete discuss revenue management, the limitations of spreadsheets, and the importance of back-office software in the wealth and asset management space. Pete shares how firms can stop revenue leakage, optimize compensation, and leverage data to make smarter business decisions, moving beyond outdated spreadsheets and into the future of automated, insightful financial operations.

In this episode:

(00:00) - Intro

(01:45) - Pete's career journey

(08:56) - How PureFacts helps firms

(12:06) - Harvesting data for business insights and anomaly reporting

(17:02) - How PureFacts uses AI in its products and services

(20:37) - Solving regulatory issues

(21:50) - Pete's key takeaways

(23:32) - Pete's interests outside of work

Quotes

"Anytime you find spreadsheets, you've got an opportunity to sell software." ~ Pete Hess

"Revenue management is often taken for granted. People are using spreadsheets and fingers to do it, which is not what you should be doing in a space that can be programmatically automated." ~ Pete Hess

"Don't take for granted all your back-office processes. When you see spreadsheets, there are probably errors being made, and time-to-money is being delayed." ~ Pete Hess

Links 

Pete Hess on LinkedIn

PureFacts

SS&C Advent

InvestCloud

John Wise

Stephanie DiMarco

Khoros

Vista Equity Partners

WCAS

GrowthCurve Capital

PureRewards | PureFacts

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This week, Jack Sharry talks with Stephen Chen, Founder & CEO of Boldin. Stephen is a classic entrepreneur who takes pride in creating innovative ways to help anyone achieve financial independence. He built the "TurboTax" for financial planning and has been creating platforms for SAAS, classes, coaching, and CFPs for consumers, advisors, and companies.

Stephen talks with Jack about how he makes retirement planning more accessible, collaborative, and user-friendly. He shares how he built a "TurboTax" for financial planning that resonates with DIY planners and high-net-worth individuals and how Boldin has evolved from a direct-to-consumer offering to a robust platform serving consumers, advisors, and large enterprises.

In this episode:

(00:00) - Intro

(01:39) - What Bolden does and why it matters

(03:12) - The growth in user adoption for financial planning

(06:23) - Stephen's career journey

(10:09) - Boldin's organic growth strategy

(13:14) - Stephen's plans and investment strategies

 (15:54) - Creating a collaborative platform for advisors

(18:10) - The role of AI in Boldin's operations

(20:51) - Using simulations to optimize financial actions

(23:13) - Steve's key takeaways

(24:050 - Steve's interests outside of work

Quotes

"We want anyone to be able to build their own financial plan and, through planning, get literate, make good decisions, hopefully take action, and achieve better outcomes in their life." ~ Stephen Chen

"If financial advisors are aging out, how do we bridge that gap? I think it's going to be technology enabling advisors to serve more people." ~ Stephen Chen

"AI is real, and it's amazing how fast it's changing and what's possible. It's shocking, and it's a little scary." ~ Stephen Chen

Links 

Stephen Chen on LinkedIn

Boldin

Charles Schwab

Wells Fargo

Salesforce

RTX

McKinsey

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This week, Jack Sharry talks with Rob Pettman, President of TIFIN. Rob brings more than 20 years of leadership experience across wealth management, investment platforms, and financial technology.  Before joining TIFIN, Rob served as Executive Vice President of Wealth Management Solutions at LPL Financial, where he oversaw the firm's investment product distribution, retirement business, advisory platforms, and research organization, managing over $70B in AUM. During his 19-year tenure, he helped lead LPL through its rapid growth to $1.4T in assets and more than 22,000 advisors.

Jack and Rob talk about how AI is changing the way wealth and asset management firms grow and operate. Rob also shares how TIFIN uses AI to improve the overall growth of these businesses and how those who embrace AI as a growth engine are reaping the benefits through organic client growth, advisor enablement, and enhanced decision-making.

In this episode:

(00:00) - Intro

(01:49) - How advisory firms can use AI to their advantage

(04:22) - Strategic use cases for AI

(06:03) - The evolving results of AI implementation

(08:37) - How TIFIN uses AI for wealth and asset managers

(14:47) - The process of refining AI capabilities

(16:47) - The current state and future outlook for AI adoption

(20:12) - The characteristics of firms leading in AI adoption

(22:17) - Rob's key takeaways

(24:23) - Rob's interests outside of work

Quotes

"Just doing AI for better experiences doesn't create commercial value. And so actually having these specific problems to solve with the intended outcome in mind is really where it's at." - Rob Pettman

"Traversing multiple systems in financial services or wealth management is still a problem. There are solutions for this now where AI can actually straddle all of these disparate systems and put together a holistic view of the client relationship, the portfolio, and how they are doing relative to the plan." ~ Rob Pettman

"Some of the firms that are furthest ahead have the ability to operate with speed. They try to minimize distributed decision-making and have an accountability mindset that enables decisions to actually occur faster." ~ Rob Pettman

Links 

Rob Pettman on LinkedIn

TIFIN

LPL Financial

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In 2024, SEI made a strategic investment in TIFIN.

This week, Jack Sharry talks with J. Womack, Head of Asset & Income Optimization at SEI. In his role, J. drives revenue growth by helping investors keep more of what they earn by optimizing their household assets for tax and retirement income. He focuses on expanding SEI's ability to deliver differentiated, client-centric wealth solutions that improve financial outcomes at both the household and enterprise level.

Jack and J. explore the growing importance of tax management in wealth creation and how the industry is moving toward the UMH. J. also discusses the distinction between a multi-account UMA  and a multi-account UMH, how the convergence of technology, operations, and products is setting a new standard for value delivery in the industry, and why tax optimization has become one of the most powerful differentiators in wealth management today.

In this episode:

(00:00) - Intro

(02:03) - J.'s background and career history

(08:09) - J.'s transition into fintech and his early days at SEI

(09:48) - From technology expert to investment strategist

(12:37) - The role of tax management in advisor value

(16:34) - The road to the unified managed household

(21:37) - Unlocking the value of tax through tech, product, and service delivery

(26:01) - Why tax smart strategies drive organic growth

(28:36) - Workplace insurance and annuities

(32:01) - J.'s key takeaways

(34:23) - J.’s interests outside work

Quotes

"UMH has the potential to play an integral role in the workplace as providers are looking at ways to deliver more value to plan sponsors and solve real problems for investors." ~ J. Womack

"Taxes are where all the action is. It's where the biggest misalignment between client expectations and advisor behavior is. If you solve that, you create a really compelling value proposition that will be attractive to people and create stickier relationships." ~ J. Womack

"Multi-account UMA is the foundation of getting to UMH. Closing that gap from a tax perspective, that's where you have the ability to actually deliver comprehensive tax management." ~ J. Womack

Links 

J. Womack on LinkedIn

SEI

The Wharton School

Jeff Benfield

Scott Smith

Cerulli Associates

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