Fidelity® Now Offers Even More Flexibility to Intermediary Clients Through Updates to Integration Xchange, Its Industry-Leading, Open Architecture Digital Store
- Fidelity Research Finds Firms are Working with a Median of Six Technology Providers, Making the Ability to Integrate them into a Single Platform Crucial
- Integration Xchange Aims to Make Navigating Choices and Connecting with Third-Parties Easier, which is Critical as Two-Thirds of Advisors Say COVID-19 Crisis is Prompting Their Firms to Explore New Fintech Options
- AdvisorEngine®, Black Diamond®, BlackRock, Orion, Redtail and Riskalyze Among Providers with New or Enhanced Integration Xchange Offerings
BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Fidelity® today announced that Integration Xchange, the company’s award-winningi, open architecture digital store, now includes integrations with more than 200 third-party fintech providers, increasing flexibility for firms as they develop tailored technology platforms that meet the needs of advisors and their clients. Technology is more important than ever – three-quarters of advisors in a recent Fidelity study said the COVID-19 crisis is accelerating their firm’s adoption of digital processesii. Fidelity offers its intermediary clients a robust suite of API integrations, nearly doubling the number of available API and single sign-on integrations since 2017. Fidelity also offers data feeds, real-time alerts, Financial Information eXchange (FIX®) trading connectivity and other integrations to help firms seamlessly build and customize easy-to-use digital experiences.
“Two years ago, we set out to make our integrations platform the best in the industry, building on our longstanding open architecture ecosystem to deliver even greater flexibility and more seamless third-party integration capabilities,” said Lisa Burns, head of Platform Technology, Fidelity Institutional. “Client feedback and industry awards indicate that we’ve achieved that goal, but we’re continuing to expand our integrations and enhance Integration Xchange to meet clients’ evolving needs, including making it even easier for firms to find integrations that will make an impact on their businesses.”
Fidelity Survey Shows Access to Digital Tools and Integration of Technologies is Crucial
The 2020 Fidelity Financial Advisor Community COVID Series — Technology Studyiii examined how firms are currently leveraging integrations, as well as advisor expectations for technology during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. The study found that:
- 67% of advisors said the COVID-19 crisis is prompting their firms to explore new fintech options to potentially add to their existing platform technologies and tools.
- Half of advisors said their firms are working with at least six distinct technology providers, and 94% of advisors expect the number of distinct providers they use to increase (54%) or remain the same (40%) over the next five years.
- 81% of advisors said integration of their firm’s platform technologies and tools is important to the firm’s overall technology strategy; 82% expect the importance of integrations to increase and no advisors expect it to decrease.
- 25% of advisors said staying up-to-date on the latest technology solutions is one of their firm’s biggest technology challenges during the crisis, and even more advisors (32%) expect it to be one of their firm’s biggest technology challenges post-crisis.
Fidelity Continues to Increase and Deepen its Fintech Integrations to Meet Client Needs
AdvisorEngine®, Black Diamond®, BlackRock, Orion, Redtail and Riskalyze are among the fintechs with new or recently enhanced integrations:
- Advisors can now digitally onboard clients through AdvisorEngine®’s integration with Wealthscape℠, which enables account opening, ACH, ACATs, non-ACATS and delivery of an IPS. The integration includes a daily data feed that AdvisorEngine uses to provide performance analysis and reporting for advisors and their clients, and to calculate advisory fee billing.
- The new integration between Wealthscape and SS&C’s Black Diamond®Wealth Platform allows for contextual linking capabilities and the ability to view alerts information within Black Diamond, enabling advisors to seamlessly work between the two platforms.
- Advisors can now leverage Wealthscape Single Sign-On (SSO) to seamlessly access BlackRock’s Advisor Center, and advisors on Fidelity’s clearing and custody platform can now analyze Fidelity model portfolios alongside BlackRock models using BlackRock tools. Advisor Center’s suite of tools make it easy for advisors to analyze and compare portfolios, identify potential areas of risk, anticipate potential tax impacts and create client proposals.
- Real-time alert capabilities from Wealthscape are now integrated directly into both the Orion Insight Tiles and Redtail CRM offerings, allowing advisors to effortlessly select an alert and view additional details to determine if action is needed in Wealthscape. Fidelity’s model portfolios and SMA strategies are also now available in Orion Portfolio Solutions and through Communities, Orion Advisor Tech’s model marketplace.
- Advisors can now seamlessly add Fidelity clients in Riskalyze and sync account data, including positions and balances on demand/intra-day. These API integrations complement the daily feed information, provided nightly, with intra-day adjustments based on trading and/or cashiering activity.
Integration Xchange Updates Make it Easier for Firms to Explore and Manage Integrations
To make it easier for firms to understand the fintech solutions available, build the right platforms for their business needs and manage their end-to-end technology ecosystems, Fidelity added features to Integration Xchange, including:
- Smart API Filtering: Firms can now filter and sort Fidelity’s API inventory based on business needs and API type, making it even easier to identify solutions that fit best within their platforms.
- Enhanced Tools for Managing Integrations: Building on the self-service functionality launched earlier this year, Fidelity added more tools to help firms with operational oversight and control of their technology ecosystem. Firms can now view fintech transmission rules in Integration Xchange, making it even easier to understand the full picture of how data is being used, as well as view digital certificate expirations to better plan for updates. Fidelity also added more APIs to its “Try It Out” feature, which allows firms to test an integration prototype before moving forward with the full build.
- New Support Resources for Self-Service: Step-by-step tutorial videos and other resources help firms use self-service API testing and understand how integrations will fit within the context of their platforms.
Integration Xchange is Continuously Enhanced to Meet Client Needs
Integration Xchange launched in October 2018 to help firms build tailored technology platforms that meet their business needs. In response to evolving client needs and industry trends, Fidelity continues to enhance Integration Xchange through the addition of new third-party vendors, introduction of new and deeper integrations, and enhanced self-service features that make it easier for firms to manage an increasingly complex technology ecosystem.
Fidelity invests billions of dollars annually in its technology enterprise-wide, leveraging its scale to develop new capabilities that help meet the distinct needs of each of its customers.
In April 2020, Integration Xchange won a Celent Model Wealth Manager award. The sole winner in the Products & Platforms category, Integration Xchange was recognized for its ability to help firms efficiently design and develop integrated platforms that meet the needs of their businesses and improve advisors’ ability to serve investors. Celent is a global financial services research and advisory firm. Integration Xchange also received the 2019 WealthMangement.com Industry Award for Custodian Technology.
For more about Integration Xchange, please visit go.fidelity.com/IntegrationXchange.
About Fidelity Investments
Fidelity’s mission is to inspire better futures and deliver better outcomes for the customers and businesses we serve. With assets under administration of $9.0 trillion, including discretionary assets of $3.5 trillion as of August 31, 2020, we focus on meeting the unique needs of a diverse set of customers: helping more than 32 million people invest their own life savings, 22,000 businesses manage employee benefit programs, as well as providing more than 13,500 institutions with investment and technology solutions to invest their own clients’ money. Privately held for more than 70 years, Fidelity employs more than 45,000 associates who are focused on the long-term success of our customers. For more information about Fidelity Investments, visit https://www.fidelity.com/about-fidelity/our-company.
The content provided herein is general in nature and is for informational purposes only. This information is not individualized and is not intended to serve as the primary or sole basis for your decisions as there may be other factors you should consider. Fidelity Institutional℠ does not provide financial or investment advice. You should conduct your own due diligence and analysis based on your specific needs.
Fidelity Institutional℠ provides investment products via Fidelity Distributors Company LLC.
Fidelity Institutional℠ provides clearing, custody, or other brokerage services through National Financial Services LLC or Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, Members NYSE, SIPC. 245 Summer St., Boston, MA 02210.
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i In April 2020, Integration Xchange won a Celent Model Wealth Manager award. Full description of award categories and criteria are available here: https://www.celent.com/awards/model_wealth_manager/winners. Integration Xchange also received the 2019 WealthMangement.com Industry Award for Custodian Technology. Full descriptions of award categories and criteria are available here: https://events.wealthmanagement.com/categories/.
ii The 2020 Fidelity Financial Advisor Community COVID Series – Technology Study. The study was an online blind survey (Fidelity not identified) and was fielded during the period July 10th thru July 16th, 2020. Participants included 422 advisors who manage or advise upon client assets either individually or as a team, and work primarily with individual investors. Advisor firm types included a mix of banks, independent broker-dealers, insurance companies, regional broker-dealers, RIAs, and national brokerage firms (commonly referred to as wirehouses), with findings weighted to reflect industry composition. The study was conducted by an independent firm not affiliated with Fidelity Investments.
iii The 2020 Fidelity Financial Advisor Community COVID Series – Technology Study (please see above for details).
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