Digital transformation is vital for wealth managers, as consumer expectations are changing, fiscal pressures are tightening, and competition is stiffening. These drivers have been further accelerated by the pandemic. But transformation efforts across the front, middle, and back office can help incumbents get their services up to speed and better compete with fintech wealth managers that are challenging the status quo.

Report: The US Wealth Management Ecosystem. Article: Betterment takes over Wealthsimple’s US client book amid market saturation. Article: More boomers retired in 2020 than any other year.

Wealthsimple struggled to gain a foothold in the US digital wealth management market since its 2017 launch, and its AUM was dwarfed by players such as Betterment and Wealthfront.

What is the hybrid robo-advisor model, and what are its benefits compared with the conventional wealth management approach, and the fully digital model? What does a mature hybrid model look like, and what are key offerings?

Wealthfront debuts customizable portfolios and crypto products to distinguish its offering in the crowded US robo-advisory market and tap into the growing popularity of self-directed and crypto investing.

Wealthsimple has secured $559M in funding at a $3.7B valuation thanks to the success of its retail trading and new crypto and P2P money transfer products. The Canadian fintech should now roll out customized portfolio options to double down on growth.

Report: The US Wealth Management Ecosystem. Article: Avant broadens its digital banking capabilities with challenger acquisition. Article: Has the pandemic reshaped Gen Xers’ spending?

Report: The US Wealth Management Ecosystem. Article: Broadridge acquires institutional trading platform Itiviti in consolidation play. Article: Stimulus payments may lead to a post-pandemic boom in spending and economic revival.

Branch employees will instead help customers with services including technology assistance, lines of credit, and wealth management. U.S. Bank began rolling out these concepts last fall. The concept branches let U.S. Bank test ways to pair physical banking with the digital-only channels that are displacing it.

Plaid already has a comprehensive list of use cases ranging from lending to wealth management, and it can access data from consenting users’ checking accounts, savings, and credit cards.

Adding more personal financial management (PFM) tools: Features that enable customers to reduce subscription costs, assess spending levels, and identify savings and investment opportunities could tie users more closely to their banks.