WealthTech on Deck

LifeYield
  • 4.8 (17)
  • INVESTING
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

WealthTech on Deck is a show featuring meaningful conversations with financial services leaders. Our host, Jack Sharry, engages financial services executives that are solving specific challenges around fintech ecosystems and household wealth technology.

  1. 17H AGO

    How Unified Managed Household Was Born with Len Reinhart

    This week, Jack Sharry talks with Len Reinhart, President of Reinhart Consulting Group and a pioneer in fee-based advisory services. Len has spent decades shaping the evolution of wealth management, from his early days in large brokerage firms to helping build and scale some of the industry’s first fee-based advisory platforms. Len and Jack take a walk down memory lane to discuss the origins of Unified Managed Household (UMH) and goal-based wealth planning, and how Len's prediction about UMH is finally taking root. From the early days of EF Hutton to the founding of Lockwood Advisors, Len shares the story of how the financial services industry transitioned from commission-driven transactions to the fee-based advisory model we know today and how he brought goal-based investing to everyday investors. In this episode: (00:00)- Intro (02:06) - Len’s career journey and the origins of fee-based advisory (06:08) - Early experience inside large brokerage firms (07:40) - Transitioning from transactional business to fee-based models (12:15) - The development of goal-based investing (16:33) - Key ideas from “A Managed Account Odyssey” (21:04) - Why change in financial services takes decades (24:31) - The role of UMH and AI in the future of wealth management (28:10) - Len's interests outside of work Quotes "The one thing that has bothered me over my years in this business is how slow change happens in the financial services industry. There's a lot of stuff going on with different types of investments, but the way to do business changes very slowly." ~ Len Reinhart "One thing we realized about why change takes so long in this business is that the end advisor, you have to catch them at the right time. We didn't do it with the biggest producers. We did it with the wannabe producers, and we helped them become big producers." ~ Len Reinhart "AI is coming. AI can take this technology and impact the advisor dramatically. And for an advisor to have the value add they need to retain a client, they've got to be doing UMH. If they don't, they're going to lose the client." ~ Len Reinhart Links  Len Reinhart on LinkedIn EF Hutton Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Jamie Dimon Jim Seuffert Pershing WealthCare Altruist Holistiplan Connect with our hosts LifeYield Jack Sharry on LinkedIn Jack Sharry on Twitter Subscribe and stay in touch Apple Podcasts Spotify LinkedIn Twitter Facebook

    32 min

  2. APR 14

    Integrating Fee-Based Annuities into Household Wealth Management with David Lau

    This week, Jack Sharry talks with David Lau, Founder & CEO at DPL Financial Partners. David is an innovator and disruptor in the financial services industry and one of the pioneers in fee-based annuities and in making annuities more accessible. His firm focuses on integrating innovative insurance products into a fee-based advisory practice, helping advisors deliver greater value and better outcomes for investors through transparent, cost-effective solutions. David and Jack explore the transformation underway in how advisors integrate annuities into a fee-based, household-level practice. They discuss why commission-based annuities are giving way to low-cost, fee-based structures, how technology is making annuity analysis scalable across entire books of business, and why asset location within a household — including tax deferral through investment-only variable annuities — is the clearest path to better client outcomes. In this episode: (00:00) - Intro (02:21) - DPL's role in the convergence of human and digital advice (06:30) - Scaling annuity analysis from individual clients to entire books (09:42) - Simplifying annuity analysis through technology and automation (13:17) - How annuities make a difference to a portfolio (18:31) - Leveraging structure to create better outcomes (23:41) - David's outlook on the future of the financial services industry (25:07) - David's key takeaways (25:53) - David's interests outside of work Quotes "We build technology that commoditizes annuity knowledge. So now you don't need to be an advisor trying to figure out which annuity is best or which will suit your client. You just tell us about the client, and we give you the best annuity." ~ David Lau "Working to bring capabilities together and being able to analyze the efficiency of asset location within a household is incredibly powerful." ~ David Lau "You always have to stay on top of what's going on in the market because it's evolving quite a bit, not only from a technology point of view but also from a product point of view. And all of this convergence really makes a difference." ~ David Lau Links  David Lau on LinkedIn DPL Financial Partners Vanguard Morningstar Homes for HOPE Chip Roame Connect with our hosts LifeYield Jack Sharry on LinkedIn Jack Sharry on Twitter Subscribe and stay in touch Apple Podcasts Spotify LinkedIn Twitter Facebook

    29 min

  3. APR 7

    How AI-Native Platforms Transform Advisor Workflows with Bassam Chaptini and Rabih Ramadi

    This week, Jack Sharry talks with the Co-Founders of Avantos, Bassam Chaptini and Rabih Ramadi. With deep experience in financial technology and enterprise systems, Bassam and Rabih are rethinking how advisors interact with data, clients, and the broader advisory ecosystem. Bassam and Rabih discuss how they built an AI-native operating system that unifies client data, streamlines onboarding, and enhances how advisors service complex households. From UMH to real-time client assistance, they share how they moved beyond traditional CRM models to create "AI butlers" that advocate for clients and reduce advisors' administrative workload. In this episode: (00:00) - Intro (01:45) - Career journeys and foundations in wealth technology (03:53) - Transforming client onboarding through AI (06:08) - Moving beyond traditional CRM to intelligent relationship management (06:49) - Delivering a 360-degree view of client relationships (10:12) - Advancing UMH in practice (12:18) - Turning AI tools into a full operating system with Avantos (18:08) - How AI enhances the delivery of better advice (22:05) - Integrating Avantos capabilities into SEI (23:31) - Bassam and Rabih's interests outside of work Quotes "To do proper client relationship management, you need to understand three dimensions: the clients, all the products that you own or don't own, and all the agents or advisors." ~ Rabih Ramadi "Every engagement with SEI, we were impressed. We love the company's vision, and being part of it makes us super excited." ~ Rabih Ramadi "We're creating AI butlers within your organization to make sure your clients are happy. At the end of the day, advisors are happy when their clients are happy." ~ Bassam Chaptini "Having a 360-degree view of your clients as an advisor is absolutely key to deepening your relationship with them. This includes not just being able to service them in ways that weren't possible before, but also taking on the day-to-day administrative burden for advisors and making them more productive." ~ Bassam Chaptini Links  Bassam Chaptini on LinkedIn Rabih Ramadi on LinkedIn Avantos Altruist Hazel SEI Access Connect with our hosts LifeYield Jack Sharry on LinkedIn Jack Sharry on Twitter Subscribe and stay in touch Apple Podcasts Spotify LinkedIn Twitter Facebook

    26 min

  4. MAR 31

    How Edward Jones Scales Advice for High-Net-Worth Clients with Tom Lewandowski

    This week, Jack Sharry talks with Tom Lewandowski, Principal and Leader of the High-Net-Worth (HNW) Segment at Edward Jones. Tom leads the development and execution of strategies to better serve HNW households, including defining a unique value proposition for clients and branch teams, product and service strategy, pricing, compensation, operations and infrastructure, integration, and internal and external communication. Tom talks with Jack about how Edward Jones leverages its deep-rooted culture of trust to serve the HNW market. Tom explains how the firm's Generations Program provides branch teams with access to specialized expertise in estate planning, tax strategy, and business transitions, ensuring that complex client needs are met with the same personalized touch the firm is known for. In this episode: (00:00) - Intro (01:10) - Tom's role at Edward Jones (02:10) - Tom's journey in the wealth management industry (03:42) - Why Edward Jones leaned into high-net-worth clients (05:53) - The genesis of the Edward Jones Generations Program (07:56) - How Edward Jones' home-office specialists support local branch teams (11:43) - Latest updates on Edward Jones Generations Program (15:25) - Helping families move from uncertainty to clarity (17:10) - Edward Jones' future goals (20:21) - Tom's key takeaways (21:09) - Tom's interests outside of work Quotes "Trust is that gateway to the conversations that matter." ~ Tom Lewandowski "We strongly believe that family conversations are the most important. If you want to remove that burden or turn it into something positive in terms of how that comprehensive plan can impact your family, we'd love you to consider an Edward Jones financial advisor, because we're the best in the business of driving those." ~ Tom Lewandowski "If you can marry the best of both worlds—great advice, solid products and services—into a comprehensive financial planning conversation, that's what clients are really looking for." ~ Tom Lewandowski Links  Tom Lewandowski on LinkedIn Edward Jones EY Husch Blackwell Connect with our hosts LifeYield Jack Sharry on LinkedIn Jack Sharry on Twitter Subscribe and stay in touch Apple Podcasts Spotify LinkedIn Twitter Facebook

    24 min

  5. MAR 24

    Adoption Over Hype: What Actually Drives Growth in Wealth Management with Scott Smith

    This week, Jack Sharry talks with Scott Smith, Senior Director of Advice Relationships at Cerulli Associates. Scott leads research on financial advisor trends, client engagement, and the evolving wealth management landscape. In his role, Scott works closely with wealth management firms across the industry, helping them understand advisor behavior, emerging technology adoption, and the strategic forces shaping the future of advice. Scott talks with Jack about the trends that actually drive growth in wealth management: organic growth, tax optimization, alternatives, AI, and Unified Managed Households (UMH). He also discusses the factors that affect clients' financial decisions and why the secret to winning the next decade is not about having the flashiest tech, but about creating the path of least resistance for advisors and clients alike.  In this episode: (00:00) - Intro (01:51) - Key trends and challenges shaping wealth management today (06:11) - Why tax optimization and organic growth drive better outcomes (08:37) - The reality of technology adoption in advisory firms (11:15) - Understanding Unified Managed Household and its core capabilities (15:06) - What investors actually prioritize when working with advisors (20:27) - Scott's key takeaways (21:39) - Scott's interests outside of work Quotes "People definitely want improved outcomes. When we ask affluent investors what is important to them? It's reducing their tax bill and simplifying their financial life." ~ Scott Smith "AI does a great job solving logic and algorithms. But in wealth management, clients are almost 90% emotionally based. It's all about how they feel about money and their goals. People are not going to share their emotions with a machine." ~ Scott Smith "The more you act like a fiduciary in spirit as well as the law, the better off you're going to be long term." ~ Scott Smith Links  Scott Smith on LinkedIn Cerulli Associates Steve Craver Altruist Holistiplan Rob Pettman LPL Financial TIFIN The Psychology of Money Connect with our hosts LifeYield Jack Sharry on LinkedIn Jack Sharry on Twitter Subscribe and stay in touch Apple Podcasts Spotify LinkedIn Twitter Facebook

    24 min

  6. MAR 17

    Modernizing Legacy Wealth Firms with John Yackel

    This week, Jack Sharry talks with John Yackel, Executive Vice President and Head of Wealth Management at Janney Montgomery Scott. With more than three decades of experience across wealth management, financial services, and fintech, John has built a career focused on helping firms modernize their technology, scale advisor platforms, and deliver comprehensive advice to clients. John joins Jack to discuss how long-established wealth firms can innovate while preserving the culture that defines them. He explores how Janney is investing in technology modernization, advisor productivity, and strategic expansion while maintaining its ownership-driven culture. John also shares how the firm’s “supported independence” model helps advisors grow their practices, unlock capacity, and build sustainable businesses for the future. In this episode: (00:00) - Intro (01:13) - John’s career path across wealth management and fintech (05:30) - How Janney’s ownership model shapes modernization and advisor focus (08:01) - Expansion strategy: balancing growth, infrastructure, and culture (10:16) - The “supported independence” model for financial advisors (13:59) - Unlocking advisor capacity through practice management and succession planning (17:49) - Janney’s service model for recruiting, integrating, and supporting advisors (20:23) - John's interests outside of work Quotes "You need to make it easy for the advisor to do business, and you have to meet the advisor where they do that business." ~ John Yackel "When we go out recruiting and speak with financial advisors, it's harder and harder to continue competing just by always articulating what product, service, or platform we have. The playing field needs to be leveled every day. You have to be innovative." ~ John Yackel "If you lead with organic growth and help existing advisors in your network become more productive, provide them with greater capacity, and support their lead generation and business development programs, you will start to have organic growth within your current business model." ~ John Yackel Links  John Yackel on LinkedIn Janney Montgomery Scott Envestnet SEI LPL Financial Prudential Financial Veterans Multi-Service Center Connect with our hosts LifeYield Jack Sharry on LinkedIn Jack Sharry on Twitter Subscribe and stay in touch Apple Podcasts Spotify LinkedIn Twitter Facebook

    25 min

  7. MAR 10

    Architecting the Future of Financial Advice with Amy Young

    This week, Jack Sharry talks with Amy Young, Founder of Advice Architects. Amy Young is a longtime wealth-management strategist and former Microsoft managing director who has spent three decades at the intersection of capital markets, consulting, and technology partnerships. After working with major financial institutions on data and generative-AI initiatives, she founded Advice Architects, a consulting practice helping firms design the technology, workflows, and skills needed to deliver more effective, scalable financial advice. Amy talks with Jack about how generative AI has evolved from a simple chat interface into a powerful, governed ecosystem capable of executing tasks, surfacing insights, and enabling mass personalization at scale. She discusses how wealth management firms can leverage these advancements to help advisors bridge the AI skill gap and move beyond portfolio talk into high-value, holistic advice. In this episode: (00:00) - Intro (01:51) - Amy’s path into wealth tech and behavioral finance (04:10) - Why Amy left Microsoft to start Advice Architects (06:13) - How generative AI has evolved beyond chatbots (08:54) - Building AI tools without being a developer (12:07) - Why agents may define the next phase of AI (19:15) - Turning financial advice into real-life problem solving (24:47) - Amy's key takeaways (27:22) - Amy's interests outside of work Quotes "The biggest challenge impairing the wealth industry's adoption of AI is that leaders have a skill gap. They have a huge learning curve to scale on AI. And maturing AI, like building a whole stack, a strategy, and a roadmap, really requires those leaders to upskill." ~ Amy Young "Advice is absolutely central, but how we architect our stack is a critical success factor for the delivery of that advice." ~ Amy Young "If advisors can't differentiate from what a consumer can get from ChatGPT, the industry is going to have a problem." ~ Amy Young Links  Amy Young on LinkedIn Microsoft Jump AI Never Eat Alone Connect with our hosts LifeYield Jack Sharry on LinkedIn Jack Sharry on Twitter Subscribe and stay in touch Apple Podcasts Spotify LinkedIn Twitter Facebook

    30 min

  8. MAR 3

    2025’s Biggest WealthTech Shifts with Jack Sharry

    In this year-in-review episode, Matt Nollman, Head of Product Marketing at SEI LifeYield and Producer of WealthTech on Deck, steps into the host chair and interviews Jack Sharry on the five defining WealthTech themes of 2025. From household-level tax optimization and AI-powered advisor capacity to the industry’s struggle with organic growth, the mainstreaming of alternatives, and the rise of human-centered advice, Jack connects the dots across 44 conversations and 80,000 downloads. Together, they explore how wealth-as-a-service operating models, integrated platforms, and scalable personalization are reshaping financial advice—offering a clear, practical blueprint for firms seeking sustainable growth in 2026 and beyond. In this episode: (00:00) - Intro (01:48) - The five defining WealthTech themes of 2025 (03:58) - From accounts to households: the push for unified, tax-smart advice (07:00) - AI as an amplifier: scaling personalized advice without replacing advisors (09:51) - The organic growth dilemma facing the industry (15:22) - Building a true growth engine: wealth as a service in action (18:22) - Alternatives go mainstream: opportunity, risk, and execution challenges (22:28) - Human-centered advice: longevity, purpose, and the next generation (26:18) - Jack's key takeaways (30:01) - Jack's interests outside of work Quotes "Better financial outcomes can be achieved for clients, advisors, and firms through household-level tax smart advice at scale." ~ Jack Sharry "Organic growth is not achieved as a function of better salespeople or better sales tactics. Successful organic growth is achieved through a combination and coordination of highly competitive investment products, state-of-the-art, fully integrated technology and platforms, seamless coordinated digital operations, and savvy digital marketing." ~ Jack Sharry "Human-centered advice conversations consistently reinforce that the endgame is about better human outcomes, with tech products, alts, and platforms as enablers." ~ Jack Sharry Links  Jack Sharry on LinkedIn Matt Nollman on LinkedIn Scott Smith Cerulli Associates Justin Singer EY Parker Ence Jump AI Arnulf Hsu GReminders Ritik Malhotra Savvy Alicia Rich Broadridge Colleen Bell Cambridge Investment Research Connor Coughlin Apex Fintech Solutions Arthur Worthington Morgan Stanley J.P. Morgan Fidelity Investments John Amore Kestra Financial Mike Capelle Modern Wealth Management Randy Morris Summit Wealth Group Doug Fritz F2 Strategy Randy Lambert Rafael Couto Jeffrey Levi Deloitte Neil Bathon Fuse Research Network Tony Davidow Franklin Templeton Ryan Eisenman Arch Ryan VanGorder Opto Investments David Goldman  Pontera Ken Dychtwald Age Wave Suzanne Schmitt Next Chapter Lacy Garcia Trust Willow Adam Holt Asset-Map Steve Chen Boldin Steven Miyao Jamie Hopkins WSFS Bank Brooke Elliott Hale Education Westport River Watershed Alliance Connect with our hosts LifeYield Matt Nollman on LinkedIn Jack Sharry on Twitter Subscribe and stay in touch Apple Podcasts Spotify LinkedIn Twitter Facebook

    33 min
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Trailers

4.8
out of 5
17 Ratings

About

WealthTech on Deck is a show featuring meaningful conversations with financial services leaders. Our host, Jack Sharry, engages financial services executives that are solving specific challenges around fintech ecosystems and household wealth technology.

Information

  • Creator
    LifeYield
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    240
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright LifeYield, LLC
  • Show Website
    WealthTech on Deck

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