NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa., Sept. 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- TradingFront, an innovative technology and unified custodian solution for independent RIAs, announced today that their CEO, Yang Xu, was selected in the "Ten to Watch in 2021"– the yearly WealthManagement.com Industry list of ten executive leaders who will have a transformational impact on the wealth management industry in the years ahead.
Every year, the editors at WealthManagement.com, one of the industry's most prestigious publications that boasts hundreds of thousands of readers, take a refined look at the individuals driving change and innovation in wealth management; and curate a highly select group to be profiled in their fall cover story.
One of the few executives leading a technology firm, this year's list featured Yang Xu, CEO of TradingFront.
"I would like to thank WealthManagement.com for this prestigious recognition. I am very honored to be selected for inclusion in this "Ten to Watch in 2021" list with the other nine industry leaders and pioneers. This achievement is a huge win for our entire TradingFront team, who I am inspired to work with every single day to bring powerful solutions for advisors in helping them run a better business, while delighting their clients."
According to Xu's profile in the cover story article, Xu graduated college in 2009 from University of International Business and Economics with a major in finance during the financial crisis and took some advice from his friends and left China to study in the United States. He attended Drexel in Philadelphia because it had strong finance, math and science departments and is close to New York City.
At Drexel, he met Professor Wesley Gray, with whom Xu would help launch Alpha Architect, managing money for a family office and several high-net-worth individuals. "It was 2010 that I first learned of the RIA industry," Xu said. "I read academic papers for fun and for my work—10 to 20 papers a week—and I began to wonder, could we actually manage money?"
"I nicknamed him Bulldog," said Gray, the CEO of Alpha Architect and a former Marine captain who served in Iraq. "He kind of reminded me of my Marines, you would just point him in the right direction, provide a little guidance, and poof, he would get it done."
The business was initially run on a shoestring out of Gray's garage, in traditional startup style. "It was a really small team back then, only four or five of us at any given time, and I was doing academic research and asset management," Xu said. That included building in-house technology for onboarding clients, trading and asset management, the groundwork that would eventually grow into TradingFront. "That's how I learned—by doing everything from scratch, 15 hours a day, seven days a week, and we loved it," said Xu.
TradingFront was built, to serve the needs of small to midsize RIA firms and breakaways looking to set up shop. The company's developers have focused on three core components most needed by advisors, including simple onboarding, trading and rebalancing, and performance reporting. These features and their interface sit on top of the core custody platform of partner Interactive Brokers.
Xu states "Client satisfaction is our driver. Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together. We've been learning from the best players in this industry, rebuilding and putting the pieces together in a better and more efficient way. More to come!"
About TradingFront
TradingFront is a white-label, customizable technology platform built expressly for RIAs. Our feature-rich, cost-effective solution helps RIAs efficiently run and grow their business and delivers a world-class experience to their clients. Designed by RIA industry veterans, technologists and partnered with Interactive Brokers, TradingFront is on the leading edge of the future of wealth management technology.
For more information about TradingFront, visit www.tradingfront.com. For press inquiries, please contact media@tradingfront.com.
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