Bridging The Data Gap | Ryan Kerry, Knowledger

In this episode of The WealthTech Podcast, host Mark Wickersham sits down with Ryan Kerry, CEO of Knowledger, to explore one of the biggest challenges facing family offices today — connecting investment data to the general ledger.

Ryan shares his journey from founding Accusource to building Knowledger and dives into practical insights on outsourcing strategy, vendor selection, and the trade-offs between all-in-one and best-of-breed technology. He also unpacks the complexities of data aggregation, AI-driven statement scanning, and how flexible data design can transform accounting operations.

Discussion Topics Include:
✅ Ryan's Founder's Journey
✅ Solving Data Integration Challenges
✅ Outsourcing Considerations for Family Offices
✅ All-In-One vs. Best of Breed TechnologyConsiderations
✅ Integrating Investment Data into General Ledger & Smart Chart of Account Design

🎥 Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/FNJheV6-IKM

About Ryan Kerry

In the late 1990s, Ryan initiated his investment technology career at Advent software. Advancing through roles at Advent, he later joined SEI to oversee their outsourced investment management. With a knack for data management and client service, he established Accusource in 2008, specializing in white-glove operations for family offices and RIAs. Addressing the challenge of transferring investment data to GLs, Ryan founded KnowLedger in 2020. Based near Philadelphia, he harmonizes family life with his love for bicycling.

About Knowledger

KnowLedger is a data service that moves data from portfolio accounting systems, banks, institutions, and custodians with a rules-based approach that ensures accuracy, completeness, and data confidence into the general ledger system. The type of firms we work with today: family office, multi family office, non profit, and endowments.

Our team works closely with you to establish mappings and data flow, then oversees the recurring movement of the data from your data source(s) to your general ledger.

About The WealthTech Podcast:
The WealthTech Podcast is a bi-monthly interview series hosted by Mark Wickersham. Each month we present conversations with various industry leaders that focuses on the challenges family wealth firms face with technology, people and process. The podcast is produced by Brad Oliver.

The WealthTech Podcast is brought to you by the generous support of Risclarity. Risclarity fills the technology gaps family wealth firms face when serving the complex needs of ultra-high net worth families.

Disclaimer
Information provided is for educational purposes only. Opinions expressed and estimates or projections given are as of the date of the presentation there is no obligation to update or provide notice of inaccuracy or change.

Chapters

• 0:00 Podcast Introduction
• 0:47 Ryan Kerry Introduction
• 1:19 Ryan's Founder's Journey
• 4:20 When Family Offices Should Outsource (and Not)
• 6:46 Managing Software vs an Outsourcer
• 9:19 The Age Old Debate: All-In-One vs Best of Breed
• 12:58 Bridging Investment Data and Financial Data
• 15:28 Intelligent Chart of Accounst Design
• 17:41 Data Aggregation Trends & Best Practices
• 23:58 The Advent Talent Factory
• 25:27 Three Questions that have Nothing to do with WealthTech

Transcript

The WealthTech Podcast Transcript

Host: Mark Wickersham

Guest: Ryan Kerry, CEO Knowledger

00:00:42.020 --> 00:00:54.799

Mark Wickersham: all right, Ryan Kerry. It's great to have you on the podcast we're looking forward to this conversation for a long time. Would you mind giving a brief introduction and an overview of knowledge.

00:00:54.800 --> 00:01:12.800

Ryan Kerry: Sure. Knowledger is a is middleware between all the various data sources, be it Addepar and Black Diamonds, custodians, data aggregators, and family offices GLs with the main GL's we're going to are sage and NetSuite. So think of it as middleware or ETL tool.

 00:01:15.530 --> 00:01:44.019

Mark Wickersham: Can you do me a favor anytime? I have a chance to talk to a founder. I always love to understand A. A founder's journey. You founded Accusource back in 2008 and sold it to STP. In 2020. Tell me a little bit about that journey from founding the firm. What was the unsolved problem? How did what did you learn along the way, and how did the exit go.

 00:01:44.020 --> 00:01:52.690

Ryan Kerry: Sure. So I come from a long list of entrepreneurs, both my, both my parents, all my uncles, most of my aunts.

 00:01:53.363 --> 00:01:56.089

Ryan Kerry: It's just it's just inbred in us. And then

 00:01:56.590 --> 00:02:07.940

Ryan Kerry: back. Before I had started Accusource, I was at Advent and SEI, and while at SEI is when I got the idea for Accusource, and the idea was, why, why do this for SEI, when I know I can do this

 00:02:08.470 --> 00:02:10.749

Ryan Kerry: for more niche clients

00:02:10.919 --> 00:02:19.840

Ryan Kerry: and really focusing on Advent. And I saw a need for that particular company. I know we're talking about knowledge here, but it's kind of the evolution of

00:02:20.170 --> 00:02:25.179

Ryan Kerry: the idea of how I got to knowledge, or was I wanted a White GLove Service company?

00:02:26.188 --> 00:02:37.690

Ryan Kerry: Started Accusource in 2,008, and there's a hint when I start or sell company. There's usually a major crisis in the world. 2008 and the pandemic, or my 2.

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Mark Wickersham: Best time to be starting a business in the financial service sector. But.

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Ryan Kerry: Yeah, yeah, you get what you get. What you have. So ran

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Ryan Kerry: Accusource. And what happened near the end is, I kept seeing about a 3rd of those clients were family offices, and I kept seeing in the family offices the age old problem of them getting their data to the GL.

00:03:01.050 --> 00:03:10.810

Ryan Kerry: And there was one in particular in New York. I was in their office, and they had to cancel the meeting because they're like we gotta load the GL they're like, it's quarter end. It's gonna take us all week.

00:03:11.410 --> 00:03:20.380

Ryan Kerry: And they're sitting there doing it the hard way, slamming it in with bodies and humans in midtown Manhattan with very expensive skilled CPAs, and

00:03:20.860 --> 00:03:32.610

Ryan Kerry: when I got back in touch with them I was like, you guys open to let me just dabble in this. We had another sinGLe family office up in Wisconsin that also let me dabble in it, and that one leaned in and said.

00:03:32.760 --> 00:03:34.490

Ryan Kerry: all in. Let's do this.

00:03:34.620 --> 00:03:38.970

Ryan Kerry: So I tried it in. SQL, this is late. 2,018

00:03:39.883 --> 00:03:51.900

Ryan Kerry: it was somewhat successful, but there's no way it was. Gonna be a product. It was too hard. You needed a SQL expert. You need an accountant slash sequel data expert to get it to run, and that that there's not many of those.

00:03:52.800 --> 00:04:02.260

Ryan Kerry: And then I ran into rules engines. And that's when you look at how a roles engine works. And you're like. That's the answer. That's what's gonna solve this problem.

00:04:03.575 --> 00:04:08.771

Ryan Kerry: And off to the races. And then once I saw that I sold Accusource

00:04:09.390 --> 00:04:15.430

Ryan Kerry: that was sold to STP. They were not in the advent space. They were more on the fund admin

00:04:15.888 --> 00:04:23.759

Ryan Kerry: eagle side. So it was a good addition to them. So everybody moved over there and then focused in on knowledge or laser focus on

00:04:24.210 --> 00:04:27.190

Ryan Kerry: building a product solely for the family offices.

00:04:28.940 --> 00:04:33.630

Mark Wickersham: You were early on the outsourcing trend that that

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Mark Wickersham: pre, you know, 2,008. It wasn't. Most family offices were doing a lot, maybe too much in 

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Mark Wickersham: in in-house. Talk to me a little bit about outsourcing, and how family offices should think about our outsourcing? What should they be outsourcing, and how do they manage an outsource vendor.

00:04:55.440 --> 00:05:01.599

Ryan Kerry: I love that topic, even though I'm barely involved in it anymore. I'm around it all the time, because even with knowledge, I see.

00:05:02.100 --> 00:05:04.337

Ryan Kerry: Knowledger is run by an outsourcer.

00:05:05.310 --> 00:05:12.290

Ryan Kerry: I think it's different per family to see. I mean, that could be an RIA wealth manager. It can be different per. But I think there's

00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:17.409

Ryan Kerry: so many aspects on the family office, and the one I always pick on is AP.

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Ryan Kerry: Some families will say, Oh, our Ap. Is too unique. We can't do it. I'm like you should see what is outsourced on

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Ryan Kerry: the most complex families with

00:05:27.840 --> 00:05:33.500

Ryan Kerry: I don't even know how many boat hands and pull guys and cars. And they

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Ryan Kerry: these outsourcing firms are so good at it, and it's and it is very efficient to outsource it. So what where I'm headed is from a family office. I always say, what is your bread and butter? What is your core? Sometimes you see a family office, and it's the investment side. So outsource more accounting. Other times. It's the accounting. So they invest. They have OCIOs doing a lot of the investment. So that that's a more macro split. I always like to figure out in the family. Are they more accounting or investment focused?

00:06:03.170 --> 00:06:07.219

Ryan Kerry: And then the focus in on the outsourcing on the accounting side.

00:06:08.970 --> 00:06:10.789

Ryan Kerry: It's interesting as I move

00:06:10.960 --> 00:06:29.130

Ryan Kerry: to knowledge or from Accusource. I thought the investment management outsourcing was unique, and it was very boutique, and then I see the accounting side of it, and I was like, this is so much bigger, because when I got to be part of sage. I saw the larger Sage Intaact accounting partner groups.

00:06:29.810 --> 00:06:36.319

Ryan Kerry: and all the operating companies and real estate companies and manufacturing and nonprofits that are being outsourced.

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Ryan Kerry: And then, when you bring the family office into one of these outsourcing firms to them.

00:06:41.900 --> 00:06:48.700

Ryan Kerry: they it's crazy to think this. They barely care. It's a family office. It's a process to them, and it truly is.

00:06:49.310 --> 00:06:52.020

Ryan Kerry: And it's just opened my mind to the

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Ryan Kerry: ability of outsourcing. When you find the right partner.

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Mark Wickersham: How should firms think about? I mean, there is a lot of similarities. But there's also some differences between managing

00:07:04.930 --> 00:07:09.879

Mark Wickersham: a software vendor versus an outsource vendor. How should firms be thinking about

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Mark Wickersham: managing the difference between the 2? And how should they be thinking about managing an outsource vendor.

00:07:17.850 --> 00:07:22.969

Ryan Kerry: I think it's all. It's odd to say this, it's almost like a personality fit. So software is.

00:07:23.240 --> 00:07:28.329

Ryan Kerry: it's almost like buying a car, is, does it fit you? Does it fit your needs? Does it work?

00:07:28.570 --> 00:07:31.229

Ryan Kerry: And it's and it's not as important

00:07:32.140 --> 00:07:36.779

Ryan Kerry: buying an outsourcing vendor. I've never, never thought of this analogy to right now is like getting a dog.

00:07:37.770 --> 00:07:41.060

Ryan Kerry: It's part of the family. It is. Gonna be integral.

00:07:41.060 --> 00:07:41.970

Mark Wickersham: Dating.

00:07:42.180 --> 00:07:43.030

Ryan Kerry: Yeah.

00:07:43.140 --> 00:07:55.890

Ryan Kerry: maybe that's a more. That's even a stronger point. But I'll stick with the dog. It's a part of the family, and if it's bad, it can wreck everything. So it's managing. And maybe I'm thinking about choosing the outsourcing.

00:07:56.020 --> 00:08:10.270

Ryan Kerry: I think it's harder and more important to choose the out right outsourcing firm that matches what you need and matches your personality. Because when people ask me now, we're looking at buying sage or NetSuite, and we're looking at outsourcing.

00:08:10.640 --> 00:08:26.760

Ryan Kerry: I ask the 1st big question I ask is, you want big, firm, medium, small, firm, and by that I mean 6 accounting firms. Do you want one of those? Do you like that? Do you want that next tier of 30? Or do you want somebody that has 15 people?

00:08:26.870 --> 00:08:34.899

Ryan Kerry: There's no right or wrong answer, what's right for you? And what do you guys work best with? I think that's a big difference between outsourcing and software selection.

00:08:35.500 --> 00:08:48.990

Mark Wickersham: Right. I think that's a good point, like, what's your what's your firm personality? I think you take a look at, you know, a smaller firm. You probably have an opportunity to call the CEO, and the CEO is gonna call you back right, whereas versus maybe if you're getting outsourcing from a

00:08:49.140 --> 00:09:07.260

Mark Wickersham: a big 4 year. It's unlikely you're you're talking to the CEO, and they're gonna know about your firm. But then, on the same time, you know there's stability. You have a depth of resources. I I think you know it depends. Are you an early adopter? Do you prefer what's the cultural fit of the firm.

00:09:07.330 --> 00:09:24.511

Mark Wickersham: I think there's more than just the technical access and nose. Right? Take a look at the meshing of the 2 firms cultures and see, hey, is this a good fit for my firm? Do I trust them to be able to support my business and my ability to manage my clients.

00:09:25.440 --> 00:09:50.250

Mark Wickersham: how should you know when on the technology side, we talk about a lot, especially in the family office side. Best of breed versus all in one, and you know we're both, you know, bikers and mountain bikers. And there is that kind of debate out there. Can you have one bike to do it all? Or do you need specialized bikes for for downhilling and cross country, or whatever. Talk to me a little bit about

00:09:50.460 --> 00:09:54.830

Mark Wickersham: breast best of breed versus all in one, and how firms should be thinking about that.

00:09:55.460 --> 00:10:10.159

Ryan Kerry: Well, I didn't think of this till just now, but the best biking analogy is the n plus one equation for all the mark's laughing. For all non bikers out there, n plus one, is the correct number of bikes to have, N being the number you currently have.

00:10:10.850 --> 00:10:27.999

Mark Wickersham: Well, don't forget it. The other part of that equation is d minus one, in which one more bike ends up getting a divorce from your wife, so it's always n plus one until n plus one exceeds d minus one.

00:10:28.230 --> 00:10:30.970

Ryan Kerry: I never heard that side of that equation. My wife.

00:10:30.970 --> 00:10:33.740

Mark Wickersham: Oh, yeah, that's an important part of the equation, Ryan.

00:10:34.060 --> 00:10:41.119

Ryan Kerry: My wife gives me a lot of leeway on fishing and biking, so maybe I can push that a little too far.

00:10:44.110 --> 00:10:47.280

Ryan Kerry: But on the on the software side.

00:10:47.480 --> 00:10:54.130

Ryan Kerry: and Mark and I have a few bikes combined together that we don't. We don't want to go into too much detail on that because we'd lose hours.

00:10:54.820 --> 00:11:02.740

Ryan Kerry: The I've put my camp into the best of breed. I when I was

00:11:02.900 --> 00:11:07.759

Ryan Kerry: coming up with the idea for Knowledger, or that was the idea, and

00:11:08.440 --> 00:11:15.700

Ryan Kerry: the other we I'll just name the names. Why, why hide it? There's Archway and Eton Solutions are the 2 most popular, all in ones.

00:11:16.563 --> 00:11:22.089

Ryan Kerry: And they're the right fit for some people. When I when a family calls me and they're coming into this.

00:11:22.260 --> 00:11:31.909

Ryan Kerry: I throw the names on there. I don't hide it. They're gonna find it. And I'm gonna say, if you want an all in one, and you want partnership accounting, you. You need to go to Archway. You need to start there.

00:11:32.440 --> 00:11:37.700

Ryan Kerry: Are there other answers that you could do? Are there other combinations? You could get absolutely.

00:11:38.290 --> 00:11:42.909

Ryan Kerry: But you should start with Archway, and that that's 1 example of where I just

00:11:43.630 --> 00:11:46.100

Ryan Kerry: by again going back to that software fit.

00:11:46.330 --> 00:11:48.359

Ryan Kerry: But when you go all in one.

00:11:49.100 --> 00:11:55.609

Ryan Kerry: that's not the dog analogy you were mentioning earlier. And that's really not even dating that that's a marriage

00:11:56.130 --> 00:12:07.109

Ryan Kerry: when you go all in one, because in both cases there's not a lot of outsourcing firms out there that are going to be doable. So you're gonna have to run it yourself or use limited resources. That that's a

00:12:07.650 --> 00:12:16.349

Ryan Kerry: that's a big difference between choosing something like sage where your number of firms you can partner with to run sage or not limitless, but

00:12:16.900 --> 00:12:20.819

Ryan Kerry: large, larger than anything on the investment management side.

00:12:22.210 --> 00:12:34.420

Mark Wickersham: Yeah, I think that's a good point. I I you know there is no one right? Answer. There is a right answer for each firm, and that can depend on tech personality. Operational requirements like you said, partnership accounting tends to be

00:12:34.550 --> 00:12:46.190

Mark Wickersham: kind of core to those all in one systems. There is a bit more vendor risk with an all in one versus a best in breed, you definitely have

00:12:46.410 --> 00:12:51.200

Mark Wickersham: more vendor flexibility. You can swap out components, but it is more complicated. There is more.

00:12:51.320 --> 00:13:02.069

Mark Wickersham: I think, expense to it. There are more moving parts to that in terms of you're gonna have to invest in those integrations and make sure your vendors are investing in those key integrations.

00:13:02.180 --> 00:13:09.020

Mark Wickersham: It doesn't matter how many integrations they have as long as they have the right one. So if you're at a bar and sage, you want to make sure that you know

00:13:09.170 --> 00:13:14.026

Mark Wickersham: there's a good mix in there making sure that there's good integrations with that.

00:13:14.510 --> 00:13:25.220

Mark Wickersham: when you take a look at obviously Knowledger or sits in the middle of kind of that example, transforming investment information into general ledger information.

00:13:25.610 --> 00:13:45.249

Mark Wickersham: It's not an easy task where you take single sided investment information, convert it into dual sided information. Talk to me a little bit about some of the challenges of integrating investment data into your general ledger, and then also, what are the kind of the key benefits of being able to get your general ledger to be investment. Aware.

00:13:46.650 --> 00:13:58.779

Ryan Kerry: Some of the challenge are all the various systems you have to pull from and out of pars our most popular. But then you start pulling from Black Diamond and Mastrro and custodians and arch and canoe.

00:13:59.320 --> 00:14:02.700

Ryan Kerry: We do statement scanning with 1st rate.

00:14:03.060 --> 00:14:12.589

Ryan Kerry: They're all different formats and custodians are a tough one because they can't spell Api, and they give you files and those files change.

00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:31.320

Ryan Kerry: and they'll say things like, Oh, it just changed a little bit. You're like. It's an interface. It doesn't. It doesn't matter what changed if it changed. I I have to fix the interface. That's that's hard. But where? And I think the reason we have so few competitors is when you're the destination on the GL.

00:14:32.020 --> 00:14:40.850

Ryan Kerry: I'm gonna go a little off tangent here. But come back when you look at a Geo. When you start a Geo. It's a big whiteboard, be it QuickBooks, Netsuite

00:14:41.555 --> 00:14:51.950

Ryan Kerry: sage, doesn't. It's a big whiteboard. Your chart of accounts is empty, your sub-accounts are empty, your entities are empty. You can make it do whatever you want with whatever characteristics you want.

00:14:52.060 --> 00:14:54.689

Ryan Kerry: When you build an investment management system.

00:14:54.860 --> 00:15:08.980

Ryan Kerry: You have custodians and alternatives. You have the basis of a security master, and you have a basis of accounts. You have that structure kind of already embedded in. So when you, I'm getting back to the point, you've asked your question, mark

00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:15.080

Ryan Kerry: that interface to GL's. Every single GL one is unique and different

00:15:15.840 --> 00:15:23.789

Ryan Kerry: and so different. We had to build knowledge to be infinitely flexible on the chart of accounts, the actual connections to

00:15:23.980 --> 00:15:29.689

Ryan Kerry: Netsuite and sage. Once you get it up and running our core development engines to connect.

00:15:29.830 --> 00:15:44.619

Ryan Kerry: That's just that's just on a treadmillan. You just keep connecting and connecting it. It's the mapping to the chart of accounts and the segments at netsuite, or dimensions at sage. That is kind of our secret sauce, and makes us what so powerful and usable.

00:15:46.470 --> 00:15:54.650

Mark Wickersham: How should firms be thinking about setting up their chart accounts to better support, integrating the investment information where to kind of firms go sideways on that.

00:15:55.650 --> 00:16:01.730

Ryan Kerry: They look at their old chart of accounts, and they just assume that was right. And they take it, or take 80% of it.

00:16:02.830 --> 00:16:23.309

Ryan Kerry: And when you're going to these erp systems, I keep mentioning these GL's I keep mentioning. They have the concept of you might call it like Adapart calls it custom attributes sage calls it segments netsuite calls it. Excuse me, sage calls it dimensions. Netsuite calls it segments. It's the concept of layering

00:16:23.913 --> 00:16:38.319

Ryan Kerry: metadata on a transaction. So in the chart of accounts you might have one large, unrealized, but then you could have sub. You could have dimensions. I I speak in Sage, speak so you could have dimensions underneath that they're gonna say.

00:16:38.720 --> 00:17:03.600

Ryan Kerry: excuse me, I'm going to flip it to realize for a reason you can have realized. Then you can have long and short. You can have the asset class. You could have the state, the taxability of it, and obviously you'd have the entity of it. So those tags on one journal entry give you the ability to run reports and do analysis on the data that you can tweak. How you want to look at it. Is it taxable, non-taxable? By what state

00:17:04.140 --> 00:17:05.239

Ryan Kerry: things like that.

00:17:05.990 --> 00:17:21.320

Mark Wickersham: Yeah, I think that's a good point. I mean, tax prep is obviously a major component of that. And why you want to be able to integrate that investment data to be able to capture the tax consequences from the investment side. I think sometimes firms get a little sideways, too, when they try to

00:17:21.390 --> 00:17:46.079

Mark Wickersham: almost replicate that functionality in the investment system like you should be thinking about your investment system as your investment ledger, like all the detail living there, and then, summary information coming over to your general ledger, like, you know. Likewise you wouldn't populate and pollute your investment ledger with with all the details, the transactional level details from your financial side. And so that's why I think sometimes that

00:17:46.280 --> 00:18:00.000

Mark Wickersham: firms can get a little sideways on that, and they just try to provide way too much information within the financial accounting side that we should maybe go back to the source of the truth on the investment side and and see what's going on over over there.

00:18:01.420 --> 00:18:24.600

Mark Wickersham: let's talk about data aggregation for a little bit. We're talking about custodians and some of the challenges there, I think. Certainly one of the areas is around statements versus the files that you get from the custodians, and how that information is sometimes different. Or sometimes there's more information on the statements. What are some of the challenges with with data? Ag, and what are some of the best practices that you're seeing.

00:18:25.370 --> 00:18:44.429

Ryan Kerry: This has been one of my favorite topics, for dare I say almost 30 years when I look at when I started at Advent on the Acd team and actually one of our key employees, Karen, that's where she and I started working together on the Qa. Way back when in Acd. So we've been dealing with custodian data since late nineties.

00:18:46.290 --> 00:18:54.360

Ryan Kerry: our number one complaint from the clients is when you process the data from an investment management system, and I'm not going to pick on one, because they all have the same problem.

00:18:54.460 --> 00:18:58.650

Ryan Kerry: and then you post it in the GL. The client will go. It doesn't match the statement.

00:18:58.810 --> 00:18:59.550

Mark Wickersham: Right.

00:18:59.780 --> 00:19:03.390

Ryan Kerry: And you're like I didn't pull it from. We didn't pull it from the statement. We pulled it from

00:19:03.690 --> 00:19:12.010

Ryan Kerry: Xyz investment tool like. But that's reconciled. I'm like it's reconciled on cash quantity and market value.

00:19:12.540 --> 00:19:21.560

Ryan Kerry: You can reconcile costs. But that's open tax lots that's not closed tax lots where your realized gain is, and you're not reconciling your interest transactions.

00:19:22.100 --> 00:19:36.439

Ryan Kerry: That's an amortization. Those are the 3 areas where the wheels kind of come off the bus. And we were just alluding to that. It's so much of what you do over in the GL is about tax. So if your amortization you realized in your interest aren't perfect.

00:19:37.380 --> 00:19:41.469

Ryan Kerry: that that's where the clients start to say what doesn't match the custodian.

00:19:42.290 --> 00:19:53.540

Ryan Kerry: So we've teamed up with 1st rate scanning statements. And there's 2 ways. This is going to end up being used. The downside of scan scanning statements is, it? Doesn't have details.

00:19:54.620 --> 00:20:07.529

Ryan Kerry: You're going to say, here's my long, term short term. Here's my interest. Here's my dividends. Here's you're not. I have yet to see amortization on a statement. You're not going to get it. You get it by deriving it on a delta on cost.

00:20:09.130 --> 00:20:11.870

Ryan Kerry: That's what you're going to get. I'm not gonna give you asset class

00:20:12.130 --> 00:20:28.989

Ryan Kerry: by category, but the numbers I'm gonna be able to give. You are very summary and obviously are going to match the statement the other way it could be used is process your data from an investment tool and then overlay the statement, reconciliation on top of it.

00:20:29.390 --> 00:20:35.960

Ryan Kerry: We have not implemented that one yet. The 1st client we're taking live with statements is just taking it from the statements and summary.

00:20:37.300 --> 00:20:39.649

Ryan Kerry: We have clients looking at this

00:20:39.880 --> 00:20:43.619

Ryan Kerry: to overlay the statement. And the problem is, you have detail

00:20:44.020 --> 00:20:49.589

Ryan Kerry: data from the investment system. And you're trying to bring in a high level account level and say.

00:20:49.930 --> 00:21:01.290

Ryan Kerry: I'll keep picking on. Realize, here's my realized long term realized gain for the month, and then it was booked in the GL at an asset class level. So when you find a difference, where's the difference?

00:21:02.610 --> 00:21:03.230

Mark Wickersham: Right.

00:21:03.230 --> 00:21:04.369

Ryan Kerry: The statement doesn't know.

00:21:05.630 --> 00:21:07.350

Mark Wickersham: Yeah, I think there's a

00:21:07.480 --> 00:21:12.480

Mark Wickersham: you know the accountant and wants the the match. The statement, I mean, there's always obviously going to be

00:21:13.262 --> 00:21:42.249

Mark Wickersham: adjustments at year end. k, 1. Adjustments that they're going to come through. And it's about kind of being material, right? Versus kind of exactly right. I think sometimes firms can get caught up in that and spend a lot of resources and energy on on kind of immaterial differences. Amortization that seems like an impossible number to get from a data feed like these custodians are responsible for cost basis. But it doesn't seem to trickle through on the on the data feeds as well as you like, so

00:21:42.250 --> 00:21:44.639

Mark Wickersham: we even had taking it from the statement right.

00:21:44.930 --> 00:21:53.749

Ryan Kerry: We've even had data feeds from custodians trying to fix amortization on really big fixed income accounts. And you get the data feed straight from the custodian. No investment toll involved

00:21:53.930 --> 00:21:58.939

Ryan Kerry: you tally that up to the statement you still have a difference in amortization.

00:21:58.940 --> 00:21:59.520

Mark Wickersham: Yes, sir.

00:21:59.520 --> 00:22:00.730

Ryan Kerry: That's frustrating.

00:22:01.730 --> 00:22:13.707

Mark Wickersham: Yeah, that's you know, it's this runtime thing, or they see, even in some cases, trade day versus settlement date data trying to. You know there's no sense chasing your tail trying to straighten that out.

00:22:14.280 --> 00:22:16.670

Mark Wickersham: What are some of the the other

00:22:16.910 --> 00:22:20.529

Mark Wickersham: big tech trends you're you're seeing in the in the family office space.

00:22:23.940 --> 00:22:27.049

Ryan Kerry: Need to pause on this one. I'm trying to think what else they're talking about.

00:22:29.100 --> 00:22:33.290

Ryan Kerry: So you have firms that are doing the alternative. Scanning arch and canoe.

00:22:33.500 --> 00:22:35.530

Mark Wickersham: And now Addepar is getting in on that.

00:22:36.385 --> 00:22:41.140

Ryan Kerry: That's an interesting twist, because then it's easier for the client. One contract.

00:22:41.690 --> 00:22:50.899

Ryan Kerry: Granted arch and canoe. Both have much longer runways and experience doing it. We definitely have more clients on arch. That's 1 tech

00:22:51.150 --> 00:23:01.329

Ryan Kerry: the tech. We just talked about scanning statements. What we did on that one. I went out to several firms, 5 firms to see who's Who could be the best partner on scanning statements.

00:23:01.540 --> 00:23:14.919

Ryan Kerry: and that was very interesting. The findings I had on that, and how flexible some were, how unflexible somewhere on that. And a lot of people didn't get what we were going for, because a lot of people that are scanning the statements aren't using it for

00:23:15.090 --> 00:23:16.760

Ryan Kerry: tax and GL. So a lot of times.

00:23:18.730 --> 00:23:24.459

Ryan Kerry: Apples and oranges what we were going for? So. But the scanning technology in that

00:23:24.610 --> 00:23:32.759

Ryan Kerry: what I noticed was the price difference. The older the company, the more expensive it was, the newer ones. It was cheaper. And I was like that. I think that's gonna be a trend going forward

00:23:32.950 --> 00:23:40.759

Ryan Kerry: that these scanning and data ag tools are gonna get better and better and cheaper and cheaper.

00:23:41.600 --> 00:23:47.829

Mark Wickersham: I do think, yeah, the scanning the data aggregation and transformation of

00:23:48.610 --> 00:24:09.670

Mark Wickersham: brokerage custodial statement data into structured data. Like you said this. This GL use cases certainly need for it. There's other ones out there. Ai, I think, is one of the big things that kind of makes that that kind of possible. OCR, didn't really work in the past. I wasn't, you know. You need high nineties in terms of accuracy rate

00:24:10.060 --> 00:24:16.723

Mark Wickersham: or else you're just kind of wasting your time on that. So you finally starting to see some real alternatives in that space.

00:24:17.355 --> 00:24:27.439

Mark Wickersham: And speaking of alternatives to your point like that's, you know. That's the land of statements, too. And AI seems to be having a big impact on being able to

00:24:27.490 --> 00:24:54.219

Mark Wickersham: provide that information, eliminating that low 1st mile data on that and provide some structured data around that area. You've mentioned that you're at Advent at ACD. I had a chance to work with the ACD team over at Advent, Mike Gamson. I was over at Fidelity, managing that it did seem like there was a tremendous amount of talent that came out of

00:24:54.300 --> 00:25:09.280

Mark Wickersham: Advent back in the day that that is kind of scattered throughout the industry. What was it like to work at Advent. Why do you think advents had such a you know that it's had such a big impact on the industry and the alumni.

00:25:11.060 --> 00:25:19.009

Ryan Kerry: I think it came from the top, came from Sdm. Stephanie. The fact that my brain thinks of her as Sdm, her acronym, her initials.

00:25:19.230 --> 00:25:28.679

Ryan Kerry: and then the people she put in place, and my mentor forever and still friends. And we talk all the time, was Mel Carey. When you get people like that leading.

00:25:28.840 --> 00:25:30.840

Ryan Kerry: You'll run into a burning building for them.

00:25:32.090 --> 00:25:37.200

Ryan Kerry: and I'll still run into a bearing building for either one of those, and then you have somebody like Anthony Sperling.

00:25:37.310 --> 00:25:43.350

Ryan Kerry: And you just see that those 3 tiers right? There are just amazing people that brought amazing talent.

00:25:43.820 --> 00:25:47.569

Ryan Kerry: And when I came in, and then I moved to management with Mel.

00:25:48.020 --> 00:25:52.180

Ryan Kerry: I thought I never called it the dark side or the underbelly.

00:25:52.350 --> 00:26:00.649

Ryan Kerry: but it kind of is, and it was. The the bar was very high. I cannot count how many people had to fire within the 1st

00:26:00.810 --> 00:26:03.459

Ryan Kerry: month to 2 months of being an advent.

00:26:04.200 --> 00:26:08.499

Ryan Kerry: That's why it was so good, too, because you didn't let you didn't let that in.

00:26:08.990 --> 00:26:09.600

Mark Wickersham: Yeah.

00:26:10.360 --> 00:26:16.200

Mark Wickersham: you let that faster. I mean, there was so much talent that that came out of out of there, and such a big impact

00:26:16.540 --> 00:26:17.730

Mark Wickersham: on the.

00:26:17.730 --> 00:26:29.170

Ryan Kerry: Football team I'm still with. Actually, I share it with a close friend of mine, Todd under. I think that Football League's been around 20. It's over 25 years, all ex Advent people, and just

00:26:29.310 --> 00:26:33.150

Ryan Kerry: thick as thieves and friends, friends forever. And

00:26:33.620 --> 00:26:45.148

Ryan Kerry: yeah, I I think I I think it came from the top in that culture that Stephanie just permeated through everything, everybody, even even when I got on the Qa. Team.

00:26:46.540 --> 00:26:50.059

Ryan Kerry: I gotta pause for a second. What was the Cfo's Lily?

00:26:50.290 --> 00:26:55.799

Ryan Kerry: Even when I got on the Qa. Team and I was running custom engineering, I was

00:26:56.820 --> 00:27:00.450

Ryan Kerry: kind of put to conflict with the CTO Lily Chang.

00:27:01.050 --> 00:27:09.209

Ryan Kerry: She took me into the room a couple times and put the 2 by 4 across my head, and I learned some lessons, but she was always kind to me. She's

00:27:09.380 --> 00:27:12.270

Ryan Kerry: scared me to death all 90 pounds of her

00:27:13.650 --> 00:27:24.510

Ryan Kerry: but she she taught me a lot, too, as much as much as she scared me, but I think in her own way she was very. She was trying to teach me where my boundaries were when I was doing custom engineering.

00:27:27.460 --> 00:27:29.568

Mark Wickersham: I always like to end these

00:27:31.020 --> 00:27:36.290

Mark Wickersham: broadcast on a personal note with 3 questions that have nothing to do with wealth tech.

00:27:36.650 --> 00:27:48.040

Mark Wickersham: So people that know, you know that you're a master networker. Maybe you might not view yourself as that. But you are. What is what is your secret to networking.

00:27:49.160 --> 00:27:52.119

Ryan Kerry: Only you asked that right after talking about Mel Mel taught me that

00:27:52.870 --> 00:27:54.669

Ryan Kerry: 100%. She taught me that

00:27:55.390 --> 00:28:04.589

Ryan Kerry: just just having fun and helping people. It's really about helping people most of the time it turns into helping people find the right gig. But sometimes it's just being a friend.

00:28:05.410 --> 00:28:22.789

Ryan Kerry: But Mel taught me that when you get somebody the right next job or they're out and you help them find the job. There's nothing more rewarding than getting that. Thank you. And watching them start a new job. There, there's and I always say my fees steep. I charge

00:28:23.180 --> 00:28:27.070

Ryan Kerry: I'm on GLuten GLuten free now, so I used to say one beer. Now it's just one drink.

00:28:27.560 --> 00:28:30.210

Ryan Kerry: and I'll and I'll collect that sometime in the future.

00:28:31.805 --> 00:28:50.104

Mark Wickersham: About how good a network it's like, oh, no, he just wants to help people I'm like, that's exactly why he's a great networker. It's really, genuinely about wanting to help people. I've I've certainly experienced it directly and appreciate it.

00:28:51.100 --> 00:28:52.790

Mark Wickersham: how many bikes do you own.

00:28:53.890 --> 00:28:55.059

Ryan Kerry: I don't know that answer.

00:28:55.060 --> 00:28:58.169

Mark Wickersham: What's your? It's not not enough. You need one more.

00:28:58.550 --> 00:29:02.740

Ryan Kerry: Well, there's 4 core ones that get ridden all the time

00:29:03.170 --> 00:29:07.139

Ryan Kerry: within the last week. I think I've written 3 of those 4.

00:29:07.880 --> 00:29:13.950

Ryan Kerry: the total number. Well, there's a lot of beach bikes, trikes, 3 speeds.

00:29:13.950 --> 00:29:19.610

Mark Wickersham: Well, I mean, we both have midlife crisis bikes. Yeah, you want to talk about that one for a little bit.

00:29:19.610 --> 00:29:27.510

Ryan Kerry: Although, see, the N plus one applies there because yours is a sweet mountain bike, and mine is a gravel bike that's almost trying to be a

00:29:28.670 --> 00:29:42.299

Ryan Kerry: quiver quiver killer where you have one. So my, after I sold Accusource, some people go out and buy horses or something. I I just wanted one all in on my sweet gravel bike custom. Build out in steamboat Colorado

00:29:43.240 --> 00:29:43.870

Ryan Kerry: and my wife.

00:29:43.870 --> 00:29:47.349

Ryan Kerry: There you go the leeway to do that. You've seen it.

00:29:47.350 --> 00:29:53.004

Mark Wickersham: No sports cars, but you have a a pretty sweet rig there.

00:29:53.750 --> 00:29:58.659

Mark Wickersham: What has been your best bike vacation.

00:30:04.640 --> 00:30:15.850

Ryan Kerry: Most recent ones. When I do go to conferences I try to bike. It's gotta be way back. When when I was in. Ever since I was in 8th grade to halfway through college I did long trips

00:30:16.520 --> 00:30:28.039

Ryan Kerry: across country north, south. I did Indy to California, but the best one was the Cross Country, Oregon, to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. That was the best. It was a good group. It was about 26 of us.

00:30:29.082 --> 00:30:45.729

Ryan Kerry: Took about 4 and a half weeks, and just saw just saw some amazing things. And the and the people you meet along the way. It's just fun, and that that always. What reminds me of that trip is my crazy brother. We rode all the way to Ohio. Imagine 26 people riding for

00:30:45.850 --> 00:30:51.010

Ryan Kerry: 3 weeks get all the way to Ohio from Oregon, and my brother joins fresh.

00:30:51.360 --> 00:30:59.934

Ryan Kerry: Poor Guy! We killed him. I had no mercy. He's my older brother that always beat me on a bike. I I it was just a week and a half of fun of beating him.

00:31:00.715 --> 00:31:03.929

Mark Wickersham: Group like that at that level.

00:31:04.710 --> 00:31:09.329

Mark Wickersham: Yeah, those that's a lot of people across a pretty big distance.

00:31:10.430 --> 00:31:14.560

Ryan Kerry: That was. It's hard to beat that one. But I hope to

00:31:14.830 --> 00:31:23.489

Ryan Kerry: do Europe. I have a friend, Larry Baker, and there's an ex advent, Guy. He's crossing Europe as we speak. I think he's on day 11. That would be a great one to do.

00:31:23.770 --> 00:31:48.830

Mark Wickersham: It would be great. Yeah, super bike friendly. I've been Moabs up there. I just find it pretty epic out there. I mean that that landscape is so different than than New EnGLand. And then I just came back from. We had a 3 day trip up in the Kingdom trails in Vermont. I just put it out there for anybody who's listening like it's the biggest bike scene in the northeast. And there's a good reason why it's it's really a tremendous area to be able to do some mountain biking super fun.

00:31:49.150 --> 00:31:51.960

Ryan Kerry: Let's make that our best bike trip. I'll go.

00:31:51.960 --> 00:32:02.309

Mark Wickersham: We'll have to find some sort of work related reason for that, and have a summit up there for sure. So, Ryan, this has been great. I really appreciate you being on the podcast.

00:32:02.970 --> 00:32:03.800

Ryan Kerry: Thanks, mark.