Panel 3: Clearing and Custody Requirements in a Digital World

Moderator: Greg O’Gara, senior analyst, Aite Group

Panelists:

Doug Besso, Chief Technology Officer, HighTower

Lori Hardwick, Founder & President, Advisor Innovation Labs

Bill Capuzzi, CEO, Apex Clearing

Digital transformation affects a range of areas within a wealth management firm. Examples include client onboarding and self-directed investing, with varying degrees of advisor interaction and greater self-service functionality. To meet these new demands, custodians and clearing firms are pivoting in different strategic directions by building out native platform functionality, deeply integrating best-of-breed vendors, and creating greater platform flexibility for vendor integration. Custodians and clearing firms are also trying to leverage client and advisor data to build out business intelligence applications for wealth management firms and increase their value proposition. This panel will discuss the broad themes and challenges facing custodians, clearing firms, and advisors as the digitalization of client engagement continues to evolve. This includes the role of APIs and the implications of an increasingly multi-custody and multi-clearing environment.