RETIREMENT SOLUTIONS FINALISTS

Innovative Firms

Edelman Financial Engines

Edelman Financial Engines combines two advice products, having acquired the Mutual Fund Store in 2016, and merged with Edelman Financial Services in 2018. The goal always has been to democratize financial advice, combining digital and in-person client interactions with holistic management.

“We took what is generally considered an elite service, made it scalable, and delivered it to the masses,” said Larry Raffone, president and chief executive.

Edelman Financial Engines originally developed the first fintech digital platform in 1998 and has been offering robo-services since the early 2000s. It has witnessed a more recent transformation going from no planners to about 330 planners over the past three-and-half years. The foremost challenge has been cultural: to unite advisers with technology, successfully integrating the digital and planner channels.

Counting the most assets among RIAs, a total of $213 billion, the firm provides high tech and high touch to over a million households, and its platform is now available to more than 10 million employees, representing over $1.3 trillion in assets.

– Vanessa Drucker