WealthTech on Deck

WealthTech on Deck is a show featuring meaningful conversations with financial services leaders. Our host, Jack Sharry, engages financial services executives that are solving specific challenges around fintech ecosystems and household wealth technology.

WealthTech on Deck is a business podcast hosted by LifeYield, with 255 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

LifeYield hosts WealthTech on Deck, a business show with 255 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  WealthTech on Deck

  Turning Holistic Advice into Holistic Implementation with Max Lane

  Sep 29, 202633 min

  This week, Jack Sharry talks with Max Lane, CEO of Flourish. Since joining the company in 2017, Max has helped build Flourish around one central idea: advisors need better tools to serve clients beyond the investment portfolio.  Jack and Max explore the shift from holistic advice to holistic implementation and why clients increasingly expect advisors to do more than hand them a financial plan and a list of homework. Max unpacks how Flourish is helping independent advisors close that gap, allowing clients to maintain control of their money while giving advisors new ways to uncover held-away assets, expand wallet share, generate referrals, and compete more effectively with private banks and wirehouses. He also looks ahead to how new capabilities, enterprise infrastructure, data, and AI could help advisors deliver more proactive financial advice. In this episode: (00:00) - Intro (01:13) - Max's path to Flourish and the founding vision (03:50) - What Flourish Cash is and the problem it solves (06:04) - Why advisors underestimate their clients' held-away cash (08:10) - The disconnect between asset consolidation and advisor behavior (11:13) - Shifting from holistic advice to holistic implementation  (14:23) - Bringing mortgages and lending into the advisory relationship (19:43) - Advisor education and the path to organic growth (23:11) - Why advisors are expanding beyond the investment portfolio (25:44) - What's next: enterprise scale, new products, and AI  (29:42) - Max's interests outside of work Quotes "The challenge we have, and that we've worked through, is that independent advisors aren't necessarily used to talking about cash. First and foremost, they're investment-focused. They start and end with the portfolio." ~ Max Lane "The ideal end state of wealth management is that I, as an end client, am paying a trusted sole advisor to look out for and advise on all of my money. I want technology and the advisor to implement this on my behalf." ~ Max Lane "As a holistic fiduciary advisor, if you don't have the capabilities and tools to be involved in the most costly, impactful, emotional, and financial decision in your client's life, you're probably not meeting expectations." ~ Max Lane Links  Max Lane on LinkedIn Flourish Connect with our hosts LifeYield Jack Sharry on LinkedIn Jack Sharry on Twitter Subscribe and stay in touch Apple Podcasts Spotify LinkedIn Twitter Facebook

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  WealthTech on Deck

  Why Advisors Matter More in an Age of Unlimited Information with Jim Patrick

  Sep 22, 202626 min

  This week, Jack Sharry talks with Jim Patrick, Senior Business Advisor at McKinsey. Jim has more than 25 years of experience in wealth management, asset management, institutional investing, and family office advisory services. A former Group President at Envestnet, he now advises McKinsey and other financial services firms on growth strategy, operating model transformation, product development, distribution, regulation, AI enablement, advisor productivity, alternatives, and serving the evolving needs of affluent and ultra-high-net-worth clients.  Jack and Jim explore how the role of the financial advisor is changing as investment products, information, and technology become increasingly accessible. Jim argues that greater choice and complexity make advisors more valuable—not less—as clients look for help making better decisions, managing their behavior, and connecting investments to long-term goals. They also discuss the looming advisor capacity shortage, the growing complexity of alternative investments and regulation, and why UMH can position advisors as the trusted quarterback across a client’s entire financial life. Jim also explains how AI can improve advisor productivity while giving advisors more time to focus on what technology cannot replace: human connection and trust. In this episode: (00:00) - Intro (01:30) - How the advisor value proposition has changed (02:50) - Why technology has made financial advisors more relevant (04:23) - The looming advisor capacity challenge (05:38) - Why behavioral coaching creates advisor value (06:52) - Navigating an increasingly complex investment landscape (07:58) - How advisors should approach alternative investments (09:36) - Breaking down regulatory complexity for clients (11:49) - The evolution from UMA to Unified Managed Household (13:33) - Rethinking how financial advice is priced (15:10) - How AI can improve advisor productivity and personalization (17:06) - Why trust remains fundamental to financial advice (19:29) - Technology has democratized access, but not judgment (19:54) - Jim's interests outside of work (21:00) - Jim's advice for the next generation of wealth management leaders Quotes "The biggest shift over the last 29 years I've been in the business is that it's no longer about access to products, services, solutions, or asset allocation, as those things have become more ubiquitous. It's about decision-making and decision-making consistency. Because as consumers engage with more and more information, they become paralyzed." ~ Jim Patrick "While innovation and technology have increased transparency and removed friction, advisors are getting the productivity lift they need, but it's not enough to overcome the real needs of end clients, and that is better and more consistent decision-making." ~ Jim Patrick "The end clients need help managing their expectations, their goals, and the activities they complete to achieve results. And they fail because they panic. They fail because they chase performance. They fail because they get focused on a shiny new lure that goes by." ~ Jim Patrick Links  Jim Patrick on LinkedIn McKinsey Envestnet Capital Preferences Connect with our hosts LifeYield Jack Sharry on LinkedIn Jack Sharry on Twitter Subscribe and stay in touch Apple Podcasts Spotify LinkedIn Twitter Facebook

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  WealthTech on Deck

  Women & Wealth: How Women Investors Are Reshaping Wealth Management with Ann Covington

  Sep 15, 202633 min

  This week, Jack Sharry talks with Ann Covington, Founder & Financial Advisor at CovingtonAlsina. Ann is passionate about helping strong, successful women navigate increasingly complex financial lives. She brings a personal understanding of the challenges women face and the value of thoughtful financial guidance.  Ann talks with Jack about how the rise of women investors is reshaping wealth management. She also discusses the systems and workflows that have helped her scale the firm while delivering a consistent client experience, how tax planning can demonstrate the tangible value of advice, and why brand awareness built through education and community involvement matters more than any other marketing tactic.   In this episode: (00:00) - Intro (01:57) - Ann's unconventional path into financial advice (04:10) - Inside CovingtonAlsina and its growth trajectory   (06:24) - The strategies behind CovingtonAlsina's rapid organic growth (09:52) - Why Ann built her practice around serving women investors  (13:58) - How Ann attracts women investors  (16:05) - The shifting dynamics of women's roles in financial decision-making (18:23) - CovingtonAlsina's marketing playbook (23:43) - Using tax planning to demonstrate the value of advice (27:56) - Ann's outlook on the future of CovingtonAlsina (28:48) - Ann's interests outside of work Quotes "You have to go small to get big. When your marketing and branding are focused on one area, people opt in. People come to us to buy." ~ Ann Covington "On average, women see money as what it enables them to do for their family." ~ Ann Covington "We take the really complex, crazy stuff and make it simple for clients and give them peace of mind." ~ Ann Covington Links  Ann Covington on LinkedIn CovingtonAlsina SEI Women's Institute for Financial Education Daily News Brief Connect with our hosts LifeYield Jack Sharry on LinkedIn Jack Sharry on Twitter Subscribe and stay in touch Apple Podcasts Spotify LinkedIn Twitter Facebook

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  WealthTech on Deck

  How Advisors Can Build More Tax-Efficient Portfolios with Andrew Ang

  Sep 1, 202622 min

  This week, Jack Sharry talks with Andrew Ang. Andrew is a leading voice in quantitative investing, factor research, tax-efficient portfolio construction, and AI. He spent 15 years as a professor at Columbia Business School and 10 years as Managing Director at BlackRock, where he led work across factors, sustainability, and investment solutions. Today, he is the Co-Founder of Tau Balance, where he applies technology, tax expertise, and AI to wealth management.  Andrew talks with Jack about factor investing and tax-efficient portfolios, why taxes can significantly affect what investors actually keep, and how advisors can think beyond pre-tax returns when building portfolios. Andrew also shares his vision for the "self-driving portfolio," an agentic investment strategy where AI agents can specialize across asset classes, challenge one another's assumptions, and continuously learn. In this episode: (00:00) - Intro (01:37) - Andrew's background and career journey (03:47) - The evolution of factor-based investing (06:16) - Andrew's transition from academic research to portfolio management (07:40) - Taxes as the biggest factor in investment returns (11:35) - The vision behind the "self-driving portfolio" (17:11) - Using investment policy statements as guardrails for AI (18:34) - Andrew's interests outside of work Quotes "Taxes constitute the biggest wedge between returns that you seem to participate in, or that are reported, and the returns that you actually get to keep." ~ Andrew Ang "The really big gains come when we don't just substitute something for AI, but completely change the way that we work with it." ~ Andrew Ang "Where the agents disagree, those are the most interesting and important areas for investing. That's probably where alpha lies, or where we actually have to be very careful to construct robust portfolios." ~ Andrew Ang Links  Andrew Ang on LinkedIn Tau Balance BlackRock SEI Ang Research Enhanced U.S. Large Cap ETF (ANGU) Connect with our hosts LifeYield Jack Sharry on LinkedIn Jack Sharry on Twitter Subscribe and stay in touch Apple Podcasts Spotify LinkedIn Twitter Facebook

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  WealthTech on Deck

  Building a Protection-First Advice Model with Mike Perry

  Aug 25, 202631 min

  This week, Jack Sharry talks with Mike Perry, Head of Client Solutions and Wealth Management at Guardian Life. With leadership experience spanning Guardian, Nuveen, UBS, and Merrill Lynch, Mike has spent his career helping firms evolve their wealth management strategies while expanding access to comprehensive financial planning. Jack and Mike discuss Guardian’s protection-first philosophy and why holistic planning begins long before retirement. They explore the firm’s “living balance sheet” framework, the growing importance of strategic partnerships, Guardian’s investment in Avantos, and why AI is best viewed as a tool that helps advisors deepen client relationships—not replace them. In this episode: (00:00) - Intro (02:24) - Mike’s path to Guardian Life  (05:09) - The evolution of separately managed accounts (07:38) - Guardian’s protection-first planning philosophy  (11:20) - The “living balance sheet” approach to holistic advice  (13:28) -  Why Guardian rebranded Park Avenue Wealth Management  (16:23) - Why Guardian invested in Avantos  (18:48) - AI as a force multiplier for advisors (20:51) - Why strategic partnerships accelerate innovation  (23:01) - Mike's key takeaways (27:51) - Mike's interest outside of work Quotes "What clients need is trusted advice from an advisor. So, the real engagement, where trust gets built, and problems are solved, is in that back-and-forth planning discussion with the end client." ~ Mike Perry "Our opportunity here is protection first, because we're engaging clients earlier in their lives and marrying it with a much broader set of questions and client engagement across all of our planning." ~ Mike Perry "Innovation has to be a constant thing you focus on, because across financial services, one day you may provide something at less cost, but it's immediately replicated. So you need to keep doing that." ~ Mike Perry Links  Mike Perry on LinkedIn Guardian Life Nuveen UBS Merrill Lynch eMoney Advisor Park Avenue Wealth Management Avantos Vanguard  BlackRock Connect with our hosts LifeYield Jack Sharry on LinkedIn Jack Sharry on Twitter Subscribe and stay in touch Apple Podcasts Spotify LinkedIn Twitter Facebook

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