A major tech announcement from Envestnet at it Advisor Summit 2016 in Chicago on Wednesday, as the company released its “Open ENV” platform, which it said will offer “differentiated user experiences, accelerate integrations and extend the availability of Envestnet’s solutions.”
“It’s our open architecture solution,” said Lincoln Ross, Envestnet’s head of product strategy and marketing, in an interview from the exhibit hall floor. “It’s a complement to our deeply integrated unified platform. It allows for incredible efficiency for the advisor. It’s modular and personal and also allows for different user experiences for defined practice patterns.”
The launch of Open ENV leverages the completion of over 300 technology updates across the Envestnet platform as part of the company’s May release.
“Our API library is the latest innovative solution we have created to further simplify and personalize how financial enterprises, advisors and their clients engage with our platform,” said Scott Grinis, Chief Technology Officer of Envestnet. “There is so much best-in-class technology on the Envestnet platform and this initiative will allow our partners to take advantage of our wide spectrum of capabilities.”
Ross added that he’s particularly proud of the systems data analytic capabilities, which can identify patterns and benchmarks and then leverage the data to better serve different advisor “personas.”
“But it’s only one part to identify trends and needs,” he explained. “The other is our advisor council and test groups that aid in mapping a journey and how they get from point A to point B.”
New Investor Suite Enhances Digital Engagement
As part of the release, Envestnet unveiled a new Investor Suite, which extends the existing Advisor Now offering with the following enhancements:
- Enhanced user navigation and experience based on extensive journey mapping and user testing
- Data aggregation and personal financial management tools
- Goals-based planning module including goal tracking and alerts
- Household performance reporting including aggregated investment accounts
- Self-service workflow tools for operational requests
Envestnet | Yodlee Integration Powers Lifecycle of Advice
Also as part of the roll-out, Envestnet announced the initial integration of Yodlee’s data aggregation capabilities into the Envestnet platform. In this initial release, advisors will now be able to leverage Yodlee’s FastLink to enable clients to aggregate all their accounts into Investor Suite providing a full 360-degree view of their financial situation. Clients’ user-permissioned and credentialed accounts utilizing this Yodlee capability will be updated daily on the platform. Additionally, the data will flow seamlessly into goals-based planning tools and account opening processes, and will be available for inclusion in household performance reporting. A few of the personal financial management tools that will be available on the Investor Suite include Budgets, Net Worth and Cash Flow Analysis, enabling deeper client engagement.
“Envestnet and Yodlee form a powerful combination which reinforces our market leadership, and uniquely positions us to empower advisors and financial enterprises to provide better outcomes for their clients,” said Anil Arora, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive, Envestnet | Yodlee. “This initial release enables enterprises, advisors and their clients to experience first-hand how Yodlee’s data aggregation and personal financial management applications have added to the breadth and depth of our cloud-based technology offering.”
Accelerated Integrations with Partners
As described in the Product Roadmap session, Open ENV will accelerate additional integrations with Envestnet’s platform capabilities including Envestnet | Tamarac, Placemark Overlay Services and Envestnet | Retirement Solutions as well as deepen Envestnet’s strategic relationships with AlphaHedge, CAIS, eMoney Advisor, MoneyGuidePro, several custodians, and many other integration partners.
Also as part of the roll-out, Envestnet has launched the next phase of Envestnet Intelligence in partnership with Wheelhouse Analytics. This phase introduces online dashboards and reporting tools capable of drilling down into greater levels of detail for asset managers, enterprise firms and advisors. The dashboards are available through single-sign-on access from the Envestnet platform and deliver segmentation analytics, trend analyses, and benchmarking tools that can be harnessed to make decisions that strengthen client relationships and improve business performance and operations.