XY Planning Network to name best-in-class innovation in Financial Planning

BOZEMAN, MT, July 24, 2017 – XY Planning Network (XYPN) is pleased to announce that seven finalists have been selected to compete in its upcoming Advisor FinTech competition, which is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, August 30, 2017 during the organization’s national conference, #XYPN17, in Dallas, Texas.

The XYPN FinTech Competition was created to help promote startup firms that are building technology solutions to help financial advisors better serve Gen X and Gen Y clients, thereby expanding access to financial planning. The popular competition, now in its second year and sponsored by Betterment for Advisors and Quovo, drew more than two dozen submissions, and the seven finalists were chosen by esteemed industry judges Michael Kitces (XYPN), Bill Winterberg (FPPad) and Joe Ziemer (Betterment). To be considered, finalists had to meet one or more of the following requirements: have a tech offering that launched in the last 12 months, have less than $1 million in revenue to date, or be an existing company with a new feature that is substantially different from the parent company.

The finalists represent all corners of financial planning, from student loan repayment tools to automated investment solutions and a small business retirement plan platform. Each company will have the opportunity to introduce their technology offering to a large, tech-savvy audience of financial planning entrepreneurs, and #XYPN17 is anticipated to draw over 500 attendees next month. Finalists include:

• CSLA Tech Repayment Tracker aims to transform the financial services industry by helping advisors reduce the long-term consequences of student loans.
• DataPoints helps advisors strengthen client relationships using behavioral science, offering advisors a library of tools to assess client psychology and behaviors.
• Loan Buddy is a financial technology platform with a focus on providing solutions for advisors who want to be pioneers in student loan planning.
• RobustWealth aspires to be the best-in-class, low-cost-leading, next-level automated wealth platform for advisors.
• ROL Advisor aims to solve the challenge of adding value in a world where technology and competition are driving down the value of investment management.
• Tolerisk, using patent-pending technology, aims to revolutionize risk tolerance assessments by incorporating cash-flows to separately measure a client’s willingness and ability to take risk.
• Vestwell is a digital retirement platform striving to become an extension of the financial advisor’s services, acting in everyone’s best interests while scaling through technology and allowing financial advisors to focus on clients.

One deserving champion will receive a press release by PR agency FiComm, along with facilitated media introductions. Additional benefits for winning include promotional opportunities through a feature on Bill Winterberg’s FPPad.com, and Michael Kitces’ Nerd’s Eye View at Kitces.com. The champ will also receive interview opportunities to reach a large audience of financial planners on the #XYPNRadio podcast and via the XYPlanningNetwork.com blog.

These promotional prizes are intended to help the most successful startup offering gain more rapid traction and advisor adoption. Last year’s winner, SnappyKraken saw an immediate impact from their big win. “Entering the XYPN FinTech startup competition was incredible for our business,” said Robert Sofia of SnappyKraken, “Within the first three months of winning, we went from zero to over $700,000 in sales, landed two large enterprise accounts, and attracted significant investor interest.”

To learn more about each finalist, visit http://blog.xyplanningnetwork.com/advisor-blog/meet-our-2017-fintech-finalists. More information about the XYPN annual conference can be found at xypn17.com.

About XY Planning Network

The XY Planning Network is the leading organization for fee-only financial advisors who want to serve their Gen X and Gen Y peers providing comprehensive financial planning services for a monthly subscription fee and without product sales or asset minimums. The Network offers a virtual community for new and established financial advisors who want to serve a younger clientele, and provides its members compliance support services, marketing support, business tools and templates, and a wide range of technology solutions.

Media Contact

Jennifer Mastrud
XY Planning Network
jennifer@xyplanningnetwork.com