How RIAs can avoid the tech stack growth trap

The custodial model is being rewritten

Growth has stalled for many RIAs, and the cause is more operational than strategic. Disconnected tech stacks have created more friction than efficiency, while custodial platforms approach feature parity. In this episode of Inside WealthTech, TradePMR President and COO Scott Victoria explains why service is the last true custodial differentiator, and key factors separating the firms pulling ahead from those falling behind.

Rapid-fire reflections

Victoria's quick takes from Inside WealthTech’s speed round cut to the heart of where the industry is headed:

• Custodial differentiation: Service, not technology or pricing. Technology is becoming increasingly commoditized at the custodial level; service is what earns and keeps advisor trust.

• What to retire from wealth management: Paper performance reporting. Still in use and shouldn't be.

• WealthTech consolidation: Predominantly an innovation killer. Consolidation at the top of the ecosystem limits the opportunities available to startup fintech companies, and that loss is felt industry-wide.

• Future RIA structure: Specialists over generalists. AI will accelerate the commoditization of generalist advice, making differentiation and specialization the path to sustainable advantage.

The pattern across all four is consistent: focus beats volume, and specialization beats scale.

Stay Inside WealthTech

Watch the full episode of Inside WealthTech with Scott Victoria for more on how custodial infrastructure, service quality, and AI adoption are shaping the next chapter of advisor growth.

And follow along on LinkedIn for upcoming episodes spotlighting the leaders redefining wealth management through technology, data, and collaboration.

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Full transcript

Envestnet Inside WealthTech – TradePMR

Interviewer: Welcome to Inside WealthTech. We're live here in Miami at Future Proof. My name is Blake Wood, Head of Strategic Partnerships for Envestnet.

Interviewer: We are joined today by Scott Victoria, COO of TradePMR. Thank you so much for joining us on South Beach.

Scott Victoria: Thanks for having me, guys. Pleasure to be here.

Interviewer: Awesome. Very cool. We're going to kick things off. Scott, tell us a little bit about TradePMR. What makes you stand out in the wealth management ecosystem?

Scott Victoria: I think TradePMR is uniquely positioned. We've got a heck of a story.

For those who don't know, we've been around for almost 28 years now. We have that trust and track record that's been proven over that tenure.

Then something happened last year that you guys may be aware of. We got acquired by Robinhood. So now we have this fresh, innovative S&P 500 company that blends with our wealth management history. It's very exciting.

Interviewer: TradePMR sits at the operational center of many fast-growing RIAs, from firms with hundreds of millions to billions in AUM. What operational bottlenecks do you see most frequently, and how is TradePMR evolving the infrastructure to remove those constraints?

Scott Victoria: One thing you highlighted is that we're really focused on growth-minded RIAs. That's our calling card, helping support advisor growth.

There are so many great things about the RIA space, but not enough attention is paid to the lack of actual growth among firms below the very top tier. Many simply aren't growing.

TradePMR supports growth in multiple ways. Operational efficiency is one, but advisors also struggle with data, the fragmented technology landscape, and how all of those systems intersect. We're working across all those areas.

And frankly, the lack of service in this industry is appalling. That's another area where we do very well in helping advisors grow.

Interviewer: Advisor technology stacks are crowded with tools that promise efficiency but often go underutilized. From your perspective as COO, how do you distinguish between technology that truly changes advisor behavior and technology that simply adds another layer of complexity?

Scott Victoria: We often get mesmerized by new, flashy technology solutions. Many of them add value, but only if they're incorporated into natural workflows.

Whenever a new technology requires another password or sits outside a core workflow, it introduces friction.

I had a sales leader once tell me, "If it's not in the CRM, it never happened." While that's true, how often is someone's reaction, "I forgot," or "I really don't want to enter that data"?

AI and other tools are making this better. The more you reduce friction and make things natural and easy on the user, the more successful the technology will be.

The other piece is education. "If you build it, they will come" is not reality. You need champions within the organization. The technology has to work and provide value, but if people aren't aware of it or adopting it, you're simply spending money, creating tech debt, and bottling up advisor productivity.

Interviewer: Custodians have traditionally focused on clearing, trading, and asset safety. Today's advisors expect a far more sophisticated experience. How do you balance operational reliability with the demand for advisor-facing innovation?

Scott Victoria: It starts with the foundation.

You have to have resiliency. You have to be trustworthy and credible. A cybersecurity incident doesn't just hurt the custodian; it damages the advisor and the advisor-client relationship. Trust is everything.

Our accounts sit with a top-five U.S. bank that provides security and stability. Then you combine that with Robinhood's future-facing innovation and you get a unique blend.

TradePMR sits right in the middle. You need that operational foundation first. Then you layer on new products, services, and support.

We also have a customer experience panel made up of advisor clients. We use that group to test ideas, gather feedback, and refine what we're building. Those advisors act as champions and help shape the products before broader rollout.

Interviewer: You've built a strong reputation for high-touch service. As your client base and platform scale, how do you maintain that service culture without compromising efficiency?

Scott Victoria: By having the right foundation.

TradePMR was founded by an advisor. Understanding what advisors need is in our DNA.

At Robinhood, one of the core values is customer focus. At TradePMR, we've demonstrated a service-first mindset for nearly 28 years.

Over the last couple of months, we've averaged under 15 seconds to answer the phone, around 13 seconds.¹ That doesn't mean we want advisors calling for every little thing. That's where automation and workflow design come into play.

Things that don't require human intervention shouldn't require human intervention. But when clients have complex needs, real people are available. Our team is U.S.-based, knows clients by name, and delivers personalized support.

That's scalable because you're automating the routine work while keeping human expertise focused on the complexities and relationships that matter.

Interviewer: With TradePMR and Robinhood coming together, the next few years should be exciting. Looking three to five years ahead, what operational capability, whether AI-driven or otherwise, do you think will fundamentally change how RIAs run their businesses?

Scott Victoria: Clearly AI is going to be a major disruptor.

I think it will create a larger divide between the haves and have-nots in the RIA space. We talk a lot about the K-shaped economy. I think we're also going to see a K-shaped RIA market.

Some firms have spent the last 15 years benefiting from strong market performance and haven't improved much operationally. The advisors attending conferences like this are showing that they want to innovate and improve. But many others simply aren't adapting.

Clients will have access to more information than ever through large language models and AI-powered tools. Advisors who don't adopt those technologies and use them to differentiate themselves are going to fall behind.

I think we'll see a significant dispersion in growth rates across RIAs. The firms that innovate and put in the work will benefit tremendously. The firms that don't will struggle.

AI may also allow smaller RIAs to compete more effectively with larger aggregators by giving them access to capabilities that previously required greater scale.

Interviewer: Who's the coolest fintech startup you've seen at the conference? Do you have a favorite?

Scott Victoria: I don't know if I have a single favorite, but I've seen some really good companies focused on helping advisors grow.

In our industry, we spend a lot of time talking about investment management and operational efficiency, but we don't always market ourselves very well. That shows up in the growth data.

The average firm grows around 3%, but that statistic is heavily influenced by top-performing firms. Many firms are growing much more slowly.

The companies that excite me are the ones helping advisors solve that problem. Whether it's a fintech, partnership, or consortium, anything that helps advisors grow deserves attention. That's where advisors should be focusing.

Interviewer: We've made it to the final segment. Speed round.

Scott Victoria: Uh-oh.

Interviewer: Custodial differentiation. Is it technology, service, or pricing?

Scott Victoria: Service.

Technology is becoming increasingly ubiquitous. You have to have it, but everyone is adopting it.

Pricing shouldn't be the primary differentiator. The real differentiator is service.

Interviewer: What's one piece of old wealth management you'd throw out tomorrow?

Scott Victoria: Is paper performance reporting one of those things? If so, that's my answer.

Interviewer: It absolutely is.

Scott Victoria: Amazingly, it's still out there.

Interviewer: WealthTech consolidation. Efficiency boost or innovation killer?

Scott Victoria: Innovation killer, predominantly.

It's unfortunate when there is consolidation at the highest levels of the ecosystem because it can reduce opportunities for startup fintech companies.

This industry was built by entrepreneurs and smaller innovators. At TradePMR and Robinhood, we'd like to continue seeing that spirit thrive.

Interviewer: Future RIA firms. Fewer advisors running larger books, or more specialized teams?

Scott Victoria: That's a great question.

I think specialization benefits everyone.

We've heard for years that generalist advisors would become less common, and I think AI will accelerate that trend. Advisors need to differentiate themselves. Specialization is one way to do that.

Interviewer: Perfect. We'll wrap on that. Scott, thank you for joining us in the heat down in Miami. This has been fantastic.

Scott Victoria: Awesome. Thank you very much for having me. I had a great time.

Interviewer: Thanks, Scott. That was Scott Victoria, COO of TradePMR, and this has been Inside WealthTech.