For RIA aggregators, data is everything. Whether you’re rolling up multiple firms, acquiring new businesses, or simply trying to deliver better insights to your advisors, the ability to aggregate, normalize, and enrich data is critical. But too often, firms believe their portfolio management system (PMS) can act as the foundation for their data strategy—only to realize too late that it lacks the depth, consistency, and flexibility they need. This is where the concept of hydrating your data lake comes into play.
A data lake is a centralized repository that allows firms to store large volumes of data from multiple sources. Unlike a traditional database, which is highly structured and designed for specific queries, a data lake enables firms to ingest data in its native format, making it more flexible for analysis, reporting, and machine learning applications.
For wealth management firms—especially RIA aggregators—this is critical. As firms acquire new businesses, roll up multiple entities, or integrate different technology platforms, they accumulate massive amounts of financial data from various custodians, investment products, and client accounts. Without a proper data lake strategy, firms end up with siloed, inconsistent, and unreliable data, making it difficult to extract meaningful insights.
However, simply having a data lake isn’t enough—it needs to be fed with clean, accurate, and enriched data to properly power analytics, reporting, and next-generation wealth management applications.
The Problem: Portfolio Management Systems as a Data Bottleneck
Many firms make the mistake of assuming their portfolio management system is their single source of truth for data. While some systems provide valuable portfolio analytics, they weren’t built to serve as comprehensive data infrastructure. The gaps become evident when firms try to integrate data across multiple custodians, asset classes, and applications. Some common challenges include:
- Data Inconsistencies: PMS platforms often pull in custodial data but don’t fully normalize or enrich it, leading to mismatched data points across applications.
- Limited Data Depth: PMS platforms focus on portfolio-level data, but they may not include all transactional, tax-lot level detail, security reference, or alternative investment data that RIAs need.
- Lack of Interoperability: Many PMS platforms were not designed to serve as open data platforms, making it difficult to integrate them into broader data ecosystems.
The Solution: A Unified Source of Data Truth
Rather than relying on a PMS as the backbone of their data strategy, RIA aggregators are looking to solutions that provide multi-custodial, enriched, and API-driven data as their system of record. This ensures that every system—from reporting and billing to compliance and analytics—is powered by high-quality, consistent data.
BridgeFT’s WealthTech API provides exactly this capability, enabling firms to hydrate their data lakes with normalized, enriched data across custodians and back office systems, investment products, and applications. Instead of patching together disparate data sources, firms can rely on a single source of truth to fuel their entire wealth management ecosystem.
Why This Matters for RIA Aggregators
For firms growing through M&A, the ability to standardize and integrate data is a game-changer. When you’re absorbing new RIAs into your platform, you inherit multiple systems, workflows, and data formats. Without a unified data strategy, this complexity can quickly become unmanageable. A well-hydrated data lake ensures:
- Seamless Integration: New firms and their data sources can be onboarded efficiently without disrupting operations.
- Better Decision-Making: Advisors and clients get more accurate, holistic insights, rather than fragmented reporting.
- Scalability: As the firm grows, the data infrastructure remains robust and adaptable.
Conclusion
Hydrating your data lake isn’t just about collecting more data—it’s about ensuring your data is actionable, accurate, and accessible. RIA aggregators need more than a portfolio management system; they need a true data infrastructure that can unify and enrich data across all sources. With BridgeFT’s WealthTech API, firms can ensure their data lake isn’t just full—it’s fully optimized to drive growth, efficiency, and better client outcomes.
