St. Augustine, Florida, served as an apt setting for a forum centered on transformation. As America’s oldest city, it reflects the enduring legacy that SS&C Black Diamond® Wealth Solutions presented to clients and partners at the 2026 Wealth Solutions Executive Forum. The event brought together leaders of wealth management firms, technology executives, and investment management professionals to examine the future of the industry and Black Diamond’s leadership.
Steve Leivent, SVP and Co-General Manager of SS&C Wealth & Investment Technologies, opened the event by grounding attendees in the platform’s trajectory since SS&C’s acquisition of Advent in 2015. The numbers are difficult to argue with: 750% revenue growth over the past decade, and today, more than 3,300 client firms served with $4.3 trillion in aggregate assets under management and nearly one million active users across 10 million accounts.
Leivent identified enduring market forces, including alternative assets, expanded advisory services, personalization at scale, and evolving regulatory demands. While these themes are familiar, the rapid advancement of AI and data platform strategies is now reshaping the industry. These topics dominated nearly every session that followed.
A panel featuring technology leaders from Choreo, Alvarez & Marsal, and Tolleson Wealth Management discussed AI adoption. Many advisory firms are exploring AI’s potential and testing workflow applications while also addressing implementation, governance, and long-term strategy challenges. The panel highlighted the industry’s balance of enthusiasm and caution toward AI.
The product story that emerged from John Milne, VP of Product Management, addressed this tension by noting three key trends:
Technological change is accelerating.
Experimentation costs have plummeted.
The gap between ideas and working software has narrowed.
He then introduced the upcoming launch of a new artificial intelligence layer within Black Diamond. Inspired by the transformation of carbon into diamond under pressure, this AI layer reflects how wealth technology can evolve into something more powerful and refined.
Unlike a standalone chatbot, the intelligence layer is embedded directly in Black Diamond. It connects to platform APIs, recognizes user permissions and context, and is designed to act rather than simply provide answers. Its key capabilities include:
Assist functionality that handles natural language queries and executes tasks within the platform.
Insights that proactively deliver contextual intelligence, detect anomalies, concentrate risk, and performance drift, and provide explainable outputs linked to specific data points.
Workflow capabilities that support structured processes such as meeting preparation, client onboarding, and proposal generation.
Alex Hagmeyer, Co-Chief Investment Officer of SS&C ALPS, led a panel featuring leaders from Ladenburg Asset Management, OneSeven, and DWT Wealth, which focused on a key industry inflection point. He shared data from Cerulli that notes 78% of affluent investors value account customization, 69% want providers to help reduce their tax burden, and 82% of firms prioritize improving tax management. The panel emphasized that tax management is now essential, and advisors must demonstrate value through tax-aware investing to remain competitive.
Steve Weill, Senior Business Strategist at Goldman Sachs, led a keynote session focused on growth in the high-net-worth (HNW) investor base. He discussed how firms can attract and retain HNW clients by differentiating their positioning, strengthening brand identity, and building trust-based relationships. As definitions of wealth evolve, Weill highlighted the importance of legacy planning conversations, noting that firms engaging clients with clarity and confidence are better positioned to build lasting relationships and achieve sustained growth.
The forum concluded with a core product showcase outlining Black Diamond’s delivery roadmap. Highlights on the horizon include native UMA capabilities, alternative cash flow projections, an enhanced Morningstar integration, and a reimagined, real-time Trust integration. These enhancements reflect the needs of Black Diamond’s broad client base and the complexity of today’s wealth management practices.
Overall, the 2026 Wealth Solutions Executive Forum highlighted a platform at a pivotal stage, ready to lead the industry. With this upcoming AI layer, Black Diamond is advancing a more integrated approach to intelligence, embedding AI directly into the workflows that drive productivity and client outcomes, and still very focused on the core of reporting, trading, and driving engagement between advisors and their clients.
To learn how SS&C Black Diamond Wealth Solutions is helping wealth management firms navigate growth and complexity, request your personal demo, call 1-800-727-0605, or email info@sscblackdiamond.com today.
