Vestmark at 25: CEO on $50B AUM, AI tools and RIA push

Vestmark marked its 25th anniversary by reporting $50 billion in assets under management and by highlighting its survival of five major market cycles. The company traces those cycles to the early-2000s dot-com bust, the Great Recession, the rise of robo-advisers, the COVID-19 market shock and the current AI-driven phase. Karl Roessner has served as chief executive for four years.

The firm says recent growth followed an expansion into the registered investment adviser aggregator market and the addition of clients such as Dynasty Financial. Vestmark has promoted products that work with advisers’ existing platforms rather than requiring platform conversions. The company launched VAST, a tax-focused proposal tool that advisers can access via a URL, and continues to sell its SaaS rebalancing system and unified managed account technology to larger firms.

Roessner described the company’s sales approach as focused on simplicity and trust. He noted that tools like VAST can be adopted quickly after a short demonstration, while SaaS rebalancing often involves longer sales cycles, demonstrations and integration planning.

On artificial intelligence, Roessner reported that Vestmark has been implementing AI tools for almost three years. The company provides employees access to internal agents and to tools such as Claude Code and Cowork, along with regular training programs. Roessner reported that employees who adopted the tools experienced about a 65% productivity improvement. He added that the company uses agents to standardize processes and streamline workflows.

Pulse, Vestmark’s AI-driven dashboard, combines news and market data with portfolio positions to generate daily prompts for advisers. The system flags accounts that have drifted from model allocations, recommends rebalances and suggests client outreach tied to market developments. Roessner described Pulse as an “advisor dashboard they can use every day” that surfaces specific actions for individual accounts.

Vestmark said it limits use of external models and keeps client information within its systems. Roessner stated that the company does not share client data with large language model providers and that employee use of AI tools is monitored to prevent errors and protect client relationships.

Roessner identified impersonation technology as a particular risk, noting the ability of software to mimic individuals. He said the firm relies on monitoring and employee training to prevent misuse that could harm reputation or client trust.

Looking ahead, Vestmark plans to continue supporting its core customers while expanding in the RIA aggregator market and releasing additional AI-native products. Roessner expects two or three more AI product releases by the end of the year and pointed to a workforce with long tenure-many employees with 18 to 24 years at the company-as a factor in the firm’s continuity through multiple market cycles.