On the second day of The Wealth Mosaic Live: US Conference in Atlantic City, audiences heard perspectives that ranged from the technological to the human, with topics including digital assets, the needs of neurodivergent clients, and how behavioural science unlocks new opportunities.

The day kicked off with a presentation from InvestCloud’s President for APL Cheryl Nash, who gave insights into the possibilities opening up in private markets, where recent regulatory shifts are opening up access beyond ultra-high-net-worth clients to a broader retail investor base, including retirement accounts.

This new opening up is creating a proliferation of new niche vendors, offering reconciliation, capital call management, and data services. Nash instead previewed the different vision offered by InvestCloud, of consolidating all these vendors into a single operational platform. She also spoke about the challenges of adapting to specific private market requirements like redemption windows, that call for new operational rules and system logic.

Another key opportunity lies in the stablecoin space, which is also opening up under the new regulatory environment. In a fireside chat chaired by Synpulse Head of Banking Pallav Kapur, Apex FinTech Solutions CEO Bill Tabuzzi described how traditional finance is increasingly integrating with crypto, including secure on/off ramps and stablecoin integration into traditional brokerage accounts.

He said that, for advisors, the strategic value lies in partnering with custodians like Apex who provide secure and compliant access to both traditional and digital assets. But doing so will require a rethink in their client engagement models, that incorporates digital assets as part of a diversified portfolio strategy.

Attendees heard a discussion about AI and the client relationship between TIFIN’s Todd Cooper, Park Avenue Securities’ Jack Fatica, Private Advisor Group’s Jack Sullivan, and Peapack Private Bank & Trust’s John Kowal, that presented an actionable playbook for AI adoption and real-life AI use cases.

FinTech Studios founder Jim Tousignant warned attendees that the market gap between leaders and followers in AI is widening quickly, as nine in 10 asset and wealth managers prioritise AI as their top transformation focus. He noted that clients are on their own AI journeys, understanding of which can guide product development priorities. Firms need to encourage their team members to experiment with rapid development tools, but also frankly assess their internal skills gaps and recruit talent to fill them.

Another panel discussion chaired by Pirker Partners founder Alois Pirker and featuring Avantos co-founder Rabih Ramadi, PreciseFP’s EVP of Product Richard Thoeny, and investor Amit Dogra, plotted the future of the United States’ marketplace for registered investment advisors, as their business models increasingly evolve away from their investment management origins.

Looking to the future, the panel advocated that RIA firms prioritise adopting a data strategy, focus their investment on areas of core expertise, and leverage partnerships with technological innovators to maintain their competitive edge.

Another way to maintain a critical edge is by the integration of behavioural science into client engagement, attendees heard from a panel chaired by TWM strategic advisor Michael Partnow, featuring Axos head of product development Summer Fischer-Tom and Hive Science co-founder Steve Fogle.

Fogle revealed how AI and machine learning had revealed over 300 behavioural patterns that enable more tailored product and marketing design — including matching financial products to clients’ cognitive styles, and non-invasive hyper-personalisation that allow advisers to design experiences that resonate with clients’ psychological profiles. The implications of this, Fischer-Tom said, mean that even firms unable to be one-stop shops will increasingly have to focus on integration and seamless connection, to deliver an “Amazon-style life experience”.

The focus on the personal and bespoke engagement continued further with a fascinating panel specifically on the needs of the neurodivergent client community, an underserved segment that’s nevertheless the target of an immense amount of wealth transfer.

In a panel chaired by Binah Capital’s Ryan Marcus and featuring Hestia Wealth and Wellness’s Ann Hynek with Centsability Project founder Agatha Errante, attendees heard about the rethought approach to client engagement the neurodivergent segment requires, emphasising repetition and consistency, a broad range of meeting options and awareness of sensory and environmental sensibilities.

Hynek and Errante noted the lack of training and understanding of neurodiversity within financial firms in comparison with compliance and security training, and highlighted the easy-to-implement practice tweaks that offer the potential of opening up this high-growth market to early movers.

While most of the conference programme focused on the innovations and opportunities of US wealth management, attendees also heard a moving and impactful TED-style talk from Douglas Clayton, founder and CEO of Leadership FilmWorks, that connected leadership, wealth management, and the philosophy of Fr. Michael Doyle, whose work in the exceptionally deprived New Jersey town of Camden offered lessons on relationships, purpose, and legacy.

Watch this space for more in-depth and thematic examination of the fascinating takeaways from The Wealth Mosaic: US Conference 2025 in Atlantic City.