MoneyGuide, Envestnet’s financial planning software widely used by wealth managers, integrates with over 200 other services. But a new, first-of-its-kind connection with MaxMyInterest, a cash management solution for advisors, is expected to be cheered and a sign of growing consideration of cash in financial planning.
“We believe that everyone deserves a quality financial plan and cash management is an essential part of that,” Tony Leal, president of MoneyGuide, said in a written announcement Wednesday.
“At MoneyGuide, we’re committed to helping clients reach their goals while increasing advisor productivity. With this integration, we will be able to deliver an innovative way for advisors to automatically gain greater visibility into cash balances while helping their clients earn more.”
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The integration is MoneyGuide’s first with a cash management solution and will enable it to import cash account values (that update automatically), then incorporate them into financial plans.
Cash management solution providers say investors and their financial advisors benefit from their services. Clients can get better interest rates on their cash and — with integrations like the new one between MoneyGuide and Max — more complete financial plans. For example, an advisor could gain better visibility into clients’ emergency savings and better determine how prepared they are before suggesting they allocate more money to investments. Or, perhaps a client has more cash on hand than needed and might be able to invest more.
By offering cash management, advisors improve their service and deepen relationships with clients (making it tougher for them to leave).
MaxMyInterest users can earn up to 0.75% APY on same-day liquid, FDIC-insured cash, a far better rate compared to the national average of 0.05%, the company says. Advisors can use white-labeled versions of the platform, too. “It’s basically alpha on cash,” Gary Zimmerman, the founder and CEO of Max, told RIA Intel last month.
The integration with MoneyGuide is the latest business development win for Max. In January, Max integrated with Redtail Technology, its first partnership with a client relationship management, or CRM system. Within the CRM, advisors can send an email to clients encouraging them to sign up for Max with one click.
“Max is used by advisors from more than 1,200 wealth management firms, many of whom are financial planners using MoneyGuide, so we’re excited to offer this integration to support even more advisors,” Michael Halloran, head of Partnerships and Business Development at MaxMyInterest, said in a statement.
“MoneyGuide knows that more robust data makes for stronger financial plans. Max combines a unique account aggregation service with preferred rates and terms at select institutions to make it easy for planners to help clients earn more, be smarter with their cash, and achieve their goals.”
The integration is another sign of the wealth management industry’s “increasing acknowledgement of the importance of cash in client relationships,” Zimmerman told RIA Intel.
Cash management solutions are not new. But framed differently, cash is an untapped, multitrillion-dollar asset class that more companies and advisors are trying to capitalize on.
Stone Ridge, an alternative investment manager with $10 billion, created Flourish Cash and ultimately sold it to MassMutual in December. In January, Focus Financial announced that it partnered with Orion Advisor Solutions to add its cash, credit, and related services to Orion’s advisor platform.
Envestnet’s MoneyGuide is used by more than a quarter of wealth managers including 10 of the 12 top custodial platforms and eight of the 15 top broker-dealer platforms, the company said.
Michael Thrasher (@Mike_Thrasher) is a reporter at RIA Intel based in New York City.
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