AssetMark posts $84 billion in AUM under new CEO

AssetMark reported a 33.8% increase in AUM following a recent pivot to offer products tailored to registered investment advisers.

AssetMark Financial Holdings, Inc. reported a 33.8% increase in assets under management following the platform’s recent pivot to offer products to a wider breadth of registered investment advisers.

As part of AssetMark’s second-quarter earnings Wednesday evening, the turnkey asset management platform reported its AUM clocked in at $84.6 billion while 5,500 new households and 201 new producing advisers joined the platform during the second quarter. In total, there were over 8,400 advisers and over 196,400 investor households as part of the platform as of June.

AssetMark’s rapid growth is largely due to a change in leadership, with CEO Natalie Wolfsen taking the helm in March succeeding Charles Goldman, who stepped down in February. Under Wolfsen, AssetMark quickly made moves to evolve alongside the growing RIA channel. The firm launched AssetMark Institutional to offer tailored services for RIAs and closed a major M&A deal with the acquisition of financial planning software Voyant.

With AssetMark Institutional, the platform now offers RIAs things like business consulting services and platform support for new advisers or succession planning for advisers who are looking to exit their business, Wolfsen said.

More acquisitions are likely on the horizon, Wolfsen said, as AssetMark prioritizes building out its own financial wellness platform that combines asset management and technology tools catered to advisers and their business development. The strategy positions AssetMark to be a formidable competitor to TAMP powerhouse Envestnet that has touted a similar strategy.

“Business models are evolving,” Wolfsen said. “We see that with asset managers getting more into the technology business and TAMPs are evolving far beyond just asset management.”

“It’s really important to chart your own course so that clients and associates understand what your vision is for the future,” she said. “Putting the adviser at the center of what we do and building offerings around that is the centerpiece of our future strategy.”

AssetMark ranks third largest TAMP by assets right behind SEI at $226.8 billion in AUM and Envestnet at $286 billion in AUM.