Interactive Advisory Software

About Interactive Advisory Software

Founded in 2001 by David Grace, Interactive Advisory Software (IAS) established itself as a provider of wealth management software for independent financial advisors, Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs), and broker/dealers. The firm was founded to address the need for a unified platform in the wealth management sector. In a significant milestone, Hanlon Financial Group, a large RIA and TAMP (Turnkey Asset Management Platform), acquired IAS in August 2012. This acquisition followed a period of growth for IAS, which had raised a total of $13.6 million over eight funding rounds, including a notable $5 million from venture capital firms TTV Capital and TechOperators.

Interactive Advisory Software operates on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) business model, providing its web-based platform, Solution 360°, to financial professionals. The company's target clients are primarily RIAs and independent financial advisors who require comprehensive tools to manage their operations and client relationships. Solution 360° is an integrated wealth management platform designed to streamline advisor workflows by combining multiple functionalities into a single system built on one database. Key features include portfolio management and accounting, financial planning tools, customer relationship management (CRM), back-office services such as daily data downloads and reconciliation from numerous custodians, portfolio rebalancing, and client access portals. This all-in-one approach aimed to enhance operational efficiency, allowing advisors to focus more on client interaction rather than administrative tasks. By 2012, the platform was administering $33 billion in assets for approximately 200 firms.

The founder, Dave Grace, established the company to provide an integrated solution for financial advisors. In 2011, John Philpott was appointed CEO, bringing extensive experience from the financial technology industry. Philpott had previously co-founded a wealth management firm and was part of the foundational team at S1 Corporation, one of the first internet banks. Following the acquisition by Hanlon Financial Group in 2012, Hanlon's CIO, Nathan Berk, became CEO of IAS, while Philpott transitioned to the role of president to focus on marketing.