Welcome to "Show Me Your Stack," a series from Financial Planning in which we catch up with those delivering financial advice to see what tools they rely on to make it happen. Rising client expectations are driving the need for more powerful tech tools, and we're digging deep to find out why advisors prefer certain solutions.
From product development to implementation, Jordan Hutchison has seen the industry from both sides.
He began his career as a private wealth advisor at Sagemark Private Wealth and First Financial Group of the South in Birmingham, Alabama, under Lincoln Financial Network (which was later acquired by Osaic). He then worked as a vice president and wealth consultant at Oak Tree Financial Services in Huntsville, Alabama, under LPL Financial.
And before becoming head of product for the learning technology platform Shaping Wealth, Hutchison was head of wealth at fintech Monstro and later director of partnerships for XY Planning Network.
"I organized the tech stack, all the partners, from Schwab to eMoney Advisor to RightCapital, all that," he said of the latter experience. "We had 1,600 advisors at that time, and my job was keeping them happy and making sure that we're staying up to speed."
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This varied career experience has come in handy in his current role as vice president of technology and operations at RFG Advisory. He now helps support 69 advisory teams nationwide, which manage almost $5.5 billion in assets.
In the meantime, he also earned his doctorate of business administration from Saint Leo University and now also works as an adjunct professor at the College for Financial Planning, where he teaches behavioral finance and client psychology and communication. His past career experiences also included stints as a client experience strategist and behavioral finance expert at SignatureFD and as a wealth manager and behavioral science trainer at JOYN, both in Atlanta (formerly GV Financial, which was later purchased by Wealth Enhancement Group.)
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Hutchison said understanding the interactions between his work with vendors and the study of the mind informs how he now approaches building a large, complicated technology stack.
"I have always blended the human psychology side of it and behavioral science with the tech piece," he said. "That has been my lens."
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Now at RFG Advisory, Hutchison oversees all of the business' affiliations, shepherding new firms into the fold. Hutchison said they use an in-house consulting team that works with advisors to build out their technology, and the IT Help Desk helps with systems engineering and the heavy back-end tech, too.
"How have they integrated operations?" he said. "Custodians, insurance, all that fun stuff, and then technology."
Scroll down the slideshow to see what Hutchison feels are some of the most important pieces of RFG Advisory's tech stack — and why.
