Bill Hortz
Bill Hortz is an independent business innovation writer, consultant and Founder/Dean of the Institute for Innovation Development - a financial services business innovation platform and network. With over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry including expertise in sales/marketing/branding of asset management firms, as well as, creatively restructuring and developing internal/external sales and strategic account departments for 5 major financial firms, including OppenheimerFunds, Neuberger&Berman and Templeton Funds Distributors. His wide ranging experiences have led Bill to a strong belief, passion and advocation for strategic thinking, innovation creation and strategic account management as the nexus of business skills needed to address a business environment challenged by an accelerating rate of change. The Institute for Innovation Development is a financial services business innovation Institute which acts as a magnet for business innovation best practices/tools and as a network to increase awareness and spur more usage of important innovations in thinking and products/services for financial advisors and industry executives. Learn more here .
Articles by Bill Hortz
- ETFs
The ETF Explosion Has Created a New Problem for Investors: Data
The value of ETF data is not limited to a single trade or portfolio decision. Accurate, timely, and detailed information supports product research.
- Future of Advice
The Future of Wealth Management: How AI, Data and Research Are Transforming Portfolio Advice
Public and private assets have historically lived in separate analytical worlds, so advisers could not see a portfolio’s true total risk.
- Practice Growth
The Evolution of InvestTech for Wealth Managers
InvestTech has been used to describe technology applied to the investment management process
- PowerAdvice
A Strategic View on Marketing ETFs
Dan to share his perspectives and experiences in helping firms launch their ETFs and knowing what strategic decisions they have to make.
- Opinion
Ultimus 2026 Summit Review – The State of the Asset Management Industry
The 2026 Summit agenda reflected more than a roster of timely topics - it captured a broader strategic reality facing the industry
- Future of Advice
The Organic Growth Crisis in Wealth Management
To better understand these industry shifts and the emergence of AI-native growth systems in wealth management
- Research
A Multi-Asset Income Approach That Redefines Balanced Investing
A number of investment strategies were born specifically from a desire to solve personal, real-world problems or unmet investor needs.
- ETFs
The Global ETF Data Helix and Strategic Use Cases
Both established asset management firms and new industry entrants are embracing ETFs across broad beta, thematic, active, and alternative strategies.
- Money & Life
Tax-Managed Investing – Pursuing Optimal Outcomes for Taxable Assets
Maximizing after-tax returns by combining superior stock selection with rigorous and active tax management
- Research
The Risk You’re Missing: Why Investor Beliefs—Not Volatility—Are Destroying Portfolio Returns
It demonstrates how emotion and narrative can drive prices far from reality and this presents risks that investors are not compensated for.
- Artificial Intelligence
AI Is Only as Smart as Your Data: The Governance Gap Advisors Can’t Ignore
This supports the idea that advanced modern technology like AI, in its application to our industry, is only as good as the data behind it.
- Practice Growth
Key Insights From the 2026 T3 Conference
The recent T3 WealthTech Conference in New Orleans, organized by Joel Bruckenstein , was an important event bringing together and creating a financial industry
- Business Growth
A Professional Development System Solving Major Challenges for Asset and Wealth Managers
Asset and wealth managers are operating in one of the most demanding environments the financial industry has faced in decades.
- Active Investing
The Dynamics of Merging Two Microcap Funds
The impact of AI on smaller companies, the potential for increased M&A activity, and macroeconomic tailwinds like interest rates and tariff pressures.
- Active Investing
Megatrends: Investing in Companies That Can Change the World
How can you tell how much of an innovation story is real versus how much is marketing hype? What should you be looking for?
- Market Intelligence
Capturing Versus Predicting Crypto Price Trends
To better understand how his research platform was designed to validate and capture price trends on the growing number of crypto ETFs.
- Business Growth
Intelligent Document Processing – Enabling High Touch Relationships, Advice, and Trust
Firms can now extract, structure, and contextualize critical data from documents, at scale and automatically, into an intelligent system
- Research
Expanding the Opportunity Set for “High Yield” Investing
To better understand how the growth of the alternative credit markets expands opportunities for high-yield investors
- Opinion
Top 2025 Articles From the Institute for Innovation Development
Spurring more usage of important innovations in thinking and next-generation products/services for financial advisors and industry executives.
- Retirement & Income Planning
Rethinking Risk in Retirement Portfolios
An active search for alternatives to traditional fixed-income investments for income and diversification hedging was triggered by the poor performance
- Business Growth
A Perspective for Navigating the Market in 2026
Investing in indices and passive products proved to be rewarding, but the obvious question now is – can this continue in 2026?
- ETFs
The State of the ETF Industry - Fall 2025 ETP Forum Review
Rigorously selected expert ETF speakers and panelists who provided deep-dive discussions and first-hand insights into trending ETF industry topics.
- Future of Advice
How Agentic AI Unlocks Financial Firm Business Intelligence and Growth
At the forefront of this shift is Zeplyn, an AI-native workflow intelligence platform purpose-built for wealth management firms.
- Research
A Strategic Roadmap for Real Estate Securities
But investment success will necessitate flexibility, in-depth research, foresight, and an ability to evolve with the ever-changing landscape.
- Artificial Intelligence
Cybersecurity Threats and Best Defenses for Financial Firms
Protecting your firm and client data is not just an IT problem but also a business continuity, regulatory, and reputational risk.
- Business Growth
The Marketing Power of Video for Financial Services
To adoption, though, still exist for many marketers, with most citing time constraints or simply not knowing where to start as their main obstacles.
- Research
Investing With Conviction: How MSCI’s Christian Values Screening Supports Faith-Aligned Portfolios
Many investors within Christian communities want their financial lives to reflect the same principles that guide their personal and spiritual decisions.
- Future of Advice
The New Middle Office: AI Agents as the Next Operational Layer
Yet, it has given some business leaders pause since these AI solutions are arriving as an unusual manifestation of technology.
- Research
High-Conviction SMAS: Solving Active Management and After-Tax Challenges
Providing clear value through unique strategies and after-tax alpha has become critical to justify costs and competitively position for growth.
- Artificial Intelligence
How AI Will Fill the Advisor Retirement Gap
Artificial intelligence emerges not as a replacement for human expertise, but as a powerful tool to multiply advisors’ capabilities.
- Research
Expanding Personalized Global Investment Access through ADR Indexes
Home office investment teams at wealth management firms are under increasing pressure to deliver personalized client portfolios
- Artificial Intelligence
The FinTech Accelerator Journey
Study of the structure, workings, and benefits provided by FinTech Accelerators, as shared by startup entrepreneurs who have undergone the process.
- Business Growth
Navigating Two Major Financial Marketing Shifts
From regulatory synchronization expanding the use of advisor testimonials to the re-evaluation of digital marketing to the new SEO - AEO spectrum.
- Market Intelligence
Investment Strategies for Gold at an All-Time High
For seasoned gold investors, these peaks often signal the beginning of a new phase rather than the end of an opportunity.
- Future of Advice
How To Navigate the Rapid Technological Shifts Driven by AI
How do you strategically think about, discern, choose, and introduce AI into your firm? So much debate and energy are being expended by financial leaders on AI’s trajectory and real-world applications, along with the potential risks and major benefits.
- ETFs
The Complex Dynamics of Designing an ETF Forum
To learn about the behind-the-scenes strategy and mechanics of how a major industry ETF Conference is designed for the needs its audience
