Envestnet will roll out RIA custody by 2024, disputing Bernie Clark's lean Schwab profit math, by citing average 15-basis-point margins

I think this article suggests the inconvenient truth about the advisory industry that we would all benefit from by pondering. If Envestnet is willing to make a significant bet on custody at a payoff of roughly15bps, what does that say about their core business & prospects in selling technology to RIAs? They made a major bet on Yodlee and still can't make this turn it into anything after what, 5-7 years? Either the team at Envestnet are a bunch of bumbling idiots, or maybe there's no "there" there when it comes to targeting the B2B advisor space. I would suggest that the B2B model in financial services only works for the largest players (Schwab, Fidelity, etc.) when supplemented with a B2C business. Build the B2C first, then tack on B2B as a secondary series of offerings. Why would Envestnet expect to win anything in the advisor custody space? I mean seriously. Perhaps all these B2B startups targeting the multi-billion $ advisory industry would benefit from using Envestnet as a case study before launching also-ran technology offerings - whether it be tax-loss harvesting software, white labeled robo-advisors, trade management software, etc. The advisor pie is actually much smaller than most suspect. The best thing Envestnet could do given their current position in the industry, is fund an external B2C investment advisory organization that grows to compete with the big boys using Envestnet's myriad of technology. Rethink the industry from the ground up and allow your investee to build out next generation "over the top" advisory business that leverages assets such as Yodlee. Envestnet would get a bird's eye view of where the economics lie by actually managing money.