Vanilla’s approach to better software for family offices: Listen first, build second

Advisors working with ultrahigh net worth clients are no strangers to the complexity that surrounds their investments, but software systems need to keep up. One way to do that, according to Vanilla, a provider of financial software solutions, is a simple strategy: just listen. 

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That listening has culminated in the announcement of a strategic partnership with Callan Family Office to address the gap between the needs of high net worth families and the limitations of software systems.

Callan Family Office serves individuals, family offices and families with investable assets of $25 million or more. Callan’s founder and CEO, Jack Ginter, has a longstanding connection with Bill McNabb, chairman of the board at Vanilla, according to Vanilla CEO Gene Farrell. That connection fostered a dialogue, which led to feedback. 

After Callan began both using and evaluating Vanilla’s software for their business and estate planning, “We started talking more deeply about what’s really needed in the family office and UHNW space,” said Farrell. “We started to get into a lot of nuanced requirements they believe are important for complex families.”

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The partnership, which includes a joint product development and a go-to-market agreement, “brings together two organizations with a shared conviction that the ultrahigh net worth market deserves fundamentally better estate planning technology,” according to the press release.

Vanilla prides itself on actively seeking client feedback to improve — feedback that “drives probably 90% of our road map,” said Farrell. The feedback from Callan, which Farrell calls an innovator in the space, provided both firms with an opportunity.

“We felt like there could be some collaboration where they could give us more access to their team and deeper insight into their process and their needs that would frankly help us build a better product,” said Farrell. 

The complexities they plan to hone in on include financial structures, entities, family businesses and holding companies with investment portfolios. “When you’re sitting down as a family, one of the things you want to understand is the total picture,” said Farrell.  

That involves understanding where the family stands relative to what they currently own and its value, as well as what the client can control. The overall picture can also look like understanding multigenerational relationships to the investments and wealth transfer schedules. “A lot of what those families need is visibility and a simple way to understand how all these pieces work together,” said Farrell.

“The complexity of those families continues to increase as new financial products come into play as people start to invest in more exotic things,” said Farrell. Software helps navigate the complexity by serving as the “source of truth” and as a tool to visualize and understand relationships.

The go-to-market strategy will bring joint thought leadership, events and distribution efforts “designed to bring these capabilities to wealth management firms and family offices across the UHNW space,” according to the press release.

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The AI connection

Implementation of artificial intelligence is also part of the strategy, with Vanilla using AI to generate quicker insights in order to spot opportunities or situations in accounts that need attention. 

“AI is going to make that much simpler, and you’re going to have better plans, and you’re probably able to do it with less effort,” said Farrell.

Farrell added that Vanilla’s commitment to listening remains intact. When customers inquire about what the partnership means for them, “Hopefully it will spur more of them to want to share feedback and what we can do to help solve their problems even better,” he said.

“We’re thrilled and feel it’s a real endorsement of what we’ve built, but we’re here to serve the entire industry.”