USBN Q2 2018

22 US BUSINESS NEWS / Q2 2018 , Arrangement withArtivest provides financial advisors and qualified investors with access to premier alternative strategies. RBCWealthManagement - U.S. LaunchesNew Digital Alternative Investments Platform RBC Wealth Management-U.S., one of the nation’s largest full-service wealth management firms, is taking some of the mystery and difficulty out of alternative investing with a new digital alternative investment platform for high-net worth clients. Developed in partnership with Artivest, an award- winning alternative investment management and technology solutions provider, RBC Wealth Management’s cloud-based investment platform gives financial advisors and their clients access to leading private equity and hedge funds across sectors, stages and styles. The platform also provides a streamlined process to complete the investment subscription process making it easier to bring alternatives into investors’ portfolios. “In today’s volatile, yet innovative, global markets, alternative investments play an important role in building successful and diversified portfolios for high-net- worth investors,” said Bryan Mullin, Head of alternative investments at RBC Wealth Management – U.S. “Through this new platform, our financial advisors have access to an even wider array of solutions to help meet the investment objectives and goals of their qualified clients.” Alternative investments have historically been difficult for financial advisors to offer to qualified clients for three primary reasons: high investment minimums; a tedious, paper- intensive subscription process; and non-transparent, inaccessible fund data. RBC Wealth Management entered into this arrangement with Artivest to address these barriers, bringing the benefits of alternatives to high-net-worth individuals; a streamlined, online subscription process, and accessible fund information and analytics. Since launching the alternative investments platform, RBC Wealth Management has processed four times the number of investments compared to before the platform’s launch, with no increases in their operations staff or expenses. “Artivest is thrilled to help RBC Wealth Management expand their alternative investment offerings to financial advisors and high- net-worth clients,” said James Waldinger, Founder and CEO of Artivest. “We look forward to our continued partnership as they continue to grow their alternative investments business.”