carred by the stock market's worst year since the Great Recession, fintechs have been forced to reckon with an investing landscape that's far different from the meme-stock heyday of the early pandemic. Just three investing companies landed on this year's—the lowest count in the list's eight-year history—but these firms have found sweet spots serving savvy investors, who are looking to diversify with private equity, Treasurys and even state-sponsored savings programs.
Returning to the list for a sixth-straight year, iCapital is still seeing massive growth thanks to the explosive popularity of alternative investments. The platform, which lets big banks and wealth managers offer investments like venture capital and private debt to their clients, is now used by about 97,000 financial advisors serving hundreds of thousands of high-net-worth individuals, who are increasingly coming from outside the U.S.
Three list staples dropped off in 2023 amid the past year's uncertainty: 401 provider Guideline, as well as Stash and Public.com, both of which offer brokerage services directly to retail investors. It's been a tough year for the upstarts in the trading platform world.
Nevertheless, the list also includes two newcomers: Vestwell helps small businesses offer employees access to 401s and spreading state-sponsored savings plans, and just last month, it was tapped by J.P. Morgan to help advisors keep track of their records. Founded in 2016, the firm now serves some 30,000 small businesses with accounts totalling $27 billion in assets.