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Ep. 23: Steve Quirk: Capturing Wallet Share from DIY Investors Seeking Advice
37 Plays1 month ago
Technology has allowed everyday people to invest on their own, but a strictly DIY approach may only get them so far. A Cerulli study highlighting the desire for human advice found that more than half of self-directed investors value the ability to speak with a person about their account, yet only 39% of these investors have tapped into this opportunity.1
A critical step in addressing this gap is identifying what approach makes sense for an individual at a particular point in their life, according to Steve Quirk, Chief Brokerage Officer at Robinhood Markets, Inc., a tech-forward platform for self-directed investors and TradePMR’s new parent company.
In this episode of the Synergizepodcast, Quirk joins hosts Bill Coppel, Chief Client Growth Officer at TradePMR, and Ryan Neal, Senior Editor at TradePMR, to explore the emerging trend of self-directed investors seeking advice and how RIAs may want to tap into this new market.
Listen as they explore:
·What the traditional industry may be getting wrong about self-directed investors and how they want to be served
Parallels they see between the evolution of the RIA business and Robinhood’s focus on providing greater access to investing
·What Robinhood and TradePMR coming together may offer the RIAs TradePMR serves
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Get the transcript for this episode, with sources, at https://synergizepodcast.com/.
About Steve Quirk
Steve Quirk is Chief Brokerage Officer at Robinhood Markets.
Prior to joining Robinhood, Steve oversaw the strategy and deployment of initiatives for Trading at TD Ameritrade. He also served as a member of the company’s Senior Operating Committee, which shaped the strategic focus of the organization. Steve focused on teaching the next generation of investors and championed the creation of the TD Ameritrade U program to bridge the gap between academia and reality.
Prior to his role at TD Ameritrade, Steve was responsible for the development of new trading tools and technology enhancements for the thinkorswim, Inc. trading platform.
Steve holds a BBA in Risk/Insurance and Marketing from the University of Wisconsin. He also holds FINRA Series 4, 7, and 24 licenses and is an active Board Member of Cara Collective.
Trade-PMR, Inc. is a subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc.
More About Steve:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-quirk-56148a22/
Website: https://investors.robinhood.com/management/steve-quirk
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 TradePMR or its affiliates. TradePMR 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 TradePMR. TradePMR does not provide investment advice, tax advice or legal advice. TradePMR is a member of FINRA and SIPC. TradePMR, Inc. is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission {SEC) and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB). TradePMR 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 & Company. Copyright 2025. TradePMR, Inc. For a transcript of this episode with sources, visit synergizepodcast.com.
1 Self-Directed Investors Value Human Advice But Are Slow to Act, Cerulli Associates, Published Oct. 30, 2024.
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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.
Meet the Hosts: Bill Capelle and Ryan Neal
00:00:26
Speaker
Hi, I'm Bill Capelle, Chief Client Growth Officer at Trade PMR, a Robinhood company. And I'm Ryan Neal, Senior Editor at Trade PMR, a Robinhood company. And you're listening to the Synergize podcast.
00:00:39
Speaker
We're excited about this episode because we're approaching the idea of growth in the RIA business from a different angle.
How Can RIAs Grow with Technology?
00:00:47
Speaker
And we're going to be talking about how RIAs might grow their businesses considering some of the challenges of today's wealth management landscape, like the changing expectations of investors for one.
00:01:00
Speaker
And then there's the impact of how technology is reshaping wealth management. And last and certainly not least, the generational wealth transfer that's underway.
Are Human Advisors Still Valuable?
00:01:12
Speaker
Raising this question, is the industry prepared? That's right, Bill. ah Technology has given everyday people access to financial products and services that traditionally were only available to institutional investors.
00:01:26
Speaker
And it's allowed people to start taking control of their financial lives in ways that they never really have before. But that independence can really only get you so far. At some point, most of us, i mean, not everyone, some are DIY people to their core, but most of us are really going to need and want some professional advice and guidance.
00:01:47
Speaker
Ryan, I couldn't agree more. In fact, a Cerulli study found that self-directed investors do find value in human advice when it comes to their money. More than half of self-directed investors value the ability to speak with a person about their account.
00:02:03
Speaker
Yet just only 39% of these investors have tapped into this opportunity. I think what it speaks to is that investors just want and need different things at different stages in their life. Right?
00:02:15
Speaker
And that's not like a revolutionary concept. You start in the workforce, you maybe start saving some money, start investing, maybe start a retirement account. It's pretty straightforward.
00:02:26
Speaker
ah But then you get married, then you have kids, then you buy a house and all of a sudden your life's way more complicated and you've got all these questions. I mean, I know it, I did all those things in the last a year. It's it's nuts.
00:02:38
Speaker
um And so really the important part here is identifying what approach makes sense for an individual at a particular point in time for their life.
Steve Quirk on Self-Directed Investors
00:02:49
Speaker
And to that end, Ryan, we're excited to welcome Robinhood's Chief Brokerage Officer, Steve Quirk, to the Synergize podcast.
00:02:57
Speaker
We're going to be discussing this emerging trend of self-directed investors seeking advice and how RIAs we serve at TradePMR can tap into this new market. I think the area that's the focal point for us right out of the gate is a referral program.
00:03:13
Speaker
Because I think connecting those advisors with the customers who have been dying for this connection to be able to help them facilitate advice where they need it is going to be magical.
00:03:27
Speaker
As I mentioned, Steve is the chief brokerage officer at Robinhood Markets, a tech forward platform for self-directed investors and our new parent company. To learn more about Steve's background and experience, please refer to our show notes.
00:03:42
Speaker
Steve, thanks for joining us. Thank you so much for having me. I love the way you guys have have kind of set the context for this conversation um because we're pretty excited about what we're going to be doing here.
00:03:54
Speaker
Well, we are too. um So I want to start with this question. You spent a lot of time in your career in more what I would call the mainstream service um of the financial services industry before moving over to the Silicon Valley version of brokerage, right? Right. I'd love to start the conversation with asking you what you've learned from this move and how it's changed the way you think about serving investors.
00:04:22
Speaker
Yeah, so ah just as ah as a way of background, I started my career um quite a long time ago. a matter of fact, I started on the week of the crash, and that's the real crash in 1987 on a trading floor in Chicago.
00:04:36
Speaker
um So I was really, if you think about the whole paradigm of of of of an investor, whether it's self-directed or somebody who is being advised, making a decision on wanting to invest in a certain stock or any asset.
00:04:52
Speaker
um Typically what happens, especially in those days, is you know that was either entered electronically or in those days, probably ah started by a phone call and it ended up on a trading floor.
00:05:05
Speaker
I was on that trading floor either executing that trade or taking the other side of it in a market making capacity. And as i as I kind of think about my my career, I've sort of worked my way from the from the back all the way up to the front where I'm actually working with customers on behalf of um their needs.
00:05:25
Speaker
um the The beauty in having the ability to experience this all the way through the chain is i i have a familiarity with all the processes along the way. i think, Bill, you and I have talked.
00:05:36
Speaker
um You don't just start at the back and not do all the work in the middle office, the back office, clearing, you know routing, everything. So I have an understanding of all those things and they all play a part in making sure the experience is really good for customers on the on the front end.
00:05:53
Speaker
So by the time you know i got to the point where I was up here interacting with customers, you know that part was very known and I knew how to make that you know a good experience.
00:06:04
Speaker
um And then learning you know exactly what they need on the on the top end of the funnel um was really cool. Well, I just wanted to add, Steve, I remember the 87 crash, same way you do, but and sleeping in the office for several nights because we were trying to sort out the paper long before we have the the power of technology we have today.
00:06:25
Speaker
Well, don't remember the 87 crash, because that's the year I was born. But moving on, I guess, kind of building on that idea, though, is, so you've moved over to Robinhood and from that world. um What have you learned, or what can you share with our audience about the investors that Robinhood serves?
Misconceptions About Robinhood's Young Investors
00:06:41
Speaker
And I guess, kind of more importantly, what do you think traditional, you know, Wall Street, or just the traditional industry, is still getting wrong about those investors and and how they want to be served? So i like I'll look at it through the lens of the way I used to. I came from td Ameritrade, which was acquired by Schwab.
00:07:01
Speaker
So I have familiarity with both of those firms and and a firm, you know, ah a smaller firm, which was acquired as well. But we also acquired firms. We acquired Scottrade. So I've seen a lot of different brokerage firms and have experience with a lot of different brokerage firms.
00:07:17
Speaker
I think the part that um that I didn't look, i I got it wrong myself when I was part of TD Ameritrade and Schwab. We watched Robin Hood growing really rapidly.
00:07:27
Speaker
And, you know, we had the same perception that many did in the industry. Oh, it's a bunch of kids, you know, that are taking small accounts and um trading things in a way that might be um not not good for their long term investing career.
00:07:41
Speaker
um but When I got to Robinhood, I realized that's actually not the case at all. They're just earlier in their career, in their investing career. So yes, of course, they have a smaller account, smaller number of investable assets when they first get started.
00:07:59
Speaker
And so as they've started to grow, which makes this this this opportunity so amazing, They've gotten to the point in their financial journey where they said, you know what, that's great. I was self-directed with a small um portion of investable assets. I'm accumulating wealth now, either through my work or having that passed down from other generations.
00:08:24
Speaker
I'm not equipped to do to manage all of this wealth. And so I need help, whether that's with all of it or a portion of that. And as a result, you know, that's why we, of course, have have come to the place where we are today, because we want to be able to serve all their needs.
00:08:41
Speaker
And they have, we've heard loud and clear from those customers, listen, I have wealth being advised elsewhere. I'd love to have it all in one place,
Wealth Transfer Challenges & Opportunities
00:08:51
Speaker
but you don't have a solution for me.
00:08:53
Speaker
And so that's why we're so excited. Well, Yeah. You just reminded me real quick, Bill. I just, you totally brought back a memory of 10 years ago when I, as a reporter and I first started writing about the financial vice space, I remember I saw a study that was sort of like a a chastising, you know, a slap on the wrist to millennials about how this, you know generation, gen ah boomers and Gen X have to put this much into the retirement accounts, but millennials have only put this much in their retirement accounts.
00:09:20
Speaker
And remember, I was elma very much millennial. I was in my twenties at the time, And I was like, well, yeah, I just started my retirement account two years ago. Of course, I haven't put that much in. What do you want from me? um So I think there's this weird idea. It's like, oh, millennials don't have money. but it's like, well, yeah, because we were starting. Now we're not starting and we want we want to work with you.
00:09:39
Speaker
I actually think i'm I'm very encouraged by the idea that people are starting at a younger age. You know, I mean, we all know the power of compounding.
00:09:50
Speaker
If you do it in a suitable manner, you're in the long run. I'll give you a story. I have three daughters. They all hit the working world recently. They're in their 20s. And they all have, you know, different roles in in different industries.
00:10:05
Speaker
And by the way, I was a Schwab when this happened. So I was lecturing them like every you know boring finance father does and said, your money needs to work as hard for you as you are working for your money.
00:10:16
Speaker
Because there are two components to this, you working and then your money working for you. And so they finally relented you know and got tired of listening to me. And they walked up to me one day and showed me their their phone. And they said I said, that's a Robinhood account.
00:10:33
Speaker
work for Schwab. but so What are you doing? And they said, we are doing this the same way all of our friends and our cousins are doing it. And I'm like, okay, touche.
00:10:44
Speaker
Yeah, it doesn't matter how you do it. It matters that you are doing it, right? And so they got started. I said, you know, I helped them a little bit. let's invest You invest in whatever companies you you daily so but have daily interactions with, which is, you know, common for people are just getting started.
00:11:03
Speaker
And, you know, they'd tell me, oh my gosh, I'm up, blah, blah, blah. But as soon as we had a down day, they would call me and yell at me. Like, Dad, I'm down. It's all your fault. It's all your fault. And I said, okay, we're going to fix this. you are goingnna You are going to do recurring investments with whatever you're comfortable with.
00:11:21
Speaker
You tell me the amount. That amount is going to go into the market. And we're going to remove the emotion from this, right? but And listen, I fully expect that they're going to get to a point probably in the next couple of years where they're going to say, I'm not comfortable doing this all on my own anymore.
00:11:38
Speaker
I've accumulated enough wealth where I want somebody to help me and I want to be able to talk to that person and make sure that I'm doing it in an appropriate manner. I look forward to that day. It's going be amazing. I think that's great that's a great story, Steve, and I think it does reflect the sentiment of this generation that's out there. I've been asked on a number of occasions to talk to companies starting 401ks who are young companies that are that are new.
00:12:04
Speaker
um And of course, it's it's difficult to get young employees, new employees who you know obviously are at the beginning of their earning potential to contribute to the 401k. And And I try to explain him and said, you know, it's not about saving for retirement.
00:12:21
Speaker
As you accumulate more financial assets, you will come. What will come with that are more opportunities and pivots and transitions in your life. And so, you know, i one of the things that I think is interesting is we've characterized our industry is largely focused on helping people get to a point in their life called retirement, which.
00:12:43
Speaker
um I will admit that I could technically qualify for that, but retirement in old English means death. And I don't think people retire. I think they transition and pivot. But the guidance you're giving your daughters is is is outstanding. i'll take ah I'll take a page for that because I've got my last one getting ready to leave the house so and off the payroll.
00:13:03
Speaker
Okay. But let me let me get back let me get back to the conversation. Do you see any parallels between sort of the entrepreneurial spirit
Entrepreneurial Spirit: RIAs vs. Robinhood
00:13:11
Speaker
of RIAs? Now, keep in mind that these are investment professionals who kind of broke away and left more of the traditional ah foundational places where you would operate, wire houses or brokerage firms, um to bring what I would call an institutional quality of wealth management to more investors.
00:13:31
Speaker
Do you see a parallel with sort of the the evolution of the RAA business in the history of Robinhood as a company providing greater access to investing? I absolutely see the parallel.
00:13:43
Speaker
and and and And I couldn't agree more. They are entrepreneurs. They're entrepreneurs who are looking for help um in being able to to manage they the the the portfolios and all the needs of those customers.
00:13:59
Speaker
But they also want to be able to build that business and they don't want to be bogged down with all the things that, you know, that the operational, the things that aren't really, um the most um beneficial for customers. In other words, how can how can we make it a much better experience for them to either first find these potential customers, take advantage of these ah of all the opportunities that the customers are looking for, um or just make the whole practice easier to manage and make it more visible for customers so that those friction points all get removed.
00:14:37
Speaker
Robinhood's amazing in that aspect. And I think there's a huge opportunity there. The other thing that I think is is going to be so amazing is just then a connectivity to the next generation this is the next generation who's getting and then this number keeps growing every day but the last i saw is 124 trillion that's getting passed down and you know the interesting thing that i've been reading a lot about is it might not get passed down one generation it might get passed down two because people are living longer and so by the time Their kids are at the age or they're at the age where they're going to pass it down. Their kids might have had have their wealth on their own.
00:15:15
Speaker
So if you think about it, if you're du if you're skipping a generation, I know I think the industry number is 70% of people, you know, get rid of their advisor. God, it's probably harder than hired than I would imagine. You guys probably know that better than I do.
00:15:29
Speaker
You're right on. I mean, what we're what we're seeing, at least at least in terms of what Cerule is seeing, is that as that money transitions to the next ah generation, G2 or G3, to your point, um it is expected that more than 70% of those inheriting the money are going to not work with their parent's advisor, which is a huge opportunity.
00:15:54
Speaker
You the other stat that follow along to that, Steve, is the fact that um women, single women, ah either through, you know, ah divorce or ah being a widow, are less likely or not likely at all to use their husband's advisors, which points to another challenge that I think, ah you know, is a huge obstacle for, you know, for the industry to overcome.
00:16:19
Speaker
but and if Oh, go ahead, Steve. Oh, no, please, Ryan. Go ahead. i Well, i was going to say, if if my social media feed is any indication millennials are also starting to get divorced. So, you know, get ready. Yeah. And I also think that I think what what people get wrong there, and we I mean, i I can reference our customers here.
00:16:41
Speaker
is not that they don't want an advisor, they don't want that advisor. They want somebody who's forward thinking and thinking and in a similar vein that they are. And so, you know, I think that's where I think it's going be really important and cool to see what we do together and how we can take care of these customers in a way that will help them on their journey. But I love, by the way, Bill, I love the point that you made.
00:17:08
Speaker
about um the investing journey. Like it shouldn't, the single point in time should not be retirement. The fun of the investing journey is every single point. Like you are going to have financial needs to buy a house, kid go to college, school, you know, name it along the lines.
00:17:26
Speaker
that's That's the fun. ah yeah is is Look, you don't want to, no offense, but I don't think you want to save it all till the end. I think you want to enjoy it while you're, you know, in your prime your life.
00:17:38
Speaker
Yeah, as they say, I want my last check to bounce, so um we're going to have fun with it. Nice. Well, Steve, you kind of already touched on this a little bit, but I want to give you the chance to expand if you want to, yeah because I feel like I've read so much out there about, um you know, Robinhood buying Trade PMR and why it makes good business sense for Robinhood and all the opportunities that it has for for Robinhood's company.
00:18:02
Speaker
But I feel like there hasn't been as much said about the opportunities for the RIAs that Trade PMR serves and and how this can benefit them. You just did touch on a lot of that. but is there anything else you want to expand on on what the opportunity and benefit can be for for some TradePMR's customers?
00:18:17
Speaker
Yeah, i think we at the at the very starting point and like ah Vlad has done a couple of webinars, but you'll probably hear more from him, you know, as as as time goes on. Yeah.
00:18:32
Speaker
Like he doesn't think about buying a company to diversify a revenue stream. He thinks about a customer. What does our customer want and how can we serve their needs?
00:18:44
Speaker
That's a starting point. The starting point is, hey, guess what? We're only serving half of their needs. You know, the self-directed side, we aren't even touching this side. How can we address that?
00:18:55
Speaker
We need to fix that. um We need to be able to make sure that Robinhood is their destination for all of their financial services needs. And so we looked all over. You know, we we looked at other firms, we partnered, we looked everywhere we could, and Trade PMR stood out.
Why Did Robinhood Acquire Trade PMR?
00:19:12
Speaker
head and shoulders above everybody else just because they basically have the similar ethos, which is how are we going to serve this generation of cost of investors and customers in a way that's going to take them on a ah good path in their financial future?
00:19:29
Speaker
And i think what excites us the most about it is we're aligned from a technology standpoint that's where we're going to make the most hay in making the experience amazing for the end customer for the advisor and making removing as many friction points as we can we're going to have that connectivity so that those in those investors can find an advisor who can help them with their needs whether it's all their needs or some of their needs and they're going to do it in a in a manner
00:20:01
Speaker
that they're going to love. And it's going to make the experience, I think, one that looks almost like a self-directed And then I think the the other thing that's going to be super powerful is we we we keep talking about the the technology and we're talking about um all the other areas, the connectivity of the advisors and our end clients.
00:20:24
Speaker
There's another element that we've actually really done a great job of. As the landscape shifts in how you're servicing customers, The landscape has to shift from a regulatory standpoint, from the way um the the elected officials look at at how you're doing business. And um I know Dan and Lucas, Dan, who is our chief legal officer, um did a a ah video the other day and talked to um some advisors about what they anticipate is going to change in Washington with the new regime.
00:21:03
Speaker
um The work that we do currently on behalf of self-directed, the work that we will do on behalf of advisors, um and we're committed to doing that to make sure that you guys are not being bogged down. Part of not being bogged down is also on the regulatory front. It's not always on technology or operational, and I'm preaching to the choir.
00:21:22
Speaker
You guys live this. um But, you you know, that is meaningful. And especially when you're now going to be taking care of customers that are looking for for a different solution in other words they might be younger customers their accounts might not be the same size and their their desires to invest in some things you know like alts which you guys are you know in are going to be different and so i think that is to me that that part isn't as talked about as much but it's really important
00:21:54
Speaker
I agree.
Post-Acquisition Regulatory Challenges
00:21:55
Speaker
And, you know, I want to follow up on on a point you made, which I think was very insightful, Steve, around this notion of um the industry traditionally has built itself around the regulatory environment, right? We we have very strict boundaries. And of course, we we love to complain about it, but I throw that in the category of moats.
00:22:15
Speaker
If not for the regulatory business, yep um we would never be disrupted. Then comes Robinhood. um and And I think the point you're making here is, you know, what I'm hearing is that Robinhood has built a business aimed at serving clients, certainly within the guidelines, but their focus is on serving clients and helping them respond.
00:22:39
Speaker
achieve what matters most to them and not so concerned with all of the other things that the traditional industry is focused on, which is apparatus and the things that kind of make the wheels go round and round every day. You figure that out very easily with the tech forward ah position.
00:22:58
Speaker
What I want to do is I want to drill down a little bit more on the custodial space because now Robinhood is a custodian. yeah And so when you think about it, there are already some large players in the RAA custodial business.
00:23:11
Speaker
um There's been a fair amount of consolidation in that space as well. Where's the opportunity for Robinhood, for us, to come in and disrupt the space? In other words, how will this look different than what's already in the market today?
00:23:27
Speaker
um So... I was part of TD Ameritrade, which was acquired by Schwab. so And again, i ran the self-directed side, but I had a lot of interaction with with what we call the institutional side, the RIA side as well.
00:23:42
Speaker
And by the way, that almost didn't get through because the size of both of those was going to be something that I think the regulators had some concerns on. um But you know as a result of that, on both sides of that business,
00:23:57
Speaker
When you are, I've have, having gone through um being acquired three times in acquiring Scottrade, I know what happens. You're, you're meshing technology, legacy technologies together. You're cobbling them together and it doesn't permit you to be very reactive or proactive on what you're building on behalf of your, your customers. And in this case would be the advisors and end customers.
00:24:24
Speaker
um We have the freedom. to be able to take a blank template with some of everything that you have built and say, how can we take this, streamline it, make it better, make it unbelievable for the customer?
00:24:40
Speaker
We're really good at that. um And so I think that, number one, is a great opportunity. But number two, um you know as you become somebody who has aggregated, as some of these have, and now we have, let's call it maybe a duopoly,
00:24:56
Speaker
How motivated are they when they have a duopoly to do what's most beneficial for the advisors? I believe I just saw that they're raising the prices on the referral program.
Is Robinhood Competing with Advisors?
00:25:07
Speaker
That's right.
00:25:07
Speaker
um We do the opposite, right? that That's what we do is try and put more money in the pockets of our advisors and in the end customers so that they can get better returns. We have a history of that.
00:25:21
Speaker
So I think, and just the idea that you would limit the number of referral you know advisors that are being referred, which has shrunk pretty dramatically since we've seen this consolidation. And you know i I read enough to hear hear all the noise on that.
00:25:36
Speaker
um People are not happy with that. Or the idea that we're going to compete with you you know for those dollars that are coming from ah customer that's looking for an advised solution.
00:25:48
Speaker
we don't We have no intentions of competing. It's a reason why we're we came together is because you are we are the solution for that. So I think there is a whole bunch of unique opportunities here that are going to be really cool.
00:26:03
Speaker
um And I also think you you just want to be forward-looking. Like if your whole mantra is moat, It's not good. It's really not good.
00:26:13
Speaker
um i I would be not that enthused if I'm an advisor or a customer, if if the firm that I'm custodying with is saying, well, all we want to do is keep you here. we're not And so we're going to do the minimum viable thing to make sure that you will stay here.
00:26:29
Speaker
We're going to create enough friction so that it's painful for you to leave. yeah Our industry has perfected that. Yes, yeah exactly. Well, because you because you brought it up, I'll just touch on this now, because I know, again, when I was a reporter and covering this space, that that was a big friction in the RAA space was ah for advisors who custody with another firm that has a retail business.
00:26:55
Speaker
You know, are you competing with me? Are are you you know developing more technology for your retail business and not sharing it with our advisors? Lots and lots of that stuff. Big kind of ah a core friction in the industry.
00:27:05
Speaker
So anything else you want to share with any advisors that may hear this and may have concerns about Robinhood being a you know very famously retail facing company coming into this space and and if the the service or the product is going to change at all?
00:27:19
Speaker
Yeah, I lived this for many years at TD Ameritrade. Like I don't put if you want to keep a customer happy and keep them, you know, as as your full service financial services firm.
00:27:35
Speaker
All you want to do is is let them do what they'd like to do and help them facilitate it. In other words, you don't want to dictate where we think we they should go. And that, when you do, I think you end up I just don't think you're doing what's in the best interest of the customer. And that's not what we do at all. We're not aligned. We're not aligned with that theory at all.
00:27:56
Speaker
So and again, the whole reason for us coming together is because we saw that need. So, you know, we have no interest in telling them, well, no, no, no, you shouldn't have somebody manage it here.
00:28:09
Speaker
Let us help you do more on the self-directed side. We're just we're just the agent. we are You tell us what you want to do. We will help you. We'll it educate you and in the options that are available, um but we just want to facilitate it. And we found by doing that, um customers reward you with more business and they're loyal.
00:28:30
Speaker
So Steve, there are so many things we can talk about. um you know, the wealth transfer issue I mentioned earlier, the impact of artificial intelligence on the business, cryptocurrency, which you're moving into.
What's New in Wealth Management?
00:28:42
Speaker
We're moving into at Robinhood. um Many of the things that we don't even you know think about today are going to impact um serving clients. But when I think about this, the question is, you know, what are you most excited about to work on next?
00:28:59
Speaker
You know, aside from, you know the integration of our two organizations and where do you see the biggest opportunity to make an improvement for both clients and advisors? I think the the the area that's the focal point for us right out of the gate is a referral program.
00:29:17
Speaker
Because I think connecting connecting those advisors with the customers who have been dying for this connection to be able to help them ah facilitate advice where they need it is going to be magical.
00:29:31
Speaker
I also think, and one of the things that we're very, very, very strong um proponents of is learning. from both the advisors and from those end customers on what you know they they want to see as the next iteration of that.
00:29:48
Speaker
Obviously, we have spoken with your with the teams here and with advisors enough to understand removing friction and making it operationally much easier to facilitate all this business is imperative.
00:30:02
Speaker
But I think we're also going to learn quite a bit more, and we plan to have many, um many um interactions with the advisors um to figure out exactly other how else we can help them.
00:30:15
Speaker
But I think to your point, like if you think about the ah technology that's coming down, other asset classes, and again, our job is just to make sure if if younger customers want something that isn't traditionally available,
00:30:30
Speaker
You know, we have to we have to find solutions for them so that they can um invest in the things that they want to, even if it's a small portion of their portfolio like crypto. um You know, just make that available for them.
00:30:43
Speaker
And, you know, today it's available in ETF format. And we saw a decent number of our customers get into that. um So we're we're very much. um of the mindset that they're going to find the investments that they find suitable, um whether that's through an advisor or on the self-directed side. Our job is to make it available to them.
00:31:06
Speaker
That's exciting. Yeah, and I think one of the biggest things that, yeah I'm just gonna summarize something thing I wanted to ask about, but that I think we don't even see the impact yet, we will as this goes, is so much of the wealth management industry has become tech-driven anyway, right? Banks, brokerages, wire houses, well I guess it's banks, but fintechs that have started up to serve advisors, that whole thing, ah TAMPs, asset managers, everyone has technology, even TradePMR has technology for advisors, but um What I think is going fascinating to watch is this is the first example that I can think of of a consumer-facing tech company moving into wealth management and what that's going to bring us in terms of tech talent and know-how and what we're going to be able to develop and build.
00:31:51
Speaker
um i think we're just starting to scratch the surface of what that's going to be and what it's going to look like. So that's what I'm excited about. um But I think ah as we wrap up these podcasts, Steve, we'd like to have our guests do sort of three takeaways for our audience.
00:32:05
Speaker
So maybe with that, what are what are three things that you want our listeners to take home to get excited about your vision for the the future of wealth management? Yeah, I think the first one is the one that I mentioned to Bill when he talked about what um what we are most excited about collectively, and that's just creating this connection.
00:32:24
Speaker
And the the, you know, the focal point will of that will be the referral program that really encompasses, you know, connecting people on behalf of their needs, but also making that connection for that $124 trillion dollar wealth transfer, transfer um making that connection seamless and and making it ah an amazing experience so these people can have their needs met. ah The second part, I think, is just technology, the technological um capabilities that we would bring together
00:32:56
Speaker
and help these advisors in terms of the operational efficiencies, all the little hangups that people have, whether it's on the on the practice management side or all the way down to the end client and making sure that experience is
Opportunities with Robinhood's Tech & Advocacy
00:33:10
Speaker
magical. Because if the magical if the experience is magical for the end client, they're going to reward that advisor with more business.
00:33:16
Speaker
And then the final thing, the third thing would be what we talked about a little bit earlier, and that's just advocating and making sure that we are, you know, an advocate on the advisory side um in both Washington, but across the industry and in delivering on behalf of advisors. Look, they have a very, very busy job.
00:33:38
Speaker
They don't have time to go think about you know how that's our job. We're supposed to be doing that on their behalf. We do it on behalf of retail customers. We'll do it on behalf of advisors and make sure that they're well represented and that they don't get bogged down with things that are going to be not a valuable use of their time.
00:33:55
Speaker
I think the combination of those three things, it's going to be magical. i'm I'm so excited about where we're going to go here. Fantastic, well thanks Steve, and I know we're excited here.
00:34:06
Speaker
I love that you used word advocating because and that's a no a word I've heard our founder Rob Baldwin use frequently is advocating for RIAs, so it sounds like that's a ah great natural fit.
00:34:16
Speaker
So just to sum up ah for our listeners real quick, Steve's looking forward to ah creating the connection, mainly that referral program, Two, the tech capabilities that Robin Hood's be able to bring to advisors.
00:34:28
Speaker
And three, that advocacy, going to bat for the RA industry and and promoting and promoting them. So we really hope you enjoyed today's conversation. ah Steve, thank you so much for being on.
00:34:40
Speaker
And if you like what you heard, please just take a moment to like, subscribe, follow us on social media, leave a comment, repost any of those little buttons that are on there.
00:34:50
Speaker
They all help a little bit. So ah please do and spread the word. um And once again, Steve, thanks for being on. Thank you. Thanks for having me. And Steve, i'd I'd like to add my thanks to it as well. Great conversation. Looking forward to many more as we navigate the future ah together.
00:35:08
Speaker
And to our listeners, I want to say thank you and watch for our next episode where we'll bring you even more insights and actionable ideas to help you grow your business. And remember, the challenge is yours to capitalize on what the future holds.
Conclusion & Contact Information
00:35:29
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.
00:35:47
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. Trade PMR does not provide investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice.
00:36:03
Speaker
Trade PMR is a member of FINRA and SIPC. Trade PMR Inc. is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission s e and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board. msrb Trade PMR provides brokerage and account services to registered investment advisors. Custodial services provided by First Clearing.
00:36:21
Speaker
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. Copyright 2025, Trade PMR Inc. For a transcript of this episode with sources, visit synergizedpodcast.com.