Bernstein Private Wealth Management , the private wealth division of AllianceBernstein L . P ., headquartered in New York City , has launched a private label donor-advised fund program .

Donor-advised funds , which are popular with philanthropic individuals and families , have doubled grant distributions in the past five years , the company said in a news release announcing the product launch . The addition of the new “ Bernstein Philanthropic Impact Fund ” to the Bernstein platform will offer high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients a charitable giving vehicle for a range of assets and levels of complexity .

The National Philanthropic Trust , a Jenkintown , Pa . -based charity and one of the nation ’ s largest independent sponsors of donor-advised funds , will administer the new fund . Since its founding in 1996 , National Philanthropic Trust has raised more than $ 45.6 billion in charitable funding and has made more than 600,000 grants exceeding $ 23.6 billion to nonprofits worldwide .

The Bernstein Philanthropic Impact Fund is now available to Bernstein clients as part of its broader suite of donor-advised fund products . To learn more about the new fund , visit https :// info . bernstein . com / daf .

Wealth . com Introduces AI Estate Planning Assistant For Advisors

Wealth . com , a Phoenix-based estate-planning platform , has launched a first-of-its-kind artificial intelligence legal assistant for financial advisors allowing them to more easily and less expensively create custom-designed estate plans for their clients .

Unlike off-the-shelf large language models ( language models are algorithms that can recognize or generate texts ), the company said that its proprietary model , called Ester , is conditioned with both short-term and long-term memory that can incorporate past client actions into its responses , more effectively guiding clients by addressing their questions and concerns in real time .

Ester also allows advisors to build multigenerational relationships with both prospective and established clients by using cutting-edge technology to create adaptable estate plans that evolve with changing circumstances .

Eduardo Fontes , senior vice president of data science , is one of the architects who developed Ester . He holds a master ’ s degree in data science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , and brings nearly three decades of financial services machine learning experience to his role at Wealth . com .

iCapital Launches Online Alternatives Marketplace

iCapital , the New York City-based platform for high-net-worth alternative asset investors , has launched an online marketplace connecting financial advisors and their clients with alternative investment opportunities . It ’ s called the iCapital Marketplace .

Wealth managers seeking to diversify client portfolios with the addition of alternatives can now access private equity , private debt , real assets and hedge funds all in one place . The iCapital Marketplace also includes educational tools , such as market insights , webinars and training modules .

Powered by proprietary and patented technology , the platform ’ s document center and investment dashboard provide a holistic view of client investments throughout the investment life cycle , and simplify the oversight and investment communication to advisors ’ clients . Filtering options allow advisors to narrow the fund menu to what is most relevant to them , including funds distributed by iCapital .

Founded in 2013 , iCapital said it was servicing more than $ 157 billion in client assets worldwide as of April 30 , 2023 .

Principal Launches Annuity Solution With Sustainability Index

Principal Financial Group , a global financial services and insurance company headquartered in Des Moines , Iowa , has introduced its first registered index-linked annuity ( or RILA ).

The Principal Strategic Outcomes product offers four indexes , which include not only the S & P 500 , Russell 2000 and MSCI EAFE , but also the SG Smart Climate Index , a climate-focused , sustainability index from Société Générale that uses technology models from Entelligent , a climate analytics firm , to calculate an “ E-Score .” This score is used to estimate investor return through socially conscious investments that promote environmental stewardship .

Principal Strategic Outcomes is the second annuity-related offering that Principal has launched in the past 12 months .

Blueleaf Offers Advisors Aggregator Service With Client Tech Support

Blueleaf , an all-in-one wealth management platform headquartered in Boston , has launched a new aggregation system that accesses more than 25,000 institutions through multiple aggregators . The firm calls this “ aggregation-as-a-service ” and says it takes the tech support burden off advisors by offering support directly to clients .

The system is accessible via Blueleaf ’ s multi-channel client experience , but is also available for large enterprises to integrate into their own applications .

Aggregation-as-a-service is part of a series of innovations that Blueleaf is announcing to consistently improve the software experience in wealth management for advisors and their clients .

Blueleaf serves wealth managers , RIAs and broker-dealers by simplifying time-consuming operations . Its interface combines reporting , rebalancing and trading , billing and invoicing , and automation technologies .

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