Investment Product and Service Launches

Envestnet Enhances Platform

Envestnet Inc., which develops and distributes wealth management technology to financial advisers and institutions, rolled out a series of enhancements to increase adviser efficiency. Some of the key enhancements include:

• Proposal: Security search enhancements within mutual account creation. Extension of holding-level funding to ensure accurate reflection in the “Current Investments to Retain” and “Current Investments to Liquidate” proposal documents.
• Trading: Generic orders for fixed-income securities, fulfilled by entering external trade details. Trade simulations to give advisors greater visibility into possible outcomes and enable better trading decisions.
• Client Portal: Branch-level enablement, with templates configured at the enterprise, firm and branch levels. Better account navigation to strengthen the digital access experience for linked and closed accounts.
• Insights Engine: The Insights Engine, part of the Envestnet wealth data platform, offers more than 100 different types of data-driven insights for advisers, is curated daily and immediately calls out any significant deviations for advisers.

“Through the continual enhancements to our integrated Envestnet ecosystem, advisers can improve their productivity, unlock new revenue streams, and be able to deliver more personalized investment solutions at scale, all while elevating the client experience for better outcomes,” Tom Sipp, executive vice president of business lines at Envestnet, said in a statement.   

NFP Launches HR+   

NFP, the employee benefits aggregator and wealth manager, announced the launch of HR+, a packaged human resources solution. The offering provides HR support, scalable services and flexible contract terms for high-growth companies.

HR+ supports businesses experiencing rapid growth that need access to a wider set of human capital capabilities. The solution also serves growing businesses not large enough to support an internal HR team or rely on employment lawyers to resolve their people issues.

“We have seen a huge increase in demand from businesses frustrated by their current HR solution because of a lack of support when issues arise or being locked into a long-term contract that fails to accommodate needs as the business grows,” Steve Foulger, director of HR services and organizational change at NFP, said in a statement. “We’ve built HR+ to empower organizations to overcome frustrations that stand in the way of their progress.”

In addition, HR+ provides clients with regular HR and employment law updates to support compliance with employment regulations. As an addendum to HR+, employers can access extra legal protection with legal expenses insurance.

Betterment Introduces Bitcoin/Ethereum Portfolio

Betterment, the digital financial advisory operating in digital assets, retirement and cash management, announced the launch of a new Bitcoin/Ethereum portfolio as part of the “Crypto Investing by Betterment” suite.

The new portfolio provides investors direct access to the two largest cryptocurrencies in the market.

“Crypto remains an important and continuously evolving part of the investment landscape,” Mike Reust, president of Betterment, said in a statement. “Our BTC/ETH Portfolio represents the next step in Betterment’s commitment to providing an automated solution to customers who want diversified exposure to the asset class.”

Betterment, which has a 401(k) platform, only offers their crypto investing suite to retail customers.