SS&C Technologies Holdings, the parent company of SS&C Advent and the Black Diamond Wealth Platform, announced it is building a digital insurance marketplace powered by fee-based product provider DPL Financial Partners. When it is launched next year, the new platform will provide advisors with access to as of yet unnamed insurance carriers providing commission-free products, as well as the expertise of DPL technology and consultants and quick access to all of it through the Black Diamond advisor platform.
The purpose of the partnership is twofold, said Justin Wayne, manager of Advisory Solutions Management for SS&C Advent. The initial integration will make it easier and cheaper for advisors using SS&C Advent technology to find and purchase fee-only annuities, he said. And after purchase, advisors will benefit from an “enhanced data feed” that is not custodial-focused, he added. The above-and-beyond data points are yet to be finalized, but Wayne said he is certain advisors using the platform will have access to better data than they would get from another platform.
“Initially this is going to be a pretty simple integration,” said Steve Leivent, co-general manager of SS&C Advent. “We will evaluate how clients use it and continue to enhance the solution and further embed DPL technology based on that feedback."
As a further incentive for the 2,500 or so firms using SS&C Advent products, of which 1,600 are using Black Diamond, according to Leivent, advisors on the platform will have DPL’s membership fees waived. The membership fee at DPL is $1,000 per year for a firm.
DPL will continue to be the agent of record for advisors providing an end-client with annuities through the platform. For its part, DPL plans to leverage the promise of new advisors on its platform as a way to entice new carriers to manufacture and distribute fee-only insurance products.
The new insurance marketplace is currently under development and is not expected to debut for test advisors or the overall user base until early 2021, according to executives at SS&C Technologies Holdings.
It will not be the first insurance exchange available to advisors, however, as Envestnet launched its own endeavor with partners in 2019 and has continued to add carriers and features since.
