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Synergy25 Live Ep. 10: Oleg Tishkevich Challenges Advisors to Lead with Strategy
26 Plays7 months ago
For financial advisors navigating a constantly changing industry, growth can depend on more than just adopting the latest tools and tech. Is your firm leading with strategy or letting tech drive the agenda?
Bill Coppel, Director of Client Growth at TradePMR, and Ryan Neal, Senior Editor at TradePMR, sat down with Oleg Tishkevich, CEO of Invent, to discuss how aligning vision with technology can unlock sustainable growth.
Listen as they explore:
- The role of technology and AI in streamlining workflows and client experience
- Why firm culture and leadership mindset can be some of the greatest barriers to growth
- How aligning business strategy before building your tech stack could set the foundation for long-term success
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 Inc. or its affiliates. TradePMR Inc. 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 Inc. TradePMR Inc. does not provide investment advice, tax advice or legal advice. TradePMR Inc. 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.
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Transcript
Introduction and Event Overview
00:00:05
Speaker
Hi, I'm Bill Capelle, Chief Growth Officer at Trade PMR, a Robinhood company. And I'm Ryan Neal, Senior Editor at Trade PMR slash Robinhood. And you are listening to the Synergize Podcast live.
00:00:18
Speaker
Yes, Ryan, thank you. We are live here at the JW Marriott in Tampa, Florida for Trade PMR's signature annual event, Synergize 25. And we had an opportunity to sit down with our good friend Oleg here, who's going to share a little bit of his insight as to where we're heading with technology.
Invent.us and Trade PMR Partnership
00:00:37
Speaker
So, yes, our goal like our guest is Oleg Tyskevich, who is the CEO of Invent.us, is that Just Invent. Yeah, thank you. So we wanted to start with what brings you to Synergy this year and and give our audience a little bit of your background and what brings you to Synergy.
00:00:54
Speaker
Great, great, Ryan. um you know We've been a supporter of Trade PMR for many years, even back in my previous days with FinestLogix and InvestNet. And it's great to see Trade PMR growth, and especially with the latest announcements.
00:01:11
Speaker
At Invent, we help advisors bring all their data together and their applications to make it easy to be more efficient in the environment where all the applications work together. And we're excited to partner with Trade PMR recently to help specifically firms that are ah clearing with Trade PMR do exactly that. So especially firms that are um maybe using different tools, different product providers, you know, creating kind of that cohesive environment and streamlining their workflows and bringing all the data together.
00:01:45
Speaker
Helping the yeah the various technologies all kind of integrate better into a cohesive tech stack. Is that right? Exactly. Exactly. Unique to each firm. Yeah.
Supporting Growth-Oriented RIAs
00:01:53
Speaker
So one of the things we talk about a lot on this podcast is growth and and you know getting advisors back to that rainmaker mentality and and and organic growth.
00:02:01
Speaker
So where do you guys fit into that? How is the technology you're offering helping to empower the RIA growth? Great question. I mean, our platform, honestly, is is designed for growth-oriented RIAs.
00:02:16
Speaker
um And I even some actually got in trouble. I was on stage and I was presenting at a Broke with You conference. I asked the audience, um how many how many of you are focused on growth?
00:02:28
Speaker
And a decent amount of people raised their hands. I said, well, for those who didn't raise their hands, you may as well leave because I got nothing to talk about with you. I hope people didn't get too offended.
00:02:39
Speaker
But it's true. you know If somebody's comfortable where they are and you know if they're not really looking for growth, um you know they could just do what they're doing. But the things our things in the just technology and just dynamics in the business are changing so rapidly.
00:02:56
Speaker
So the the use of technology is almost a paramount today to be able to support scale and support growth. And Invent Platform does exactly that. So were we are helping firms, A, to really streamline their onboarding and their transition experience. There's a number of apps. There's over 100 different apps built on Invent by multiple vendors, ah whether those apps are built by custodians or by product companies or insurance companies or you know, TAMPs or, you know, CRMs, financial planning software or, um you know, reporting tools, etc.
00:03:31
Speaker
ah to support that process. So let's say you're you're bringing an advisor, ah make that process more seamless. ah The unique capability with Invent is we can keep your tech stack where it is, right? So you're not forced to transition, although we do have firms that, you know, kind of have a specific curated experience that they want to be able to transition all the advisors to.
00:03:54
Speaker
We help them kind of do that transition with the different apps that are available on the platform. But, um you know, primarily if you're, you know, wanting to kind of adapt to where advisors are, it's a really easy way to do it with Invent Platform by essentially, you know, hey, keep keep your red tail and maybe this is a Salesforce shop, right?
00:04:14
Speaker
and have both of them you know working together and still sharing data and doing compliance and all these other reporting things in one place. So, yeah um but like you've been very outspoken over the years, particularly as it relates to the integration of technology into the financial services ah business. And I say that with respect because I think your insights and your observations have been spot on.
AI's Impact on Financial Services
00:04:35
Speaker
And I can remember a couple of years back, I used to quote one of your one of your quotes, if you will, and and and when I was out talking your advisors, and And I think what I want to ask is around sort of this inner, the intersection of technology and wealth management and the delivery advice by human beings, the, you know, the introduction of chatbots, now artificial intelligence and Gen AI.
00:05:01
Speaker
All of these things are moving in a direction or beginning to challenge, obviously, the conventional way we do things. More importantly, I think it's beginning to redefine how we deliver advice.
00:05:12
Speaker
Share with our listeners your perspective on where we are right now, this intersection of the human element and the technology. So um I think we're living through a very exciting times. um you know It reminds me of the times that you know first internet was was introduced. right People thought, i I don't know, just another bulletin board. Remember those?
00:05:36
Speaker
And you know it became like a transitional, transformational force for the entire world. right I think introduction of data and AI today is one of those major shifts. Whether you decide whether you want to join it or not, it's like it's happening.
00:05:53
Speaker
right So my advice is definitely learn more about it and and and figure out how you can adapt it to your particular practice because this is one of those things that that's not a robo-advisor.
00:06:05
Speaker
It's not a robo-advisor for sure. It's a whole different ballgame here. And I think it's transformational. It's definitely providing significant improvements in terms of client experience, in terms of the efficiencies that you can gain by you know using some of the chatbots or using some of the AI capabilities for meeting prep, for you know taking note yeah There's probably 18 note taker companies that have been built in the last six months.
00:06:33
Speaker
right like They're all just popping up like mushrooms after a rain. so it's It's really impressive that you know at what speed it's ah it's possible today to build a new software business, especially build a new app that's that's AI powered.
00:06:50
Speaker
um you know The opportunities are limitless. I think it's exciting to see that there's the diversity and um you know various different applications that could be used by advisors to be more efficient, provide better service.
00:07:05
Speaker
um And I think definitely a large portion of the work that's done by you know home office staff or um you know some of the main day in tasks that that you know entering data into a and new account form, like no nobody wants to do that. right because there's a lot of errors, there are a lot of problems. So how do we how do we make that more dynamic? How do we make it more automated?
00:07:27
Speaker
um All these things are possible today, and with the leverage of AI even more and more accelerated at an incredible speed. Got it.
Challenges in Tech Adoption
00:07:37
Speaker
Where do you see from your vantage point working in technology, ah some of the biggest impediments or obstacles to growth right now that but still exists? is there anything where you see like advisors still aren't getting you know a certain piece of technology right and instead it's holding them back from growth?
00:07:53
Speaker
ah From a growth perspective, I think you know if you look at the demographic of you know just average executives at advisory firms, right what we see working with clients, even if you provide some great suggestions or ideas of what they could be doing, um you know it's it's tough to change, change in stuff.
00:08:15
Speaker
right and ah With AI and all this other you know brand new ah technology gadgets that they're now exposed to just coming at an incredibly fast speed, it's very difficult for firms to adapt and make decisions quickly enough. right So you know I think we don't have a an issue with technology solutions that are available.
00:08:36
Speaker
I think the mentality of the executives and the firms Definitely there could be some education or some some leadership and sort of thought leadership in industry to talk about like um strategies and and paths. And and we we engage with our clients on the same path. Some are very progressive, but some you know take a more of a, hey, it takes a takes a village to make that decision. Not everybody's on board yet. I'm like,
00:09:02
Speaker
Well, you're it's it's the yeah as a great great joke that I heard about. um this This gentleman is in the woods cutting the tree right with a manual saw. right He's sweating. He's just really just going at it.
00:09:18
Speaker
And another guy comes up and says, hey, here's a chainsaw. you know You can cut it in like five minutes. Try try this little tool over here. yeah Like, I'm sorry, man. Like, let me finish my job here. Let me finish cutting the street. Then I'll take a look at all your all your tools. I feel like we're we're seeing that kind of experience, right? Like, it doesn't make sense, but but that's what's going on, right? Like, you have all these tools, but people are used to doing things in a certain way.
00:09:44
Speaker
So I think the only impediment to growth, would I would say, is really the people themselves. Yeah.
Aligning Tech with Business Strategy
00:09:50
Speaker
Yeah, let me let me let me expand on that because I think you're raising a very important question or or issue, I should say.
00:09:57
Speaker
You know, as a thought leader, as the head of your current company, as an innovator, as an entrepreneur, you've done all of these things. um How would you counsel a CEO or a firm leader who's faced with the dilemma of how do I think about technology? you know Does it start with having that, they have have to start with that vision and and and build from there? Is that how you would approach it?
00:10:23
Speaker
I think vision is is very important. I think it's, again, my background is financial planning. I've been building financial planning software there for 15 years. So, you know, you really want to first kind of identify what your goals are, right? It's not it's not starting with technology. It's really, to me, it always starts with business goals.
00:10:41
Speaker
It is. And I see so many times people start with the technology stack and then they kind of back into a strategy. and that's I would not recommend that. I would definitely not recommend that. So I think the the most important thing is figure out your business model.
00:10:54
Speaker
What are your targets? What are you trying to do? ah What is comfortable for you? Right. Because for different people, for different executive teams, what they wanted to do, um you know, and what responsibility they want to take and how big they want to grow or or not, right?
00:11:10
Speaker
That's a big decision, right? If you have like a comfortable family business versus you're really trying to build an empire, those are two very different plans of what you're trying to accomplish.
00:11:21
Speaker
So I would highly recommend to start with a really good business strategy and then understand ah from that business strategy, what type of advisors or firms you want to ah attract or bring in ah to your firm.
00:11:35
Speaker
What's your company culture? And you know are you trying to groom everybody to kind of do the same thing? Are you more open architecture? And from a business perspective, like let people be where they are, so to speak, versus like, no, everybody's going to march to the same tune.
00:11:52
Speaker
Right. And those are, you know, there are pros and cons, I would say, on both sides of that equation. um but But that's something that I think the firms need to figure out first. And then as they you know move on to that path, come up with a strategy from operations perspective, technology perspective, and you know ah you know look at some research. There's a lot of great research around that. Like what's your average you know back office to front office person?
00:12:20
Speaker
you know, that's a good metrics to start with, right? What is the ideal case scenario? How can we support it? but How many clients do we have per advisor? You know what are those meetings? So just take a look at some of those analytics and say, okay, what are the growth factors or KPIs that we can track over time?
00:12:36
Speaker
And maybe we are not there yet, but these are the things that we we need to do. I'll give you an example. there's 53 million ah households in US that have access to financial advice, right?
00:12:48
Speaker
That's only 25% of Americans of the age of over 30. Okay? So out of those 53 million, the average ah back office to front office ratio in the r RIA is one-to-one.
00:13:03
Speaker
So for one front office advisor, there's a one back office person. So if we change that to two-to-one, Doubles of capacity. We can double the amount of people that get access to financial advice. just just If you just think about that as you're starting as a business for the strategy, like what what what you can do, yeah, it's a small part on a single firm size, but if everybody does it, we can make a pretty significant impact. But that underscores your point, which is when you have absolutely no plan, you know any any path will get you there, right? And so what you're saying is start with a clear vision of what you want to wait a accomplish. Business plan, yeah. And then build your capabilities around that, which I think is, you know when you look at Michael Kitsis' FinTech map, there's no shortage of solutions. Correct.
00:13:46
Speaker
The real question's going to be, you know what's the right combination to achieve your objective? And that's what I'm hearing you say. Yeah. Exactly. And you know think about like ah you know how do you bring all these solutions together? So when there are multiple different you know paths to do it, what we've done with Invent is we create an ecosystem where we have an integrated map of all the independent firms in FinTech and product that can build essentially their own apps. They're fully integrated that the firms that are trying to kind of pull things together don't have to spend the money to do it. Because like I feel like there's... tremendous
00:14:23
Speaker
significant amount of waste that's happening in their industry because you know there's probably you know several thousands, if not you know tens of thousands of integrations built to something like a Salesforce or Redtail. Why?
00:14:36
Speaker
like Imagine all that money essentially by each firm wasted yeah in a sense yeah because all that stuff could be reused. This is not rocket science. This is commodity. And I think what we're trying to do is kind of shine the light on the fact that we're spending, a lot of times, firms spend money on just things that don't matter, right? That's right. And already been done. They're commodities, right? They're not giving differentiation, right?
00:15:02
Speaker
We had a conversation yesterday with an RIA and he talked about the fact that when he first went RIA and built his firm, was like a kid in a candy store, bought everything. right Two years later, he got rid of it all.
00:15:13
Speaker
And he went and simplified and aligned his business plan with his tech. That's great. Right.
Creating a Fintech Ecosystem
00:15:20
Speaker
Well, I'm going to move out to wrap things up. Normally what we do at the end of the podcast is have you share like one actionable takeaway for all of our listeners to they can take back to their practice and and implement.
00:15:31
Speaker
But I think we might've already had one is is have a plan and use that to execute your technology rather than the other way around. But anything you'd like to add, any the other sort of like actual big picture advice you want to give our our listeners?
00:15:44
Speaker
of I think, ah you you know, We talked to a lot of advisors and you know they kind of could be separated into two groups, some that that really want to do something and some that ain't broke, don't fix it.
00:15:59
Speaker
so I would encourage to also bring in some younger people into the mix. you know where you We had, I think, a couple of sessions and people talked about like how difficult it is to recruit younger people into the industry. I think the more tech forward you are, the more adapt if you are to new technology.
00:16:17
Speaker
I mean, the advice there is like, A, ah the value of your practice, like the multiple is going to go up the more efficient you are, because that's the nature of any kind of valuation where you know you can you can provide scale.
00:16:30
Speaker
That's right. So as you think about that business plan, think about, you know, what is it that, you know, um everybody's got to have an exit strategy, right? What is your exit strategy? How do you execute on that? Not just from a growth perspective, but from the exit perspective.
00:16:45
Speaker
And how can you create an infrastructure that really supports that growth without you spending a ton of money building out all these things you know on your own that really don't create a lot of value that anybody else out there. so So that ah generally is is executed very well if you if you bring in kind of younger younger generation, you have G2 part of your practice and you ah incorporate the tools and capabilities and AI, if you will, to really simplify and and streamline your operations.
00:17:15
Speaker
Fantastic. Thank you. Appreciate that. Well, Oleg, thank you for joining us, ah taking some time to come by the Synergize podcast booth. Thank you. Thank you, Oleg. Good to see you again. Appreciate it. Thank you. And for those listening, thank you so much for tuning
Engagement and Further Insights
00:17:27
Speaker
in. Wherever you're getting this podcast, can you please take a second to like, subscribe, share, follow, whatever the button may be.
00:17:37
Speaker
Every one you click helps the algorithm, helps our podcast get out there. And tune in for the next one. That's right, Brian. Thank you. and and And as I want to emphasize, watch for our next episode where we'll bring you more insights and actionable ideas to help you grow your business.
00:17:52
Speaker
And remember, the challenge is yours to capitalize on what the future offers. This special episode of the Synergize podcast was sponsored by Built for efficiency, designed for opportunity.
00:18:06
Speaker
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00:18:25
Speaker
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00:18:36
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:20:05
Speaker
Motley Fool Asset Management and Trade PMR are unaffiliated companies. All third parties mentioned and Trade PMR are unaffiliated companies. The third parties mentioned are available for purchase and or a subscription through Fusion.
00:20:21
Speaker
Please contact the provider for information about their terms and conditions as well as any fees that may apply.
00:20:34
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.
00:20:52
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.
00:21:08
Speaker
Trade PMR is a member of FINRA and SIPC. Trade PMR Inc. is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, MSRB, Trade PMR provides brokerage and account services to registered investment advisors. Custodial services provided by First Clearing.
00:21:27
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.