Digital Wealth & Robo-Advisory

Brokerages are shifting from developing their own large models to collectively joining third-party AI platforms. In early September, Tencent's WorkBuddy open platform went live, and GF Securities became the first brokerage to enter the ecosystem zone, launching 12 self-developed skills and 9 expert capabilities in the first batch, describing its Buddy application zone as a digital flagship store within Tencent's AI ecosystem. In late September, six AI skills from China Securities' self-developed Dragonfly Skill went live on the WorkBuddy skills marketplace. On September 7, Alibaba's Qwen open platform launched more than ten financial intelligent agents, with four brokerage bots among the first to join: Guotai Haitong's Lingxi, Industrial Securities' intelligent investment assistant, Soochow Securities' Xiucai, and CICC Wealth Management. Moonshot AI's Kimi released a financial industry solution, with China Securities and CICC among those deploying or co-building it in their operations. Jiemian News found that brokerages joining third-party AI platforms have formed two clear paths: one is listing professional tools as skills on AI office workbenches such as Tencent WorkBuddy, and the other is joining general AI assistants such as Alibaba's Qwen as standalone bots for conversational services. Yang Ling, a securities industry analyst at Analysys Qianfan, pointed out that the primary purpose of brokerages' intensive integration is to expand new user touchpoints, and the real value lies in first building user awareness and then gradually guiding users to their own apps, investment advisory, and wealth management services. According to Analysys data, in June 2026, the combined visits of 17 mainstream desktop AI-native office agent platforms in China exceeded 60 million. Tencent Marketing disclosed on September 15 that in 2026 it has completed the full chain of account opening and customer acquisition with brokerages, with more than 40 traditional brokerage headquarters investing in customer acquisition during the year, and leading brokerages' budgets reaching the tens of millions of yuan level. In terms of self-developed investment, the 2025 annual reports show that Guotai Haitong Securities ranked first with information technology investment of 3.235 billion yuan, Huatai Securities at 2.679 billion yuan, and China Merchants Securities, China Securities, CICC, GF Securities, China Galaxy Securities, Guosen Securities, and Shenwan Hongyuan also above 1 billion yuan.

SCB WEALTH, Siam Commercial Bank Public Company Limited, or SCB, has announced a partnership with InnovestX Securities Company Limited, or INVX, to link investment portfolios into Siam Commercial Bank's wealth ecosystem, giving customers greater access to status, services, and privileges suited to their level of wealth. The arrangement takes effect from October 1, 2026. Ms. Paramashiri Manolomai, Head of Wealth Business at SCB, said the partnership helps customers receive care from personal advisors, along with financial and lifestyle solutions, under the concept Your Success, Our Success. Ms. Ekachai Panyakhamlerd, Chief Executive Officer of INVX, said the partnership reflects the connection of capabilities within the SCBX group, combining InnovestX's strengths in investment platforms with SCB WEALTH's expertise in wealth customer care. In addition, SCB WEALTH is launching two special programs: the Fast Track program, which gives customers the opportunity to upgrade their status to SCB PRIME and SCB FIRST more quickly, and the Up-Tier Program under the concept ELEVATING YOUR WEALTH, REFINING EVERY JOURNEY, for customers with cumulative new investment of 3 million baht or more in participating mutual funds and products while maintaining asset balances under the conditions, who will receive gifts and lifestyle privileges such as limousine airport transfer service and special privileges for international travel.

Charles Schwab is expected to report quarterly earnings of $1.66 per share when it releases results for the quarter ended September 2026 on October 15, a year-over-year increase of 26.7%, on revenues of $7.19 billion, up 17.3% from the year-ago quarter. The consensus EPS estimate has been revised 0% lower over the last 30 days, and the Most Accurate Estimate sits below the Zacks Consensus Estimate, producing an Earnings ESP of -0.08% alongside a Zacks Rank of #3. That combination makes it difficult to conclusively predict an earnings beat, though the company beat consensus EPS estimates in each of the last four quarters, including a surprise of +5.88% in the last reported quarter when it posted $1.62 against an expected $1.53. Separately, Wells Fargo, another stock in the Zacks Financial - Investment Bank industry, is expected to post earnings of $1.85 per share for the quarter ended September 2026, a year-over-year change of +6.9%, on revenues of $22.15 billion, up 3.3%; its consensus EPS estimate has been revised 1% up over the last 30 days, but it carries an Earnings ESP of -0.15% and a Zacks Rank of #3, and it surpassed consensus EPS estimates three times over the last four quarters.

Charles Schwab agreed to sell Forge Trust Co. and its parent to Alto, a private markets retirement platform provider. The deal will combine Forge Trust's alternative asset custody capabilities with Alto's technology and infrastructure for self-directed retirement accounts, and the combined business is expected to rank among the larger independent U.S. platforms focused on private market investing in retirement portfolios. The Forge Trust sale is only one piece of the broader Charles Schwab story, touching one slice of a much larger financial services engine that includes banking and advisory offerings alongside custody and retirement services. By selling Forge Trust while Alto focuses on that niche, Schwab keeps exposure to alternatives at the ecosystem level without carrying all the operational complexity directly on its own balance sheet. The key test ahead is whether Schwab can keep deepening client engagement across its own platform as Alto and Forge Trust build scale in self-directed retirement accounts.

XP's fair value estimate has been lifted from US$23.17 to US$25.58 in the latest model update, a rise of about US$2.41, as several analysts raised their price targets on the stock. JPMorgan lifted its XP price target from US$26 to US$38, citing refreshed Brazilian financials models and a lower cost of equity assumption across the group. Citi raised its XP price target from US$23 to US$25, pointing to a more favorable risk or reward setup and company operating leverage that is helping margins. Itau BBA upgraded XP to Outperform from Market Perform with a US$27 price target. The updated model also shifted the long term R$ revenue growth assumption from 12.41% to 12.64%, the R$ net profit margin assumption from 27.68% to 28.09%, the future P/E from 11.37x to 11.07x, and the discount rate from 12.46% to 12.54%.

Robinhood Markets made its first-ever Bitcoin purchase for its corporate balance sheet, buying $25M worth of BTC, according to Johann Kerbrat, SVP and General Manager of Crypto and International. Kerbrat disclosed the buy on Wednesday during an interview at the Digital Asset Summit Asia, saying the move reflects the company's commitment to Bitcoin and the broader crypto ecosystem. The company did not disclose the exact Bitcoin amount, but based on pricing around $84K the purchase is estimated at roughly 294-300 BTC. Kerbrat noted the $25M allocation is relatively small compared with Robinhood's roughly $100B market capitalization, and the exact Bitcoin holdings are expected in the company's next filing. Robinhood stock traded nearly 3% lower at ~$108.91 in the pre-market session.

The SEC granted temporary, conditional exemptive relief on September 17 allowing approved venues to trade tokenized exchange-listed stocks onchain, sending Robinhood Markets Inc. shares up just over 9% on September 18 after a 5% gain the previous session. The relief exempts qualifying venues from the Exchange Act's definitions of "exchange" and, for certain liquidity providers, "dealer," but it requires full shareholder rights including voting and dividends, meaning Robinhood's existing stock tokens, which are synthetic products offering economic exposure rather than actual ownership, do not qualify. The order also lets listed companies object to third-party tokenization within 30 days, a provision directly at odds with the public stance of CEO Vlad Tenev, and the relief remains temporary and subject to public comments, with Coinbase and the NYSE's planned 24/7 digital venue potentially entering the compliant space first. Robinhood traded roughly 31.7 million shares, about 1.37 times its one-month average, though the stock sits about 28% below its 52-week high, with a forward P/E of 45.46x against a sector median of 10.88x. Hedge fund holders rose from 84 at the end of the first quarter of 2026 to 87 at the end of the second quarter of 2026, and short interest stood at 4.54% of float as of August 31, 2026.

HSBC Holdings is planning sweeping job cuts in its UK wealth management business as it seeks to use artificial intelligence to serve wealthy clients more efficiently, the Financial Times reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the plans. About half of management and specialist roles could be eliminated, while the number of financial advisers may fall by about 70%, according to the FT report. One person described the proposed reductions as "deep, wide and brutal." The bank is in a consultation period over the changes, with affected employees expected to leave at the end of October. HSBC reportedly said it was continuing to evolve its UK wealth business with more digitally enabled products and services to meet changing customer needs, as CEO Georges Elhedery makes AI central to his strategy to simplify the bank. The reductions mark a reversal from a hiring drive launched two years ago to expand the bank's UK wealth and private banking operations.

Former PayPal CEO has launched Evergreen.ai, a new venture offering AI-powered personal financial advice, and says the service will remain free for beta users until January 1, 2028. The founder and CEO told Market Domination Overtime that the platform runs a purpose-built AI dedicated solely to personal financial advice, with all processing kept internal so nothing is trained or sent over the open internet. Evergreen.ai is a registered investment advisor, which he described as a legal obligation to act in users' interest rather than its own. After the beta period ends, the service will become paid and will add features such as investment management and lifetime planning. Beta users are asking most often about equity compensation and early retirement, and the platform includes tools that compare scenarios such as retiring at 65 versus 60.

BlackRock's US head of equity ETFs, Jay Jacobs, said the recent reduction of in-kind transfer minimums to about $2 million has opened the floodgates for investors moving spot Bitcoin exposure into the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, ticker IBIT. Speaking on Bloomberg Crypto, Jacobs said the lower minimums have driven a wave of wealth-management clients to reach out about shifting money into IBIT. He said investors are drawn not only by outsourcing custody so they no longer hold Bitcoin directly, but also by the ability to financialize the asset through custom options strategies, hedging, and borrowing against positions. Jacobs said BlackRock has had many conversations about the move from Bitcoin into IBIT and the use of its SpiderRock SMA capabilities for custom options overlays. He described the shift as a major trend in the wealth segment, where clients are increasingly asking not whether to hold more or less Bitcoin but what is the best way to own it in a portfolio.

Robinhood has rolled out new AI trading agents that let users connect a chatbot such as Anthropic's Claude or OpenAI and direct it to place trades, Fortune Finance & Crypto Editor Jeff John Roberts said on Fortune Daily with Ellie Austin. Roberts said users can log into Robinhood, name the agent, and instruct it to buy shares such as Tesla. He framed the launch as the first arrival of a feature he expects every other company to add within the next couple of years, rather than an immediate overhaul of investing. Roberts warned of unintended consequences from letting agents trade while users sleep, including herd behavior if many agents converge on the same stock, and said that while guard rails exist, not everyone will use them.

Robinhood has placed its autonomous trading technology inside a separate legal entity, Robinhood Labs LLC, while keeping brokerage operations in Robinhood Financial LLC, creating a legal firewall between the two. Robinhood Labs LLC is explicitly not a broker-dealer, investment adviser, futures commission merchant, or money transmitter, and company disclosures state it does not provide investment advice, hold customer funds, or execute transactions. The user agreement requires customers to assume all risk for trades executed by AI agents and for any use of their data by third-party LLM providers. Robinhood reports that over 150,000 customers have opened agentic trading accounts since their May 2026 launch, with agents using tools nearly 30 million times per day, though these figures are self-reported and have not been independently verified. The model operates in a regulatory vacuum: the 2026 Annual Regulatory Oversight Report called existing rules technologically neutral, FINRA Rule 3110 requires reasonably designed supervisory systems without specific guidance on corporate separation, and the SEC has stayed silent on using a non-broker subsidiary to shield a parent from autonomous agents. Registered Investment Advisers remain barred from using AI agents to manage client money under fiduciary standards, while retail users on platforms like Robinhood can grant autonomous trading authority, and major firms including Fidelity, Charles Schwab, Interactive Brokers, eToro, and Webull have announced no similar separation. SEC Rule 15c3-5, the Market Access Rule, is the primary lever that could dismantle the template, and the alter-ego doctrine could pierce the liability shield if courts find the brokerage controls the Labs entity's operations.

IG Group shares fell as much as 27.2% to their lowest level since April 2025 after the British online trading platform said it expected third-quarter revenue of about £240 million, down 14% from a year earlier, as it retained less revenue from customer trading losses in its over-the-counter derivatives business. The company said OTC revenue retention was about 70% in the quarter, below the roughly 80% average since it introduced changes to its market-making operations in the second half of 2025, and it cut its 2026 revenue growth outlook to a mid-single-digit percentage range year-on-year. Third-quarter net trading revenue is expected at about £210 million, down from £249.5 million a year earlier, with OTC net trading revenue falling about 18% to £155 million while OTC customer income rose about 8%. Customer activity remained strong, with organic first trades up more than 25% year-on-year and active customers rising about 17%, and the Underdog business more than doubled third-quarter net revenue to about $105 million ahead of the seasonally important fourth quarter. Chief Executive Breon Corcoran said growth in first trades and active customers remained strong in Q3 2026, while lower revenue reflected reduced OTC revenue retention in less supportive market conditions; IG also expects about £30 million of non-recurring costs in 2026 tied to moving its domicile to Jersey and restructuring, after recording £16.4 million of those costs in the first half, and excluding those and Underdog acquisition expenses it expects a 2026 EBITDA margin in the low-40% range.

Singularity Financial Partners launched today as The Operating Company for RIAs, founded in February by wealthtech veterans Michael Roth, Oleg Tishkevich and Jim Zimmerman, whose careers span InvestCloud, Envestnet and Microsoft. The Henderson, Nevada-based firm takes an ownership position in each advisory firm it works with, through capital, operating work or both, and embeds its own people inside the business rather than acting as a vendor, consultancy or aggregator. Singularity said it has completed its first transactions and is operating inside those firms today, with its economics tied to each firm's performance rather than to a software contract or fee. The company cited Cerulli data showing 35% of advisors, representing approximately 40% of industry assets, are expected to retire within the next 10 years, and pointed to research by Jerry D. Prince and Russ Alan Prince finding that only half of 311 advisors who sold their firms were satisfied with the outcome. Its technology layer runs on the Data Lakehouse from Invent, the wealth data company founded and led by Tishkevich, while Jim Zimmerman, a veteran of Red Hat and Microsoft, serves as Chief Technology Officer and sets AI governance and security standards. Additional announcements on Singularity's partnerships and expansion are expected in the coming weeks.

A first-of-its-kind Bitwise Institutional crypto adoption report found that none of the 15 major institutions it interviewed reduced their crypto allocations during the recent 50% plus drawdown, with several adding to their positions. The survey, conducted over three months, covered pensions, endowments, foundations, family offices, sovereign wealth funds and public companies, and every participant held Bitcoin, with allocations ranging from 0.5% to 13% and most between 1% and 2%. The findings came as the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, the Personal Consumption Expenditures report, showed cooler-than-expected August readings, with headline monthly at 0.3% versus 0.4% expected, headline annual at 3.4% versus 3.7% expected, core monthly at 0.2% versus 0.3% expected, and core annual at 3% versus 3.3% expected. Second quarter GDP was revised sharply higher from 1.5% to 2.2%, and ADP reported 90,000 new private sector jobs, also stronger than expected. Separately, House Oversight Chair James Comer expanded an insider-trading investigation into online prediction markets, sending new letters to crypto.com, Hiker Liquid and Aristotle Exchange after earlier probes of Kalshi and Polymarket that began in May. Robinhood also unveiled a slate of product announcements at its Hood Summit, including 24/7 365 trading, 10X leverage on crypto products, perpetuals, take-profit and stop-loss orders, and AI agent trading tools.

J.P. Morgan resumed coverage of European investment platforms and stock exchanges on Wednesday, taking a more selective stance on platforms as economic conditions diverge across regions. The broker reinstated full coverage of broker-dealer TP ICAP at overweight with a December 2027 target price of 461 pence, and resumed Italian savings platforms FinecoBank and Banca Mediolanum at overweight with targets of €29 and €28, respectively, citing industry growth, limited competition and a favourable regulatory backdrop. Both Italian names are on Positive Catalyst Watch ahead of third-quarter results on Nov. 5 and Nov. 10, with the bank expecting upward revisions to consensus net interest income. On the UK side, wealth manager St. James's Place was downgraded to neutral from overweight with a 1,381-pence target and placed on Negative Catalyst Watch ahead of its Oct. 29 third-quarter update, with J.P. Morgan forecasting third-quarter net flows of £0.9 billion, about 20% below consensus, as higher interest rates and potential Autumn Budget tax increases weigh on flows. Platform operator Aberdeen Group was also downgraded to neutral from overweight with a 267-pence target, while Quilter stayed at overweight with a 227-pence target. In the Nordics, online broker Nordnet was resumed at overweight, raised from neutral, with a SEK401 target, and Avanza Bank was reinstated at neutral with a SEK408 target. Among exchanges, London Stock Exchange Group was resumed at overweight with a 10,600-pence target, Deutsche Boerse was reinstated at overweight with a €345 target, and Euronext was resumed at neutral with a €171 target. All price targets are for December 2027.

Deutsche Bank and J.P. Morgan have both initiated coverage of Nordic online brokerage and savings platform Nordnet, taking opposing views on whether its growth prospects justify its valuation. Deutsche Bank started with a hold rating and a SEK360 price target, saying the shares, trading at about 20 times estimated 2027 earnings and roughly 30% above the peer average excluding Nordnet, already price in much of its growth. J.P. Morgan began at overweight with a SEK401 target, raising its 2027-28 forecasts for brokerage, fund commissions and net interest income to about 8% to 9% above company-compiled consensus. Deutsche Bank forecasts annual EPS growth of about 15% over 2025-28, while J.P. Morgan sees about 14% annually over 2026-30, helped by increased cross-border trading and related foreign-exchange fees. On third-quarter estimates, Deutsche Bank expects transaction-related net income of SEK667 million and net income of SEK927 million, while J.P. Morgan expects transaction income of SEK712 million and net profit of SEK947 million. Nordnet had about 2.5 million customers and SEK1.374 trillion in savings capital at the end of June 2026.

Robinhood announced on September 29 that it will offer crypto perpetual futures to eligible customers in the United States, with trading to become available through its own app within the coming months. The offering covers eight assets: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP, Dogecoin, Cardano, Chainlink, and Hyperliquid. Bitcoin and Ethereum will support leverage of up to 10x, while the remaining six assets will support up to 3x. The service will be provided by Robinhood Derivatives, which is registered with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, through the crypto exchange Bitstamp, and Robinhood will leverage the trading infrastructure from its acquisition of Bitstamp, which closed in June 2025. Trading fees are set at 1 basis point per trade, or 0.01%, through the end of 2026. In the US, the CFTC approved the listing of Bitcoin perpetual futures for the first time on May 29, and the move to offer such products under US regulation is spreading.

Pi Securities assessed KKP shares, expecting third-quarter 2026 net profit of 2 billion baht, up 19% year on year but down 6% quarter on quarter. The year-on-year growth came from net interest income expanding on NIM, fee income growing on wealth management and the digital financial and investment services of the Dime! business, as well as lower losses on repossessed cars. Meanwhile, profit declined quarter on quarter on operating expenses. The research team expects total loans to continue expanding 0.5% quarter on quarter, bringing loans in the first nine months of 2026 up 3.7% year to date, driven by corporate loans and Lombard loans. It expects NIM to hold steady both year on year and quarter on quarter at 4%, with the NPL ratio steady at 3.5% and the coverage ratio at 149.5%. For 2026, the research team expects net profit to grow strongly by 35% year on year, supported by fee income from the capital markets business, higher dividend income, and lower losses on repossessed cars. For 2027, it expects net profit to grow 4.5% year on year on expanding net interest income and fee income from the capital markets business. It expects ROE to rise to 12.1% and 12.3% in 2026 and 2027, compared with 9.3% in 2025, and expects dividend yields of 6.3% and 6.6% in 2026 and 2027. KKP has already paid an interim dividend of 3.25 baht for the first half of 2026, so it is expected to pay an additional 3.82 baht in the second half of 2026. The research team noted that KKP stands out in wealth management services, with capital markets revenue accounting for roughly 20% to 30% of operating revenue, the highest among commercial banks. It therefore maintains its buy recommendation and raises its fair value to 130 baht.

OneVest has gone live with an integration that brings Schwab Advisor Center digital onboarding directly into its Workspace wealth operating system, the company announced on September 28, 2026. Advisors using OneVest can now initiate Schwab account opening, send a secure digital envelope to an end-client to eApprove, and track approval within minutes without leaving the OneVest platform, with the process started either through an automated agentic workflow within Workspace or an advisor-guided setup. The offering also opens up OneVest's underlying connectivity as a plug-and-play provider of Schwab's digital onboarding integration, giving enterprise technology teams a pre-built Schwab integration module that can run in CRMs, portfolio management systems, or in-house platforms. The same flow covers individual, joint, trust, custodial, and retirement account types with no rekeying into Schwab Advisor Center required, and because it can be initiated by OneVest's agentic platform, onboarding agents pre-fill account information from data already on file, flag missing information before it reaches the client, and route the envelope for approval automatically. Schwab digital onboarding is available now to OneVest clients, and enterprise firms interested in the integration can contact the OneVest team to discuss implementation into their existing technology stack.

JR Kyushu announced on the 25th that it will partner with SBI Holdings to launch a financial services business. The company plans to develop a members-only app called JQ BANK (provisional name) that will allow users to access banking, payment, and other financial functions in one place, with the goal of offering it during fiscal 2027. JR Kyushu has previously rolled out transit IC cards and other services, but will now obtain a banking agency license and make a full-scale entry into the financial business. The aim is to combine rail services with financial services to improve customer convenience. The app will be exclusively for web members and will offer banking and securities services handled by SBI Group's SBI Shinsei Bank and SBI Securities, as well as insurance, crypto assets, and other services. It will also be linked with the company's own point service, and JR Kyushu is considering awarding points based on deposit balances.