FeeX lands $80 million and relaunches as Pontera

FeeX, a fintech company managing client retirement accounts like 401(k)s and 403(b)s, has landed $80 million in three recent funding rounds, and will launch as a rebranded firm called Pontera.

The company markets itself as a safe and secure way for advisers to allocate assets in retirement accounts, health savings accounts and on other held-away assets, and does so compliantly under the watchful eye of regulators.

The service has been around for more than three years, although FeeX originally launched about a decade ago, initially offering 401(k) participants a way to benchmark their investments and track fees. As an investment adviser, the company also recommended IRA rollovers to a handful of clients, although it’s registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission lapsed in 2018.

“Advisers have been advising on held away accounts for decades,” said Pontera co-founder and CEO Yoav Zurel in an email. "It’s paramount to include all household assets under one strategy and one financial plan.”

In the past 12 months, the firm announced a number of new enterprise clients, including deals with The Carson Group, Priority Financial Group and Dynamic Advisor Solutions.

According to recent research from Edelman Financial Engines and Aon Hewitt, provided by Pontera, professionally managed 401(k) accounts can outperform self-directed ones by more than 3% annually, even when taking into account the fees paid for the management services. Zurel said, over 20 years, the savings can equate to 75% of additional return, making held-away assets a very “big deal.”

“The intent of the company has always been to help individuals achieve a better retirement,” Zurel said. “Advisers, who wanted to provide this support, had limited options that often came with security or compliance risks.”

In addition to the recent deal with Carson Group in October, other successful partnerships with Orion Advisor Solutions and Advyzon have proved successful for the company, which claims to have grown 300% in the past three years, according to a spokesperson.

Customers range from single-person adviser firms and large RIAs to midsize and large broker-dealers, and the firm said in a release that it serves thousands of advisers from all types of advisory firms.

The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, along with The Founders Kitchen, Hanaco Ventures, Hyperwise Ventures, Blumberg Capital, and others, according to the release.