BridgeFT Names Former Wells Fargo Advisors Head Jim Hays as Strategic Advisor

Hays will assist BridgeFT as it transforms the way financial institutions and FinTech innovators leverage data to fuel innovation.

CHICAGO, Sept. 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BridgeFT, a cloud-native, API-first wealth infrastructure software company that enables financial institutions, fintech innovators, and registered investment advisors to deliver better, data-driven outcomes for their clients, announced named Jim Hays a strategic advisor for the company.

One of the most respected leaders in U.S. wealth management, Hays was most recently President and Chief Executive Officer of Wells Fargo Advisors and head of Wells Fargo's Wealth and Investment Management Client Relationship Group. Previously, he served as head of the Private Banking & Investment Group at Merrill Lynch.

Hays will work closely with Chief Executive Officer Joe Stensland and the BridgeFT leadership team, using his deep knowledge of the financial technology landscape, to help the company position its groundbreaking technology to improve the digital experience of asset managers, wealth managers, and fintech companies. This is especially important as the independent broker-dealers and registered investment advisors capitalize on the demand for better, independent advice, and more differentiated digital experiences for themselves and their clients.

"BridgeFT is transforming the way advisors, broker-dealers, and fintech innovators think about their tech offerings," Hays said. "I look forward to helping the world-class team at BridgeFT in helping use their innovative WealthTech-as-a-Service model to drive the entrepreneurial spirit of financial services."

BridgeFT's WealthTech API is the industry's first WealthTech-as-a-Service platform, offering a single, open API to trade-ready, multi-custodial data, analytics, and applications. BridgeFT's WealthTech API empowers clients to reimagine the potential of their financial data and technology stack, using the power of the cloud. As the industry's only API-first, cloud-native wealth infrastructure platform, WealthTech API removes the need for individual data feeds from a range of custodians and back-office providers, allowing wealth management firms and FinTech companies to create differentiated, next-generation wealth management applications.

"Jim Hays brings a unique perspective and vision to the financial services industry," said Joe Stensland, BridgeFT's Chief Executive Officer. "We look forward to the advice and wisdom he brings to our strategy, and we are honored that a leader of his caliber is committed to supporting our mission and company."

Custodians hold a range of data that drives the investment ecosystem, from positions and balances to client holdings and trades. Each individual custodian has its own data policy, structure, and systems, forcing FinTech companies and other financial institutions to build custom programs for each custodian to access the data. This adds both development time and cost. By simplifying access to the underlying data, BridgeFT's WealthTech API allows financial innovators to reimagine and streamline their own tech stacks and create differentiated solutions for their own clients with BridgeFT's out-of-the-box applications and developer-to-developer support.

About BridgeFT

BridgeFT is a cloud-native, API-first Wealth Infrastructure software company that enables financial institutions, FinTech innovators, TAMPs, and registered investment advisors to deliver better, data-driven outcomes for their clients. Leading financial services firms and technology companies trust BridgeFT to power their digital wealth management ecosystems and automate critical back-office operations—seamlessly aligning essential wealth data, proactive client insights and reporting, and portfolio management automation to deliver a truly personalized client experience. From an integrated advisor solution to the industry's only WealthTech-as-a-Service platform offering open APIs, BridgeFT delivers the infrastructure needed to power next generation wealth management applications. For more information, visit bridgeft.com.

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SOURCE Bridge Financial Technology