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Robinhood and TradePMR Launch Industry-First Asset Match For RIAs
27 Plays6 months ago
TradePMR has taken a page out of Robinhood’s book, introducing what we believe is a first-of-its-kind incentive program: Asset Match*.
Until March 31st, RIAs depositing eligible assets into a TradePMR account can see a 50 basis points cash match dropped into their account.
Robinhood’s Chief Brokerage Officer Steve Quirk and TradePMR’s Founder and General Manager Robb Baldwin join Synergize for a special episode to explain the idea behind Asset Match, how the program could resonate with advisors, and why this retail-style benefit is the first step in bringing Robinhood’s culture of innovation to RIAs.
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Transcript
Introduction to Synergize Podcast
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to Synergize, unscripted conversations where we explore the evolving role of the financial advisor in an emerging AI-driven world. Join us as we bring together thought leaders across a range of disciplines and industry experts, sharing insights designed to help RIAs thrive in the industry of tomorrow.
00:00:24
Speaker
Hi, I'm Bill Capell, Director of Client Growth at TradePMR, a Robinhood company. And I'm Ryan Neal, Senior Editor at Trade PMR Robinhood. And welcome back to another episode of the Synergize podcast.
Special Edition: Asset Match Program
00:00:37
Speaker
Today, we've got a special edition of the podcast with some really exciting guests to talk about a new program that you may have heard about out there in the industry press. And that is our Asset Match program.
00:00:49
Speaker
That's right, Ryan. We're leveraging an idea from Robinhood by introducing a retail-style incentive program that rewards RIA clients directly. We believe this is a first-of-its-kind cash match program that benefits RIA clients when their advisor directs their new eligible assets from that client to TradePMR for custody.
00:01:12
Speaker
This is just another example of TradePMR's commitment to empowering independent RIA growth. And I can't think of anybody better to explain this new initiative than Trade PMR founder and general manager Rob Baldwin and Robinhood chief brokerage officer Steve Quirk. Gentlemen, welcome back to the podcast. You guys are returning guests, so good to see you again.
00:01:34
Speaker
Thanks for having us back.
00:01:37
Speaker
Well, great, guys. ah This is pretty exciting for all of us to hear this. So, Rob, let me start with you. This is a two-part question, very simple. Why is Trade PMR launching Asset Match, and how is it this program going to be different, and how is it going to work?
How Does the Asset Match Program Work?
00:01:55
Speaker
Well, simply put, you know Asset Match is literally funding a client account, 50 basis points, for any eligible deposit that comes into Trade PMR, whether it be cash, securities, and even more additional assets as well.
00:02:10
Speaker
and And so that an advisor you know can have their clients have the end incentive to move assets in. So you take $100,000 deposit that a client contributes to their customer account, they're going to get a $500 cash match ah for for depositing those those assets.
00:02:28
Speaker
So we're real excited is about that. and advisors now have really the opportunity to reach prospects and revisit past conversations, encourage existing clients to consolidate assets.
00:02:40
Speaker
And, you know, the the yeah the match actually equips advisors with a tool that provides a tangible approach value that could appreciate and and accelerate ah decision making, shorten sales cycles, and effectively strengthen retention of their client base.
00:02:57
Speaker
So Q, can you maybe walk us through from the Robinhood perspective? You know, this is you guys coming into the industry, making a splash for the first time. What's so exciting from Robinhood to help support and launch this program?
00:03:12
Speaker
I think what you know, what's exciting and like what's made this such a good marriage, you know, with Robin Hood and Trade PMR is we're both pretty aligned on delivering value for both the advisors and the customers of the advisors. And one of the best ways to do that is to put more ah returns in their in their pocket.
00:03:36
Speaker
So in other words, If we can compress margins and deliver more value to the customers and the advisors, um they're going to have a better return, ah not only on and on an annual basis, but in the long run, that starts to compound and it becomes really positive.
00:03:52
Speaker
um And we've seen ah tremendous amount of success in doing this on the on the self-directed side. And i I would say, and I think ah Bill brought it up earlier, I don't think we've seen this really been done on the RIA side of the business.
00:04:10
Speaker
And so I think there's an opportunity here to deliver some of the same value here that we've seen on the complete self-directed side.
00:04:20
Speaker
So why now, you guys? what's What's going on in the REA custody landscape? Maybe, Rob, this is a good one for you to talk about. What can you tell us about the market that makes now such a good time to to launch an initiative like this for advisors?
Market Ripe for Asset Match Program
00:04:34
Speaker
Yeah, well, think about it. It's been five years since the largest custodial merger took place. um And Advisors have gone through a lot of turmoil. They've gone through a lot of change. They've gone through you know the ups and downs of dealing with custodians. And there's a lot of them right now that we feel like are reevaluating their relationship with their custodian and and taking a second look at where the landscape is and who's really growth oriented, who's really not, who are they competing against and who they're not.
00:05:05
Speaker
So we really felt like this was a great time to bring out this match, to recognize really where the future is going, because we believe this is a unique moment in space right now, as far especially in the custodial model, because technology is becoming more and more important um and growth is becoming more and more important as we see referral programs start to be on the demise.
00:05:29
Speaker
So firms have to learn how to grow organically or they need to be plugged into the future of referral programs. And we we believe that's that's us, you know, coming soon.
00:05:40
Speaker
So right now is a great time to really start to get advisors' attention and to do something disruptive and to offer something that has never been done ah so that that advisors take notice and that they recognize that, hey, there is a different player in the in the space now and they are doing something different that favors their clients and and the advisors themselves.
00:06:00
Speaker
Yeah, and I think, Rob, if I could just add on to that, I i think, and again, i don't i don't live, breathe, and eat the space like you all do, but my perception of what's happened in the last five to 10 years has not been fees going down.
00:06:19
Speaker
It's been fees going up. or there being less opportunities in referral programs and everything. So i think it's very refreshing to have a somebody come in and say, look, how can we do more for you?
00:06:36
Speaker
to help you with your customers and to help your your end customers as well, so that we all can benefit from some of the efficiencies that are happening in the marketplace through technology, um some of the advances that are help happening in in the way that you can do investing um to deliver the the returns that we
Impact on Younger Generations
00:06:56
Speaker
discussed about earlier. And I think that's going to be very welcome.
00:06:59
Speaker
So, Steve, I want to continue to pull on that thread a bit because, you know, share with us a little bit about how this particular ah strategy fits into Robinhood's mission to democratize finance for all.
00:07:14
Speaker
I think as I said earlier, Bill, it fits in really nicely because the more we can compress the margins and deliver you know that that value back, the the more that the dynamic of your return changes and that starts to become so something pretty powerful when, I mean, it's one thing if I'm a person who's closer in age to me, um you know, to get to get that back on an annual basis and be able to to add that to my returns. But, you know, if I'm a if I'm a part of the younger generation that's going to be receiving, you know, the one hundred and twenty four trillion dollars in in wealth transfer.
00:07:53
Speaker
um You know, helping them in achieving returns on an annual basis, it's it adds up, you know, by the time they get to the point where they're retiring or sending a child to college or some of the other big life events.
00:08:09
Speaker
I think it it's such a it's such a great way to align yourself with your with the advisors and with the and with their customers that it it makes it really powerful.
00:08:23
Speaker
but that's something I want to ask about, Q, is Robinhood has offered programs like this, not exactly the same, but different types of sort of asset match incentives ah to retail customers for and various Robinhood products.
00:08:36
Speaker
So what can you tell us about what you have learned from that about customer reception, client behavior, and maybe how can we apply that on the RIA side to some of the things that Rob's hearing from advisors? Yeah.
00:08:49
Speaker
um I think the reception has been very good, but you know, it, it's kind of funny to say, but there was almost a little bit of skepticism when we first started doing it. um You know, like, Hey, this sounds a little too good to be true.
00:09:03
Speaker
um But I think what we realized is, you know, take, ah take Robin Hood on the self-directed side of the business. You know, if I'm a person who's been in the business for a while, I had a perception of Robin Hood. I competed with Robin Hood. i had a I had a perception of Robin Hood that it was, you know, young kids and, you know, small amounts of money. And, you know, they were they were doing a lot of trading back and forth.
00:09:29
Speaker
And you know that's that's ah like a legacy perception. If you look at where we are today, we're comprehensive offering retirement, all the things that you know a full service broker would have for a self-directed investor.
00:09:45
Speaker
um But sometimes you need to get people to take another look at you. And when they do, they say, oh my gosh, I didn't realize you guys had all these things. And um the incentive is what gives them a reason to come and take a look. And when they do, you know, because I've been on a lot of these calls where we're attracting very large customers, um they're, you know, they're very surprised by the breadth of the offering.
00:10:11
Speaker
And so it becomes something that's quite powerful. And actually what happened then was something that, you know, we've seen quite a bit with Robinhood, there becomes this network effect and this reality to it, you know, all of a sudden, you know, there are pockets of people that, you know, probably ah converse with each other as they're doing their investing. And they're like, Oh, did you see this? Here's an here's ah a match here. And then all of a sudden, you get these big segments of people that are coming over.
00:10:42
Speaker
And it's quite powerful, actually.
00:10:47
Speaker
Yeah, actually, Ryan, when we look at the audience today, you start to see there's a small percentage of people who are questioning still the Robinhood brand and so forth. But wow, I think the big sell for our advisors is talking to their clients about the Robinhood brand because we're having a lot of advisors who are reaching out to us now, very excited about getting on a platform that basically has a future to it and is not really just a status quo custodian.
00:11:16
Speaker
And, you know, it's it's it's really been a positive surprise that we've had so much positivity from a lot of lot of firms. And, you know, I think that's really something we have to look at and be really excited about and optimistic about.
00:11:28
Speaker
You know, we do know there's going to be some some firms that are cautious around this program, the asset match in the you entire 50 basis point scenario. And they are, i think, totally shocked with it because no one's ever done it before.
00:11:43
Speaker
And they're going, what am I missing? What's the catch? You know, when I look at this. But the truth of the matter is, it's just a client benefit. They get directly deposited, you know, monies for doing business with us.
00:11:55
Speaker
And, ah you know, that's pretty huge that, you know, you put in money and 45 days later, there's ah within 45 days, there's a there's a match deposit, you know, credit to your account.
Compliance and Eligibility for Asset Match
00:12:05
Speaker
um You know, and that gets reported as interest or miscellaneous income, depending on what type of account it is.
00:12:09
Speaker
But that's huge for a client to be able to have that. And again, something never that's never been done. And I think it's Robin Hood's way of saying, you know, welcome to the ERA space. we're We're here to do business. We're here to be proactive and we're here to to to be proactive to the end customers of the ERAs.
00:12:28
Speaker
Eligible assets, right? I should say for our compliance friends listening, the match is for eligible assets. <unk>s right That's right. So, so Rob, i want to I want to drill a little bit deeper on that. in And, you know, from my perspective, having been an advisor, you know, challenging...
00:12:45
Speaker
The challenges of interacting with your clients in in and particularly around things like this is really new. As a fiduciary, you know my job is to do the right thing for my clients.
00:12:56
Speaker
um This is kind of a new thing. As we said earlier in the conversation, probably um no one else has ever even come close to doing this in the REA space. So coach me a little bit, let's role play.
00:13:08
Speaker
um I'm a client, you're my advisor. How might you approach this as an advisor, speaking to a client about introducing the idea of this match back opportunity?
00:13:20
Speaker
Well, as an advisor, I would you know start out by just saying, look, we want to move you know the next the custodian that is innovative and that's going to support the next generation of assets.
00:13:31
Speaker
And we believe that's Robinhood. And we're willing to back up that belief. And they're willing to back up that belief with you know a 50 basis point match. and they're going to credit your account just for doing business with them.
00:13:42
Speaker
And that's a huge factor because, as you know, you you pay a small fee to us as the advisory firm, and this is going to help offset that fee. So it's ah it's a two-edged sword for you, and both on the positive light, ah you're going to be able to you know effectively cut your fee in some some way, shape, or form.
00:14:00
Speaker
And you're also going to be able to be credited ah you know with those assets right away, ah instantaneously upon you know the the deposit hitting your account. And that's going to be a real positive for you.
00:14:11
Speaker
And it's going to allow us to transition without is effectively a monetary pain. and yeah so yeah And that makes a lot of sense. ah you know In a way, you know what I hear you say is that The future you know is changing for all of us, whether you're a client or you're an advisor.
00:14:29
Speaker
Robinhood has done some pretty amazing things to innovate investing for um for everyone. and And you know this gives an advisor an opportunity introduce a client to the opportunities that will come in a relationship with Robinhood, as I understand it.
00:14:48
Speaker
Good story. Good story to tell. Yeah, I think the the one other element that's quite... interesting is, you know we're sitting with 26 million customers that are largely in the first or second inning of their investing career.
00:15:07
Speaker
And so as they as a get married, have children, buy a home, life starts to happen. um An increasingly larger larger number of them are saying, look, I started off self-directed with a small pool of assets, and now I'm at a point in life where I need some help.
00:15:27
Speaker
either with all of those assets or a portion of those assets. um But they're accustomed to doing it in a manner that we are very good at from a Robin Hood standpoint, from a technology standpoint and from the the the incentives and that and just all the things we try to deliver from a value standpoint.
00:15:46
Speaker
So ah having that experience extend itself from the self-directed side um to the side where an advisor is helping them is something they're going to welcome and they're going to, they're gonna you know, they'll be looking for a similar experience um on the advisor side.
00:16:05
Speaker
And so um this is really one of the first steps in trying to help deliver that. What's interesting, Steve, is that I think you mentioned this earlier, that obviously there was a program similar to this that Robinhood has used that's been very effective at you know having younger investors dip their toe in the water of investing through Robinhood, Right.
00:16:26
Speaker
And when I think about the great generational wealth transfer that's looming, a lot of these clients at Robinhood today are going to become the beneficiaries of some of those assets that move from generation. So I guess one way I can look at it is it worked very well for that generation.
00:16:43
Speaker
It seems to me that um older generations would also benefit from this asset match program in a unique way and kind of brings all these generations together around this one common theme.
00:16:55
Speaker
Well, I mean, they're going to benefit in a bigger way because they have a bigger account. So the larger your account, the more you benefit. Absolutely. and so, you know, and I think, look, I don't want to paint ah paint the world into a place where there's this generation of investors and this generation of investors because I can put myself in in this category, you know.
00:17:17
Speaker
I'm a self-directed investor who also has advised assets. And, you know, I didn't start investing and say, this is the way I'm going to invest for the rest of my 35 years.
00:17:28
Speaker
I evolved as a market evolved. And I think a lot of people want to do that if they want to stay competitive and get the returns they want. you know, you have to keep abreast of what's happening in the market. And think that's what we as a team are collectively trying to help them do. Well, I have a question actually for Bill. Something I'm curious about is, you know, you mentioned earlier your time as an advisor and I don't know how long ago that was, but out curiosity, you know, what have been like for you back when you were reaching out to your clients if you had something like an asset match to come and talk to them about? How would it have impacted your business?
00:18:04
Speaker
Well, Ryan, it would have actually been a ah terrific tool if we had had it back then. And it really goes back to a lot of what Rob had mentioned and Steve had mentioned. um It's to get clients to think beyond the immediate.
00:18:17
Speaker
And by um offering this kind of an opportunity, I would have been able to get clients to bring more assets to us and help them better prepare for the future. So I think it would have been a win-win had we thought of that ah you know back when I was in you know in the business of providing advice.
00:18:32
Speaker
All well, gonna bring it back to our guests now. Rob, this one's probably for you. Can you share a little bit about what the early feedback has been like from advisors? what What's the tone been like in the conversations you're out there having with firms?
Advisor Feedback and Business Opportunities
00:18:45
Speaker
Well, you know, people have asked me, you know, how are we going to judge whether this is successful or not? And the truth of the matter is it's going to be from the success stories from advisors. And we're starting to see those already. um Advisors are calling in and saying, hey, I got a $2 million dollars account that I wouldn't have gotten without this program.
00:19:01
Speaker
um We've had people say... uh they've had clients call in and say hey hold my monthly deposits until october 1st i want the match um you know there's been all kinds of little stories that have come in that are great and we're going to measure all those stories in the end we want to just see the success that this has brought to light and and see that it's helped advisors land new business and that's really what this is about is all those next new accounts uh that they're able to obtain that they wouldn't been able to to have had earlier, as well as being able to go back to those clients and say, hey, look, it's time to to to ah target those outside assets you have in other places.
00:19:41
Speaker
And this is a great time to move them and consolidate them into one place. We've talked about it for years. This is a a mechanism that's going to help you ah be able to do that if you're an advisor and reach out to those clients and offer a match just for those customers to to make that move and to get that consolidation done.
00:19:57
Speaker
Because a lot of people drag their feet, they wait and wait, and sometimes an incentive of like this helps drive those initiatives. And so we're really excited that a lot of advisors are going to be able to tell us those stories in the coming months.
00:20:09
Speaker
You know, and i want to I want to add to that, and ah Rob, because you you brought up a really important point that I remember, and and and Ryan, this goes back to your question to me about how it would have benefited me as an advisor when I was in practice. And the reality of it was, is that when I was in practice, it was very common for clients to spread their assets across several firms.
00:20:30
Speaker
And if you look at the history of how that developed, it was in those days, we were we were selling people things, and oftentimes it was ah IPOs, initial public offerings and or bonds. And as a salesperson, you'd be given a list of products to sell and you'd start calling.
00:20:48
Speaker
And if a client got a good call from one firm, they buy and another firm called with another idea. And before you knew it, you had three or four accounts set up. That was never the client's intention initially.
00:21:00
Speaker
And today, um as an advisor, I'd say that that nesssis doesn't necessarily benefit anybody. And you know when you start to think about comprehensive planning, et cetera, et cetera, being able to have access to your assets in in in a the and one space where you can monitor and you have your advisor monitor it, and as as Steve pointed out,
00:21:24
Speaker
Many clients have some portion of their wealth as self-directed and another portion as advised. So I think that this really does begin to align um the best interests on behalf of the client as it relates to having comprehensive a comprehensive view of everything that's going on.
00:21:42
Speaker
Well, speaking of feedback, I'm curious also, Rob, out in your conversations with advisors, ah has there been any confusion or anything that you're hearing that maybe you want to use this time on the podcast to clear up any negative perceptions or things that advisors maybe are are struggling with as they think about getting their hands on this program?
00:22:01
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. um You know, I think some advisors out there like to make things difficult and find ah little little nuances that they ah and can look at and try to say, is this really a negative or a positive benefit to your end customer?
00:22:16
Speaker
It's a positive asset in their account. um And that's really the way this needs to be looked at. If you look at any nuance, you know, equation that could dream that somebody could dream up that somehow it could be a negative, it'd have to be a ridiculous scenario.
00:22:32
Speaker
And, ah you know, that those things just don't really happen. So, um you know, this this is a big, positive, innovative, you know, experience for a customer to be able to to add more money to their account to consolidate assets.
00:22:47
Speaker
to do more business with the advisors of trade PMR. And is it needs to be used that way and thought about that way. And, and, unfortunately there's, there's always going to be somebody who wants to bring out a negative of some sort, but the truth of the matter is you can't bring out a negative when it's a positive to your customers.
00:23:04
Speaker
Um, you know, that's just, that's just, that's the end equation to me. So, uh, That's the truth and andre we're seeing that across the board. We have numerous advisors that are really, really excited about this and using it for their for their benefit and for their customer's benefit.
00:23:21
Speaker
And we're real excited that they're being able to do that and show us that they're that that it's working. Ryan, I would say if you if you would ask, you know, if there are what is the negative feedback or any um any any narrative that isn't positive about this program?
00:23:41
Speaker
ah It's we've heard that even on the self-directed side, but it's only coming from our competitors. It's actually no, they're very open about it. Like the analysts will tell us, hey, your competitors are saying, how is this feasible? how are they doing this? And, you know, my response is, has always been, um you know, I mean, we worry about our customers and in this case, our advisors.
00:24:06
Speaker
um But I would turn the question back to them. You know, if you have a company that has 40,000 people as opposed to, you 2,500 and very, very operational, ah operationally efficient, we can deliver more value back to you.
00:24:23
Speaker
um The cost structure isn't such that we can't make this a win for for both the advisor, the customer and for for us. And so I think that's really the only negative. I mean, for the customers, they they see it for what it is.
00:24:38
Speaker
it's It's only positive for them. That's the only real ah ah narrative, a negative narrative that I've heard and you know that they feed it into media and then the media kind of writes about oh where's the catch? Well, I don't see one.
00:24:53
Speaker
yeah Yeah, Ryan, I think that's true. Even of our merger with Robinhood, um you know, there wasn't, ah but maybe what, 100 articles written about that scenario and all of them were positive. And the only people who said anything negative was our competitors.
00:25:08
Speaker
So, you know, I think that's true across the board.
Closing Remarks and Legal Information
00:25:11
Speaker
So, you know, do we have terms and conditions with this match program? We absolutely do. And, you know, they're on our website and can be, a you know, read and just, and, and, uh,
00:25:20
Speaker
They're out there for all to see, but the end benefit for the customer is there. And we're real excited to be able to offer it and for people to take advantage of And thank you to Rob Baldwin and Steve Quirk, our QE's known here in the office, for joining us back on the Synergize podcast.
00:25:35
Speaker
ah For more of our show, please be sure to follow us on Spotify, Apple, YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts. Be sure to click like, subscribe, all that good stuff. It helps the algorithm.
00:25:46
Speaker
And we'll catch you on the next one. Thanks for having us. Appreciate it. Thanks, Bill.
00:25:57
Speaker
If you want to join the conversation or connect with us, please visit us at SynergizePodcast.com. This content is provided for general information purposes only. The views expressed by non-affiliated guest speakers are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Trade PMR or its affiliates.
00:26:15
Speaker
Trade PMR and its affiliates do not endorse any guest speakers or their companies and therefore give no assurances as to the quality of their products and services. This channel is not monitored by Trade PMR.
00:26:27
Speaker
Trade PMR does not provide investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice. Trade PMR is a member of FINRA and SIPC. Trade PMR Inc. is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission se and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.
00:26:42
Speaker
and msrb Trade PMR provides brokerage and account services to registered investment advisors. Custodial services provided by First Clearing. First Clearing is a trade name used by Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC. Member SIPC, a registered broker dealer and non-bank affiliate of Wells Fargo and Company.
00:27:00
Speaker
Copyright 2025, Trade PMR Inc. For a transcript of this episode with sources, visit synergizedpodcast.com.