Big Data Is Transforming Wealth Management: Q&A with BetaNXT CEO Bob Santella

Bob Santella met with Joe Palmisano from Connect Money to explore BetaNXT's growth prospects, the increasing application of AI, and big data in the wealth management industry.

Consolidation in the world of financial technology is ongoing, and the latest and greatest tool always appears to hit the market just as an advisor adopts the previous must-have solution. Knowing which wealthtech businesses to collaborate with and when to deploy them are critical tactical decisions for long-term strategic success.

With the task of personal wealth management and growth now shifting into the hands of technology, new companies have arrived on the scene in recent years offering advice based on artificial intelligence and big data.

Bob Santella, newly appointed CEO of BetaNXT, a provider of connected data solutions for the wealth management industry, discussed his views on the company's growth opportunities, the expanding use of AI and big data in the wealth management sector, and more.

Connect Money

As BetaNXT's newly appointed CEO, what aspects of the company's work drew you in?

Bob Santella

As someone with over 30 years of experience in the financial industry, particularly in trading and wealthtech, I was deeply impressed with BetaNXT's strategy for advancing frictionless, end-to-end wealth management solutions. The company's esteemed position in the industry, paired with its forward-thinking approach, immediately stood out to me.

Stephen Daffron, my predecessor and current executive chairman, set a bold vision to connect the wealth management industry through cutting-edge data and technology solutions. Under his leadership, BetaNXT has also built a strong, customer-focused leadership team, which is something I greatly admire.

I am truly honored to take on the role of CEO and lead BetaNXT into the next phase of this exciting journey. I look forward to working with the teams at BetaNXT, Clearlake, and Motive Partners to accelerate the future of Connected Wealth.

CM

What is on your 'must do' list in these early months?

Bob

My top priority is executing BetaNXT's strong and clear vision to deliver transformational data solutions and technology that will power the next generation of frictionless, end-to-end wealth management.

A key focus will be on advancing our work around Connected Wealth, which is central to everything we do. Companies that embody this concept have platforms and systems that seamlessly integrate with one another, exchange information, and talk to each other, enabling a curated view of client and market data. This connectivity allows for the delivery of coherent, near-real-time insights and actionable next steps, which is exactly what the new generation of investors expects.

With this, we are also dedicated to enhancing our end-to-end ecosystem to further improve the client experience. Our success is directly tied to our customers' success, and we believe the best way for them to thrive is by delivering a fully personalized, consistent, and intelligent experience for their clients—throughout each client relationship.

CM

What types of investment firms are you targeting with your platform?

Bob

Our connective approach empowers our clients to deliver a comprehensive, front-to-back securities processing, tax, and investor communications solution. We call this connected wealth. The types of firms that can benefit from our platform include wealth managers, clearing firms, institutional firms, digital brokers, and corporate issuers.

CM

How do you plan to grow over the next several years?

Bob

First, we are committed to significantly investing in new tools, particularly in data, AI, and other cutting-edge technologies. These advancements will enable us to continuously improve our offerings and stay ahead of industry trends.

Second, we'll continue to leverage our strong partnerships and third-party relationships, which uniquely position us to help wealth enterprises attract and retain advisors in an increasingly competitive marketplace. By enhancing our seamless integrations with platforms like InvestCloud, CAIS, and Motive Partners, we will ensure that our ecosystem delivers solutions and services that are even more customized to meet the unique needs and goals of our clients, as well as their end clients.

CM

What technologies are changing the wealth management industry the most?

Bob

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a big game-changer for wealth management firms because AI increases productivity and streamlines communications and operations. It also allows wealth management firms to obtain insights from data sets from different parts of their organizations, and use those insights to hyper-personalize the experience for clients.

CM

How do BetaNXT's capabilities enhance personalization for clients?

Bob

Our Connected Data approach seeks to integrate all information which is necessary for a client's wealth to be effectively and efficiently managed, and ultimately, enhances the experience for both financial advisors and their clients.

Our platform consolidates many data points, including company details, security information, account data, transaction records, event data, and individual profiles—creating a holistic, comprehensive view that transcends isolated data silos, and gives wealth enterprises deeper insights into their operations and their client needs.

Below is a summary of how we are allowing wealth enterprises to create a more personalized experience for their clients.

• Our suite of capabilities, APIs, and integrated partner ecosystem ensures wealth managers can access holistic services supporting their end-to-end product and technology workflow needs.
• For clearing firms, we provide the technology, platform, and scale to help them service their clients with confidence.
• We give firms a single, agnostic platform that offers excellent research and support to exceed individual investors' expectations, while managing costs.
• We help fund and corporate issuers advance the digital transformation of proxy management, shareholder communications, and annual meetings.
• BetaNXT is also working with Snowflake on our new DataXChange offering, which is a new data platform (operating on Snowflake's AI Data Cloud) designed to simplify the exchange and commingling of internal and external data among wealth enterprises and their partners.
• DataXChange will help them optimize operations, personalize advice and experiences, and strengthen advisor/investor relationships.

CM

What are wealth managers doing well? What are the challenges and what areas could be improved?

Bob

In our experience, wealth managers are placing greater emphasis on customization, such as personalized financial plans. They are also offering broader and more comprehensive access to the products and strategies that clients need to achieve their goals.

The biggest challenges, though, involve growing at scale, and providing consistent and hands-on client experiences and engagement as advisory practices grow and expand. Another challenge, which BetaNXT is solving for, involves integrating and unifying multiple technology stacks, and onboarding new solutions in a way that minimizes disruption to the end client.

CM

What technology strategy do you think wealth management firms should adopt to meet the increasing business needs of clients?

Bob

Wealth management firms need to be open to cutting-edge technology, including AI. But our philosophy is that AI is a long game. We do not think they should rush to onboard AI solutions—after all, AI is only as good as the data it models. Wealth managers should focus on the integrity and security of that data instead of how quickly they can capitalize on the latest trends..

Additionally, wealth management firms should also look to adopt solutions that enable their data to do more for them, so they can benefit from the 360-degree view and personalized approach they require to provide each client with the tailored advice, content, and communication they need, when they need it.

CM

Where will wealth management technology be five years from now?

Bob

In my opinion, wealth management technology will certainly become much more automated and intuitive over the next five years. I see more features being developed and implemented for wealth managers to deliver a digital, end-to-end, and hyper-personalized experience for clients throughout the advisor/client relationship. This is the impetus for our work around Connected Wealth, a passion point here at BetaNXT. We are at the forefront of delivering more integrated and unified technology, which drives seamless connectivity between applications and powers the future of Connected Wealth through Connected Data.