FinanceHQ connects individuals with trusted financial advisors and resources for a better financial future. Pulse 2.0 interviewed FinanceHQ co-founder and CEO Alex Choi to learn more about the company.
Alex Choi’s Background
What is Alex Choi’s background? Choi said:
“I spent the early part of my career in Financial Services, and after almost a decade at Morgan Stanley, I felt that I needed a change, wanting to do something more impactful and purpose-driven. I pivoted to fintech, a space I felt had a lot of growth and opportunity to make a difference, and joined Betterment, whose mission of democratizing investment management resonated with me.”
“I spent six years there in the Betterment for Advisors vertical, where I worked with hundreds of financial advisors and RIAs, understanding their pain points and gaining a detailed understanding of how everything is pieced together. After working as the Head of Strategy & Operations for several years, I had the opportunity to effect change in a related but different industry – helping advisors get connected with prospects in a meaningful manner.”
Formation Of FinanceHQ
How did the idea for FinanceHQ come together? Choi shared:
“Through my own personal and professional experience, it was evident that there was a huge problem that needed to be solved – there are millions of Americans looking for guidance with their personal finances and hundreds of thousands of experts that are ready, willing, and able to assist. However, both of these groups struggled to connect with one another and find the right match based on their own individual circumstances. We launched FinanceHQ to solve this by creating a platform that can help assess an individual’s personal financial goals and connect them with vetted fiduciaries with a depth of experience achieving those same goals for their existing clients.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for the company so far? Choi reflected:
“I think the first prospective client we saw came through still holds such an immediate, indelible memory for me. We had feverishly worked for months to get to launch, and then as soon as we hit the green light and saw the first prospect come through – it became tangible. Since then, we’ve literally matched thousands of individuals with trusted advisors, but that first prospect, an individual based out of Georgia looking for guidance on estate planning and tax-optimized investing – I will never forget.”
Core Products
What are FinanceHQ’s core products and features? Choi explained:
“Very simply put, we identify individuals who are looking for guidance on their personal finances and algorithmically match them with the best-suited financial experts. We provide transparency, optionality, and guidance with an underlying layer of hyper-personalization to make the process of connecting with highly vetted and researched groups of financial experts seamless. To do this, we use a variety of inputs – provided by the individual and complemented by our own in-house data – to generate potential matches we believe will provide the ideal financial advisor relationship.”
Evolution Of FinanceHQ’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Choi noted:
“Our technology has and will continue to evolve rapidly to best achieve our mission and to provide the optimal experience for users. Since launch, we’ve focused on three key tenets, all of which have and will continue to improve dramatically:
1.) Reducing friction by incorporating additional ways to schedule and connect, while enhancing the usability across all devices
2.) Enhanced personalization by evolving our matching criteria and using additional technology and data to provide more variables that are incorporated into the match
3.) Providing a delightful user experience for both prospects and advisors alike, ensuring full transparency while also underscoring our commitment as a registered fiduciary to do right by the prospect
Ultimately, if we can really dive into the ‘why’ behind a prospect’s journey and match that with the appropriate advisor who can supply the answer, that drives the most meaningful value.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Choi cited:
“Since launch, the company has matched over five billion dollars in investable assets with accredited advisors, and I think perhaps more significantly, FHQ has worked with investors ranging from 18 to 92 years old, with assets ranging from $50,000 to invest to $60 million, giving them insight into the unique financial challenges that regular people are facing today. I’m incredibly proud that we can help so many people.”
Customer Success Stories
After asking Choi about the company’s customer success stories, he highlighted:
“We had one individual – a woman in her 70s out of Florida ($500K in assets) who really was struggling trying to find an appropriate advisor to help manage her finances. We worked with her to understand exactly what she was looking for. After understanding her situation, we then matched her with a financial advisor who specializes in retirement planning but is based out of New York. This particular advisor was one we knew worked well with individuals who fit this prospect’s exact profile, and so we were confident they’d be a great match. The prospect reached out to us a few days later to tell us how happy she was with the match and how thankful she was to FinanceHQ for helping her to get connected.”
Funding
When asking Choi about the company’s funding details, he revealed:
“We were built and funded inside Wilbur Labs, a startup studio that turns ideas into market-leading companies.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Choi affirmed:
“There really are two components here: how we go about and identify prospects with real intent to work with a financial advisor, and then how we take into consideration what the advisor specializes in. We built the platform with a deep understanding of how the industry works and we continue updating our offerings based on real-time feedback from the users and advisors on the platform. Innovating through collaboration is crucial for long-term success.”
“Additionally, we’ve never taken venture capital funding. This is critical as it allows us to focus on our core mission and not generate maximum return over X time period.”
Additional Thoughts
Any other topics you to discuss? Choi concluded:
“There has been a recent spate of news about how millennials are actually faring better financially than previously thought and that presents an exciting opportunity to help a new generation of investors reach their goals. I am often asked about what millennials need to consider when selecting an advisor and I always share the following:
1.) Specificity around targeting and matching – Working with an advisor who works with a wide range of household incomes and who are looking to grow their book of business with an eye towards the future.
2.) Working with a fiduciary – Working with fiduciaries is critical to ensuring that the advisor has a legal and moral obligation to do right by the customer.
3.) Transparent fee structure Ensure that you understand exactly what you’re signing up for, whether it’s flat fee or AUM based just making sure that there are no hidden costs or fees.
4.) Alignment with values – There are certain RIAs out there who only focus on sustainable investing or other specific areas, it’s worth ensuring that your values are matched up as this sets you up for a long-term relationship.
5.) Not just investment management – Many firms are full service and provide comprehensive financial planning, which is extremely important in that they can help manage all facets of your financial journey.
6.) Tech-forward – This is no longer just a nice to have. Advisors who embrace technology have access to better information and are more efficient and effective. Those who are willing to make adjustments to their tech stack and embrace some of the functionality that’s available out there definitely resonate with the younger audiences, but also have the ability to utilize more data and information to inform their decisions.”
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