Fintech Impact

Summary:Welcome to the 4th episode of the Fintech Impact podcast, where Jason Pereira, award-winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host interviews the CEO and Co-founder of Onist Technologies – Brad Kotansky. Onist Technologies is an Arizona-based online platform that allows users to aggregate all of their financial data and to be able to work with multiple professionals. Brad Kotansky breaks down exactly what Onist Technologies is and what they are creating for the financial technologies industry and consumers. Show Notes●     01:32 – Onist connects households and family members with their financial data,                    accounts, and documents and are allowing granular access. They are sort                    of like the company Mint on steroids.●     03:55 – Seed for Onist began with Brad’s Dad needing him to take care of his                    finances.●     06:04 – The business-to-consumer market is a focus, with 15-18% of current users                    not being consumers.●     06:56 – For financial advisors, it is not about beating the SMP, it is about risk                    tolerance – especially with elderly clients that don’t need high risk options.●     10:10 – Having the client map out who the key stakeholders are in the family offers                    optimum insight. Corporate organizational charts can be created within                    1-10 minutes that can be updated to save money.●     11:38 – Onist thinks about collaboration in two parts: connect clients to the platform                    and allowing for direct messaging – include clients and professionals.●     12:52 – CTO has 20 years of machine learning and AI experience.●     14:28 – One third of the United States population is over 50 years old. 20 million                    people are going to be added to that group in the next 10 years.●     15:08 – The 18-49 demographic will grow by 6 million in the next 10 years.                    Fintech’s focus is on millennials who are less intimidated by technology.                    The average age of a caregiver in the United States is 49.●     17:31 – Security and privacy are two separate areas for Onist. Personal data and                    asset data are stored in separate data bases.●     20:23 – Onist isn’t trying to go after the Mint market. Out of the 50+ market, 45%                   share their login info.●     21:14 – Onist tries to prevent elder abuse of accounts by being a read-only site.●     22:22 – Data access is a tricky topic and a major issue with different countries                    trying to push the envelope in that area.●     27:37 – Blockchain is a paradigm change that is in the process of happening. Chip                    technology and tap-to-pay happened earlier in Canada than the United                    States.●     30:52 – Security standards take time to change across the board.●     34:25 – Onist costs nothing for the platform for the moment, there will be a monthly                    subscription and a per-household per month fee. .3 Key Points:1 The business-to-consumer market is a focus, with 15-18% of current users  not being consumers.2. The average age of a caregiver in the United States is 49.3. Onist costs nothing for the platform for the moment, there will be a monthly subscription and a per-household per month fee.Tweetable Quotes:-     “Onist, spelled on-ist…we want Onist. Onist advice, Onist opinions, Onist       relationships.“ – Brad Kotansky.-     “The world is connected a million different ways…but when it comes to finance, we      still operate in the dark ages.“ – Brad Kotansky.-     “Approximately 15-18% of our users right now are actually not consumers, they are       enterprise firms.“ – Brad Kotansky.Resources Mentioned:● LinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedIn● Facebook – Jason Pereira’s Facebook● Woodgate Financial – Website for Woodgate Financial● Brad Kotansky – Brad Kotansky's LinkedIn● Onist Technologies – Website for Onist Technologies Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Summary:During the 3rd episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award-winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host interviews Paul Resnik, Co-founder and Director at FinaMetrica. As a risk assessment company, FinaMetrica provides tools for financial advisors to figure out the risk tolerance of their clients. Paul Resnik shares his history in the industry, the uphill battles that FinaMetrica has faced, and what it will take to turn financial advising into more of a science than an art.Show Notes01:55 – Paul Resnik started FinaMetrica in 1994, but Paul has been in the industry                    for almost 50 years.●     02:17 – Changes in Australia occurred: the ability to consolidate investment                    products onto a single platform and people not being prepared for their                    portfolios crashing.●     04:25 – Risk asseement was met with hesitation back in 1994 and now. Planners                    often find it intrusive.●     07:26 – FinaMetrica took four fours to assemble the 25 questions used in their                    psychometric test – after trying out 150 questions. They have done almost                    1.2 million tests.●     09:08 – Men tend to be more risk tolerant than women. Financial workers and                    highly confident people tend to be more risk tolerant than their clients.                     Factors that tend to not have any impact are age, education, and                     experience.●     11:47 – FinaMetrica charges the most in the global marketplace for their risk                    tolerance test. Their clients tend to be personal financial advisors in the                    approximately 20 countries that they work in.●     12:17 – FinaMetrica starts with a 25 or 12 question questionnaire to measure                    financial risk tolerance juxtaposed against ethical, physical, and social                      tolerances to determine an average score and range.●     16:56 – They link results to portfolios that have ranked at a similar level against a                     range of scenarios including: nominal returns, highs and lows, adjusted for                    inflation, 10 worst falls, how long it took to crash and recover, and 10                    highest rises.●     21:56 – FinaMetrica, based in Australia, is merging with PlanPlus, a financial                    planning company based in Toronto Canada. 90% of FinaMetrica’s                    revenue is international. They integrated their systems roughly 10 years                    ago and have looked for joined clients.●     24:49 – The cost to implement FinaMetrica into their practice: $800-900 a year in                    various countries.●     26:15 – Thinking fast is our great survival. Thinking slow hurts, because people are                    too busy thinking and not paying attention. People thinking fast are using                    mental shortcuts/intuition.●     29:31 – Survey in Georgia of financial advisors had results all over the place –                    including the same client that received different answers from the same                    planner.●     35:00 – Planner’s unfortunately often project their own level of risk tolerance onto                    their clients and the people running the money project their risk tolerance                    onto the advisors.●     37:13 – Paul Resnik left the corporate world in 1991 and established a life company                    and an asset management business a few years prior to that.●     38:29 – Competitors of FinaMetrica include: Oxford Risk in the UK and in Riskalyze                    in the United States. ●     41:17 – Paul Resnik is not a fan of Target Date Funds.●     42:57 – Technology Tools Today is a US company for financial advisor technology                    that puts out an annual survey. FinaMetrica has the highest user rating. 3 Key Points:1. Risk tolerance is a personality, and personalities tend not to change.2. FinaMetrica starts with a 25 or 12 question questionnaire to measure   financial risk tolerance juxtaposed against ethical, physical, and social     tolerances to determine an average score and range.3. The cost to implement FinaMetrica into their practice: $800-900 a year in                    various countries. Tweetable Quotes:-   “We measure risk tolerance scientifically. We use a psychometric test…it took us four years to put together our 25 questions.” – Paul Resnik.-   “Risk tolerance is a personality trait. Personality tends not to change.” – Paul Resnik.-   “We are fighting for mind space. We are fighting for people to stop long enough and listen.” – Paul Resnik. Resources Mentioned:● Facebook – Jason Pereira’s Facebook● LinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedIn● FinaMetrica – Website for FinaMetrica● Paul Resnik – LinkedIn for Paul Resnik Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Summary:In this second episode, Jason Pereira, award-winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host interviews Kevin Kliman, CEO and Founder of Humi – an HR software company. Kevin shares the highlights of his journey, what his company Humi is seeking to accomplish, and Humi’s impact on the financial space.Show Notes00:41 – Humi is a fintech company because in addition to its subscriber model, they                    introduced payroll and becoming the group insurance broker for the                    companies that they deal with.●     01:24 – Humi acknowledges that Zenefits – a SAS company - created their                    business model: give away software and make money off of insurance                    sales.●     01:41 – Zenefits rose to a valuation of over $1 billion.●     01:46 – Kevin Kliman and Humi graduated from Y Combinator – one of the                    biggest incubators in the United States.●     02:42 – Kevin explains Humi as a cloud-based benefits, payroll and HR software,                    trying to solve the problem of time being wasted reconciling multiple                    isolated systems instead of running their business.●     04:54 – Humi is Kevin’s first tech start-up and he is not from the world of insurance                    and benefits. He is a licensed dentist and has experience building                    businesses and soft-ware based companies on the side.●     06:42 – Kevin Kliman became excited by the business model of Humi and met his                    partners: Matt Loszak the technical lead, Simon Bourgeois the COO, and                    Drew Millington the head of sales.●     09:16 – The payroll application stemmed from merging with a company that was                    already building it and it was attractive in its simplicity and being                    web-based.●     11:54 – Pricing model for companies coming on their is a SAS license fee with a                    nominal cost per employee per month. Companies that choose to                    make Humi their insurance broker will not be charged for the software.●     13:05 – The partner route is attractive to Humi, which has 30+ people, but it comes                    down to bandwidth.●     15:12 – Humi sees a lot of promise in being an end-to-end solution for both                    employers and employees.●     18:00 – The goal is becoming a leader in the HR, payroll, and benefits space, and                    revamping performance management for companies.●     20:05 – Humi’s team went from zero to 30 in 2-3 years.●     22:41 – Humi’s target customer has changed significantly from companies that are                    10-30 people from companies that are 50-200. Bamboo HR has been a                    competitor.●     27:30 – Interaction with the broker space is still early and how to support them                    properly. Humi has been able to give quotes in 80% less time.●     30:51 – Put your client first and satisfy their needs. Embrace the future.●     32:40 – Integrations with Zero and Quickbooks, Group RSP providers are goals of                    the company.●     36:59 – For employees that use Humi every month – 50% log in every day. 3 Key Points:1. Humi graduated from Y Combinator – one of the biggest incubators in the United States.2. Companies using Humi pay a base fee to use the software and a nominal cost per employee per month. Companies that choose to make Humi their insurance broker will not be charged for the software.3. For employees that use Humi every month, an astounding 50% log in every day. Tweetable Quotes:-   “Humi is cloud-based payroll, benefits, and HR software.” – Kevin Kliman.-   “Payroll is its own beast. It has to have connections to all of the banks…which is tough to do.” – Kevin Kliman.-   “If you think about the best way to service your client, you are going to win in the long run. .” – Kevin Kliman. -   “In general we (Canada) are about four years behind the states when it comes to technology…mostly because we are 1/10th of the size.” – Kevin Kliman.  Resources Mentioned:● Facebook – Jason Pereira’s Facebook● LinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedIn● Humi – Website for Humi● Woodgate Financial – Sponsor of Fintech Impact podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Summary:Welcome to the very first episode of the Fintech Impact podcast, with Jason Pereira, award-winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host of this show that offers expert insight into the Fintech world of financial technology. Today, Jason interviews David Nugent, the CIO and Co-Founder of Wealthsimple, Canada’s largest robo advisor and digital investment solutions for clients. Show Notes:●     01:10 – Wealthsimple is a robo advisor that started in the Fall of 2014, and now                    services about 60,000 clients with offices in Canada, United States, and the                    UK.●     01:34 – Power Financial is the main backer of Wealthsimple thanks to about $165                    million in capital with a millennial investor client base and B2B offerings.●     03:13 – David Nugent’s personal journey includes: starting out in the business at 22                    “asking businesses owners for their life savings” as an advisor and shifted                    from advice to technology.●     04:42 – Wealthsimple focuses on the customer experience. Most of the team                    comes from technology and design, less from the financial world –                    addressing problems from a usability standpoint. ●     05:11 – Millennials are great clients because they are at the start of their careers,                     have a lot of future earning power and life transitions ahead, and possible                    inheritances.●     05:59 – On the advisor side of the business, it’s how do you help advisors service                    more of those clients that are intimidated, while still allowing them do the                    planning.●     09:04 – The reaction to the advisor company towards Wealthsimple in the financial                    planner sector has really been onboard.●     10:13 – Wealthsimple is unique in that they are a robo advisor that operates in                    multiple counties. The UK has proven to be at the forefront of regulatory                    change.●     11:14 – The scope of size of the U.S. is that the financial industry in Canada is                     smaller than that of just the state of California.●     12:22 – There is a challenge in the cost of acquisition.●     14:56 – Wealthsimple has maintained a great relationship with Power Financial,                    who have made about a dozen acquisitions in wealth, insurance, bank, and                    credit card areas.●     16:40 – The average age of a Wealthsimple customer is 31.●     17:57 – As far as accounts in the United States, about 50 cents on the dollar has                    been allocated to socially responsible investing. ●     20:02 – One dollar accounts are possible to democratize investing and remove all                    excuses people have for not getting started.●     22:25 – Data collection and behavioral nudging has begun with a card system                    within the application.●     24:54 – Nontraditional marketing for Wealthsimple has stemmed from hiring a                    brand leadership team, and none of them come from the financial services                    industry.●     27:24 – “Investing for Humans” is a tagline that underlines Weathsimple’s push to                    talk with clients and not down to them just to “sound smart.” They won                    back-to-back Webby Awards (like the Oscars of the Internet) for Best                    Financial Services Website globally – with two different websites.●     29:13 – They would like to start to offer more products.●     31:25 – The Wealthsimple value proposition to the end client is democratizing                    investing. On the advisor side, it is that plus automating and                    systematizing the operational workflow that they do daily. 3 Key Points:1.  Millennials are key clients that offer a whole lifetime of earning power still ahead of them, major life stages ahead like buying a house, and possible inheritances down the line.2.  Empower the good advisor to do more business, and expose the bad advisor, and they are going to be in trouble.3.  One dollar accounts are possible to democratize investing and remove all     excuses people have for not getting started. Tweetable Quotes:-    “When the Canadian model got up and running, the biggest difference between the two models is that we had to call every single client with a phone call. Where in the U.S. none of that actually happens.“ – David Nugent.    -    “Good advisors who want to do holistic planning don’t want to spend their time doing paperwork. They want the transparency, they want the efficiencies. And we are basically giving it to them.” – David Nugent.    -   “Millennials, in our minds, are fantastic clients because they’re just at the beginnings our their careers. They’ve got a whole lifetime of earnings ahead of them .” – David Nugent.    Resources Mentioned:● LinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedIn● Facebook – Jason Pereira’s Facebook● Woodgate Financial – Website for Woodgate Financial● Lending Loop – Jason Pereira’s Facebook● Wealthsimple – Weathsimple Website   ● David Nugent’s LinkedIn –LinkedIn for David Nugent Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.