AlphaTrAI, a technology consultancy and tech provider for the wealth and asset management industries, has acquired Anchor Advisory Services, a scheduling and sales management tech firm, this week. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Pronounced “Alpha-tray”, with the letters “T” and “r” short for “through” (Alpha through AI), it is led by Bill Dwyer, known for his 22-year stint at LPL Financial, where he served as head of recruiting and president through some of its most pivotal years before departing in 2014. He joined AlphaTrAI in early 2022 as CEO and chairman of the board, but he was also an early investor in the startup.
The startup has raised $3.8 million in total funding, according to Crunchbase, but the firm is currently in the midst of another round, according to a spokesperson, though this has not yet been announced.
AlphaTrAI, launched in 2018, is headquartered in San Diego, Calif. and backed by venture capital firm Analytics Ventures. Analytics invests in companies that focus on artificial intelligence and has invested in AI-focused startups across other industries, including healthcare, sales enablement, and Internet-of-Things technologies.
The company built its own automated trading platform using a proprietary set of machine learning algorithms early on and launched its first investment strategy, the Domestic Performance Fund, in October 2020. However, as the demand for artificial intelligence technologies in the wealth and asset management sector grew, its board decided in October 2023 to shift to that area and leave the proprietary asset management space.
lt has continued to expand its team and expertise and is now focused on the application of AI for front-, middle- and back-office applications through customized technology for the wealth and asset management industries, with six programmers on staff along with several outsourced contractors.
Henrik Christensen, a Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, San Diego, joined AlphaTrAI's lead scientific board in October 2023. According to a spokesperson, the company has also formed a deep relationship with the Computer Science and Engineering School at UC San Diego and frequently recruits multiple Ph.D. candidates to work as interns.
Anchor’s business and technology will be updated with AlphaTrAI’s latest tools, which will “expand opportunities for Anchor and its clients, enhancing the value proposition of both firms and driving growth,” according to a company statement.
“Anchor’s expertise earned from scheduling over 50,000 meetings between advisors and wholesalers will be significantly enhanced with the integration of our technology, and together, we are uniquely positioned to advise and support wealth and asset management firms,” Dwyer said, in the statement.
