By Chris Glynn
A first-ever venture capital fund run
under Josh Brown and Barry Ritholtz has seeded cloud-based
compliance management software solution SmartRIA, according to a press
statement.
Brown is chief executive officer
and Ritholtz is chief investment officer of Ritholtz Wealth Management the sub-advisor for newly minted venture capital
fund, Compound Capital Fund I.
Compound Capital Fund I made a
“minority investment” in SmartRIA, according to a third-party spokesperson for
RWM. The spokesperson declined to provide additional information about RWM or
SmartRIA. RWM is a $3 billion exchange-traded fund registered investment
advisor.
Knoxville, Tenn.-based SmartRIA is
finished with seed funding and is expecting to have its Series A funding “in
the relatively near term,” said CEO Mac Bartine. Founded in 2015,
SmartRIA has 2,500 clientele nationwide, Bartine said.
In addition to RWM, the company in
late 2021 received seed funding from back-office and middleware provider Dynasty
Wealth Partners as well as MarketCounsel Consulting.
Like Ritholtz Wealth Management,
Dynasty Wealth Partners is a user of SmartRIA, according to Bartine. The
company also has a user base including Bozeman, Mont., investment consultant
XY Planning Network, he said.
The company website also listed Black
Diamond Wealth Platform, BridgeFT as well as $1 trillion
broker-dealer LPL Financial among its clientele.
In addition to making compliance
management “simple,” Bartine noted SmartRIA is working with the “larger, more
prominent” RIA industry.