Inside WealthTech – from the technology powering the advisor’s stack to the wealthtech companies defining the industry, we deliver the stories and strategies behind smarter advice. Each episode features candid conversations with industry leaders about the technologies, ideas, and partnerships transforming the way advisors serve clients, grow their practices, and redefine financial outcomes.
In this episode, filmed live at Future Proof 2025, Envestnet’s Molly Weiss, Group President, Wealth Management Platform, and Blake Wood, Head of Platform Strategy, speak with Tyler Resh, Chief Growth Officer at Steel Peak Wealth, about where wealthtech is actually headed and what advisors need to prepare for next.
Read on for a snapshot of the conversation, or watch it in full, here.
Personalization will expand into all interactions
Before personalization became an industry buzzword, it was largely confined to investment allocation. Custom portfolios and tailored asset mixes were the primary way advisors demonstrated differentiation.
Today, personalization is experienced through the way advice is delivered day to day. Clients notice whether conversations feel intentional, whether follow-through is consistent, and whether their advisor shows up with context from one interaction to the next. That shift places new pressure on firms to think beyond portfolio construction and focus on execution.
This evolution is both an opportunity and an operational challenge for advisory firms.
“I think it’s a trend of personalization, micro conversations, really down to the advisor level.”
In Resh’s view, clients increasingly expect advice to feel specific and repeatable across every touchpoint. Those “micro conversations” aren’t one-off moments. They reflect how consistently an advisor, and their team apply the firm’s approach across meetings, decisions, and follow-ups.
Importantly, Resh argues that differentiation no longer comes from owning a specific tool. Most firms now have access to similar technologies. What separates them is how intentionally those tools are configured and used to support advisor behavior at scale.
“Everyone’s going to have access to the same tech stack,” he says. “It’s how you implement it.”
That mindset reframes wealthtech selection as an operating model decision rather than a feature comparison. Platforms become the foundation firms build on, shaping consistency across planning, reporting, communication, and service delivery as firms grow.
This is where scale and flexibility matter, and it’s why Envestnet’s Wealth Management Platform has long emphasized centralized infrastructure and configurable workflows, enabling firms to support personalized client experiences without fragmenting operations across disconnected systems.
Clients are turning to social media for investment advice
“I’m a big fan of the finfluencer movement. I think it’s sort of the future of how people consume investment advice.”
Resh is clear that the rise of finfluencers isn’t a sideshow. It reflects a deeper shift in how people learn about money and form opinions long before they ever speak with an advisor.
Clients are arriving with context, language, and expectations shaped elsewhere. And when advisors choose not to engage with that reality, the trust-building process simply happens without them.
“People are learning from somebody whether we want them to or not,” he says.
In that environment, the question isn’t whether advisors should compete with finfluencers. It’s whether they understand how trust is now formed. Resh argues that credibility today comes less from polish and more from visibility into how advisors actually think and work.
“User-generated content is the best way to build trust,” he says, noting that this trust doesn’t require constant posting or high production value.
Instead, Resh encourages firms to view education as an extension of everyday advisory work, grounded in real conversations and real client needs.
“Everyone who works at the firm is a potential content creator,” Resh says.
Operational questions, planning discussions, and service interactions all surface moments clients care about. When firms capture and share those moments thoughtfully, content becomes proof of expertise and intent rather than a standalone marketing effort.
AI will save time, not replace relationships
“There’s a lot that advisors do that are repeatable tasks, perfect for AI to come in and clean up today.”
Resh frames AI not as a disruptive force, but as a practical one, noting that its value lies in removing friction from the parts of the job that consume time without improving advice.
Administrative work, meeting follow-ups, internal coordination, and task management are all areas where AI can meaningfully reduce operational drag. However, Resh also draws a clear boundary around AI’s role. AI will not replace financial advisors. It isn’t there to replace judgment or relationships. It exists to support them.
“I don’t think it replaces the advisor,” he says. “I think it allows them to be more human.”
By handling a first draft, organizing information, or prompting next steps behind the scenes, AI frees advisors to focus on conversations that require empathy, context, and experience. The best use cases, in Resh’s view, are often the least visible to clients.
“That time adds up,’ he says. “It’s meaningful.”
Across the wealthtech landscape, this perspective is increasingly reflected in how platforms approach automation and intelligence. The goal isn’t to showcase AI, but to make consistency and efficiency easier to maintain as firms grow, without adding cognitive burden for advisors.
Wealth transfers mean serving more people with smaller accounts
“Grandma’s account at $10 million is now going to get divided ten times over.”
Resh uses this example to challenge the simplistic version of the wealth transfer narrative.
Even when a household has significant assets, the transfer often doesn’t arrive as one clean “new $10 million client.” It shows up as many smaller relationships, spread across heirs, accounts, and priorities.
That fragmentation changes what growth looks like for advisory firms. The opportunity isn’t just asset movement. It’s the operational reality of serving more people with smaller balances, while maintaining a high-quality experience.
“Now we’re talking about small accounts, sub-$500,000 accounts,” Resh says. And that shift puts pressure on traditional service models.
Advisors still need to deliver thoughtful planning, proactive communication, and consistent follow-through, but the economics are different when the book is built on many smaller households rather than a smaller set of large relationships.
Resh’s framing is ultimately a warning about scalability. If firms assume the wealth transfer will automatically translate into large, straightforward accounts, they risk building the wrong operating model.
The firms that will handle this shift best are the ones that can deliver personalization and consistency efficiently, using disciplined workflows and technology to support repeatable service at scale.
Alternatives will move down-market
“People want diversification. They want different sources of return.”
The growing interest in alternatives is a client-driven shift, not a product trend. Investors are increasingly curious about how private markets, non-traditional assets, and other alternative strategies fit into their overall financial picture.
Importantly, these questions are no longer limited to ultra-high-net-worth households. As expectations for diversification spread, advisors are being asked to engage in more complex conversations across a broader range of client relationships.
That creates a practical challenge. As alternatives move down-market, education, suitability, and oversight become harder to manage, especially when firms are serving more households with smaller balances.
Resh’s point isn’t that every advisor needs to use alternatives. It’s that firms need to be prepared to address client interest clearly and consistently. When advisors don’t have a framework or point of view, clients look elsewhere for answers.
The broader takeaway is readiness. As portfolios grow more complex, the firms that succeed will be those that can handle new asset conversations with discipline, clarity, and scale.
Unified workflows and technology will drive sustainable growth
“Now the efficiencies are becoming a little bit challenging because you have to manage all these different technologies.”
Resh’s caution isn’t about adopting new tools. It’s about what happens after firms adopt many of them. As advisory businesses layer on technology to meet rising expectations, efficiency can quietly erode under the weight of coordination, training, and maintenance.
The issue isn’t intent. Most firms add technology to solve real problems. Over time, however, disconnected systems create new work, shifting effort from serving clients to managing the stack itself.
One of the clearest signs of this breakdown shows up after client meetings.
“The after-the-meeting work is where it all breaks down,” he says.
Follow-ups, task assignment, documentation, and internal handoffs are where fragmentation becomes visible. When those processes are inconsistent or manual, advisors feel buried, even when they have “good” technology in place.
Resh’s point is that the problem is rarely the tools themselves. It’s the lack of orchestration across them. Firms that unify data, workflows, and reporting reduce operational drag and make growth more sustainable over time.
In a more complex advice environment, managing the stack has become just as important as selecting it.
Rapid-fire reflections
As part of Inside WealthTech’s speed round, Resh shares quick perspectives on several industry topics.
- Crypto in portfolios: “Clients are going to ask about it whether you like it or not.”
- AI for advisors: “It should be cleaning things up in the background.”
- Finfluencers: “It’s how people learn now.”
- Wealth transfer: Smaller accounts, more fragmentation, and greater operational complexity.
- Advisor differentiation: “How you show up matters more than what tool you use.”
Across his responses, Resh consistently returned to the same idea. Technology may evolve quickly, but trust, clarity, and execution remain central to effective advice.
Stay Inside WealthTech
Watch the full episode of Inside WealthTech with Tyler Resh to explore how personalization, digital trust, AI, and scale are reshaping the advisor operating model.
And make sure to follow Envestnet for upcoming episodes featuring industry leaders redefining wealth management through technology, data, and collaboration.
Explore how leading advisors are using Envestnet’s Adaptive WealthTech platform to personalize advice, scale efficiently, and stay ahead of industry shifts.
