FeeX Advisors is moving away from its roots of providing insight on fees, investment and expense ratios, as it undergoes a name and business change following an $80 million capital increase. According to an announcement, the firm will now be called Pontera and will focus its efforts on helping advisors manage their clients’ retirement accounts and other held assets. Pontera received investment from Lightspeed Venture Partners, which led the funding effort, along with The Founders Kitchen, Hanako Ventures, HyperWise Ventures and Blumberg Capital.
Pontera co-founder and CEO Yoav Zurrell said the firm’s remodeling, formerly known as FeeX, as consultants to manage assets held in 401(k)s, 403(b)s and HSAs Demanding compliance-friendly, secure equipment.
Fresh capital is slated to improve advisor and client user experiences, strengthen integrations, and support better reporting. To meet those goals, the firm is adding about 150 new employees, about half of whom are technologists, with the remainder in client-facing and consultant-education roles. Pontera currently has over 100 employees.
The change of focus for Pontera isn’t just about two separate service offerings, Zurrell said. Its fee comparison services would receive maintenance—but would no longer be the engine for growth.
Fee comparison tools offered to customers through existing B2B2C partnerships, such as its offering with TD Ameritrade, will continue to be supported. However, Zurell said the firm is not selling those services to new customers.
Pontera’s pivot has its roots in regulatory changes prior to 2016, he explained. When the Labor Department’s fiduciary rule was first introduced during the Obama era, Pontera saw a spike in interest. When the rule was finally vacated, that levy was dissolved.
Still, the momentum generated by the rule sowed the seeds for Pontera’s new focus, said Zurrell, who said advisory interest in the tool was “unexpected” at first.
“We think it’s a better product and more useful to the end customer [than the fee comparison tool],” he said. “People love the education we provide, but really wanted proactive help.”
Zurell warned that advisors trying to help their clients struggling asset struggle to maintain a safe environment are subjecting themselves to risky SEC audits. Some will collect client statements manually and provide rebalancing instructions via email; Others use videoconferencing tools Convince your clients through changes to their portfolio,
While they are subjecting themselves to additional scrutiny, advisors are providing solid returns for clients, with Zurell citing several studies showing a 3-4% increase when clients work with advisors. Pointing to return. Pontera seeks to provide a secure, compliant solution for consultants providing services on closed properties.
Advisors from Carson Group, Sageview Advisory Group, Priority Financial Group, Dynamic Advisor Solutions and CoastalOne have access to Pontera’s tools for managing assets they already hold. Pontera also has integrations with Orion and Edvizone that it added last year.
“401(k) accounts have become a key component of the overall financial picture for the more than 40,000 families we serve,” said Ron Carson, Carson Group’s founder and CEO, in a statement. “Our ability to securely and purposefully manage these assets through Pontera has been a game changer for our clients and our advisors who serve them.”
Zurrell said that “thousands” of consultants are now using Pontera, which has seen its revenue triple every year since 2019. He declined to provide further details about the number of advisors using the service and cited $80 million in new investments as evidence of financials. Power on startup.
“Our focus is to help people retire,” he said. “We are very proud of what we have achieved under the FeeX brand, and we want our new name to focus on the tremendous opportunity for advisors to help their clients realize a better retirement. Pontera’s As a result, we aspire to be the bridge to better retirement for millions of Americans.”
