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The Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride, and a marathon 26.22-mile run, raced in that order. One could say is as extreme as it gets. The question is, how does this compare to running a fintech? This week Alex Manson, head of SC Ventures, joins Ned in a conversation about their passion for Ironman and endurance sports, comparing it to starting and running fintech companies.  Alex shares why it’s important to work with a purpose, how to deal with pressurs from external influences and how to use wealth as a tool. 

What does the wealth tech industry need to address to be better? Our guest this week has some ideas. Eric Mellor, a wealth management specialist at Temenos, is an experienced Wealth Management Professional with extensive and diverse industry experience spanning private client advisory, private banking, discretionary and retail asset management, and enterprise wealth management technology sales and business development.He chats with Ned about the missing pieces to make saving and investing more accessible and overall possible for more people. They also address the topic of the Advice Gap in Singapore among other things. 

Only 3% of UK adults receive financial advice. Our guest this week wants to change that. Mary Kemi Agbesanwa is the fintech growth lead at Seccl, a company that provides the technology that allows businesses to launch UK-based investment propositions. Mary shares what she sees is working in fintech and where there's room for change. We discuss financial inclusion, embedded finance, neobanks, and the UK advice gap. Check out her blog: https://www.maryagbesanwa.com/

Standard Charted Kenya recently launched SC Shilingi Funds a money market fund that allows customers to start investing. Host, Ned Philips discusses why this particular client launch has been so successful. He also highlights FNZ's recent $1.4 Billion funding round and what that means for other players in the industry. 

This week we’re joined by Helene Li, a banker turned fintech entrepreneur and now founder of GoImpact.  She talks about the importance of taking action in financial investments, and how perfection isn't the goal when it comes to ESG metrics and sustainability as a whole. She also addresses how asset managers should embrace sustainable finance and shares what she hopes the industry will evolve into.

UBS recently acquired Wealthfront, marking a pivotal moment for the industry.Ned gives us an overview of the deal and shares how he believes this will affect both B2C and B2B robos. He also gives a message to financial institutions looking to digitize. 

Our first guest of 2022 is Jorge Javier Eguino, a Digitial Transformation Specialist at BIM in Bolivia. Jorge combines his passion for data science and digital transformation with his exposure to different markets in South America to give us insight into the fintech industry in Latin America. We talk about micro-financing, what companies should focus on, and how customer accessibility is crucial in this region. 

As we approach the end of yet another year, this podcast episode rounds up some of the best insights and learnings our guests have shared with us through 2021. It is a portrait of what we have observed from the ever-evolving wealth tech industry as well as a hopeful look towards better and bigger transformation ahead. Beyond that, we would also like to take this chance to show appreciation to the numerous guests who have taken the time to appear on our podcast to share their thoughts. We selected 14 commentaries that encompass some compelling opinions on the wealth tech space. 

This week Ned is joined by William Trout, Wealth Management Director at Javelin Strategy and Research. Will tells him about the most recent reports he’s worked on which center around the needs of retail investors and advisors.  They also discuss Next Best Action and Direct Indexing amongst other things.

This may go down as the episode with the widest range of topics covered in 30 minutes. From food trucks to AI Financial Planning, our guest is nothing short of interesting. Alexander Fleiss is the CEO of RebellionResearch and an avid teacher of machine learning amongst other things. He and Ned talk about Deep Learner Stock Predictions, AI Financial Planning, The New York Food Truck Association, Educational TV and so much more. 

Imagine how much wealth firms can grow with access to the right consumer data, analytics, and research products, helping them navigate the rapidly changing wealth management landscape. That's what Parameter Insights does. This week Ned has a short but insightful conversation with Josh Book, CEO and Founder of Parameter Insights. They discuss the advisor trend that Josh and his team have found in their data, financial advice across different segments, and what the future of wealth tech could look like.

Many investors want to do good but simply don't know that they can make a positive impact on the environment and other issues through their investments. Patrick Reed and Gabe Rissman solved that with their ESG Investment software that provides all the tools financial advisors need to help clients understand and grow their social + environmental impact.We sit down with Patrick who tells us about where his passion comes from, how metaphor metrics work, and who this software caters to.In the end, we find out that Patrick may be the new Doc from Back to the Future, coming to save the planet before it's too late!https://yourstake.org/

Raising $25 Million USD for Bambu's Series C, winning a fintech award, meeting with big prospective clients... these are just some of the things that Ned has been up to during his ongoing US trip. He gives us an update of how everything is going and shares that he sees a big shift in the industry. Listen 'till the end where Dani tells us about Bambu's latest video project... Netflix, watch out! 

OG as in Original Generation that is! Fintech expert John Crittenden joins us for a deep dive into wealth tech. John is a fintech entrepreneur with extensive experience in the industry.  He shares his opinion on the noise around financial advice, what’s missing in fintech, and how to integrate saving and investing behavior. We also briefly talk about regulations and consolidation. 

After 10 years in global investment banking, Steven became disillusioned with the self-serving nature of the investment industry so he started a company that would offer a simple, low-cost solution. We're joined by Steven Nathan, founder of 10X Investments, a South-African tech-enabled asset manager that aims to enhance the returns on income after retirement. Steven shares some of the bold marketing campaigns that the company ran and explains the messaging behind them. He also shares what he believes is the key to providing a better financial future for clients. 

Ever heard of Backbase as a Service? Well, it's what Backbase calls their turnkey Engagement Banking platform that empowers banks and other FIs to accelerate their digital transformation. This week we had a conversation with Marc Corbett, senior solutions engineer at Backbase who is passionate about creating simple and effective user experiences. He shares how Backbase helps banks adapt and use Backbase's toolbox of solutions to go to market with and stay competitive in the wealth tech industry.

How long do you think you would need to perform a live demo in front of thousands of people to showcase your product? Well, you only have 7 minutes. Finovate conferences showcase cutting-edge banking and financial technology through events around the world. This week we're joined by one of the main organizers of the conferences, Greg Palmer. Greg is the Vice President of The Finovate Group, runs the infamous Finovate events, and hosts the Finovate Podcast. We talk about the secret sauce to Finovate Demos and he and Ned reminisce on stories from previous years. Learn more about the event: https://finovate.com/

We all know that creating a college fund is a smart move, but could there be a better way to save for your kid's financial future? Ksenia Yudina is passionate about helping families save for all types of goals - education, first car, house, wedding, or even to help their financial security as adults. She and her team have created a money app that uses tax-advantaged accounts for kids and allows the whole family to participate through gift-giving. She tells us the story behind the app and shares some of her future plans, which include financial literacy education. Ksenia is a true entrepreneur which made this conversation fun, exciting, and most of all relatable for Ned who is also a passionate entrepreneur. 

Bambu recently acquired Tradesocio, a WealthTech company specializing in investment management and trading technologies with offices in Singapore, India, and Dubai. This week Ned sits down with Wael Salem, CEO of Tradesocio and Product Architect. Wael gives an overview of his experience and the history of the company. He and Ned discuss what the merger means in terms of tech capabilities and how that opens doors from a product perspective. 

Are 401 (k)s more complicated than they should be? Our guest this week thinks so. We're joined by Benjamin Thomason, executive vice president at Vestwell. Vestwell is redefining the 401(k) offering by serving as the underlying engine to help anyone power a workplace savings program on their team. Ben explains how the company uses technology to provide businesses with an unbundled, configurable solution that translates retirement plans that are easier to offer and administer.  Ben also tells about how he got into 401(k) services in the first place and as always, answers some of Ned's favorite "random questions".