The Connected Advisor 
The Connected Advisor 
How Envestnet Is Redefining Scale and Accessibility
Listen to this week’s episode.
Episode 089: On this week’s episode of The Connected Advisor, I speak with Molly Weiss, Group President of Wealth Platforms at Envestnet—a 20-year financial services veteran who drives Envestnet’s end-to-end technology and solutions ranging from portfolio management, financial planning, performance reporting, and digital account management tools.
We explore the critical role of configurability in building scalable technology, the evolving landscape of UMA, and how advisors are blending custom portfolio construction with third-party management. Molly also shares what’s ahead at Envestnet’s Elevate conference, how AI will empower—not replace—advisors, and why personalization and access to alternatives are shaping the future of wealth management.
Key Takeaways
True scalability in advisory tech isn’t about one-size-fits-all solutions or endless customization. Instead, it’s about creating configurable systems that can adapt to a firm’s unique needs without added complexity—allowing both large institutions and small RIAs to grow efficiently.
AI won’t diminish the advisor’s value—it will amplify it. By automating routine tasks and surfacing meaningful insights, AI can free advisors to focus more on high-impact, human-centered work like client relationships, planning, and trust-building.
Clients don’t just want a 60/40 portfolio; they need guidance through complex life decisions. Advisors are part coach, part therapist, and part strategist. The tech behind the scenes should support that full spectrum of client service.
Just as SMAs and UMAs became accessible to more clients over time, the future is about lowering barriers to non-traditional assets. Advisors should prepare to integrate alternatives and illiquid investments into broader portfolios, especially as client demand for diversification and behavioral discipline grows.
Quotes
“If everything you do is either about customization or one size has to fit all, you can’t scale. But if you think about technology as a really configurable set of capabilities, a firm can grow because as they need more, it’s already there. It just needs to be configured.” ~ Molly Weiss
“Part of an advisor’s job is translating human problems into something that helps solve those problems. And that includes technology that helps the portfolio management process, taxes, performance, and life events that might change all that and throw it all up in the air.” ~ Molly Weiss
“ I think that one of the things that has really made Envestnet as successful as it is, is that we built the platform—and this started 20 years ago—with the concept of scale embedded.” ~ Molly Weiss
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Kyle Van Pelt
