Ortec with Richard Owen | E152

Leveraging big data for forward projections.

In this 152nd episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award-winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host interviews Richard Owen, VP of Sales for Retail Wealth Management in North America for Ortec, a company that projects out returns for a variety of asset classes through the use of sophisticated econometric models! 

Episode Highlights: 

● 0:39 – Richard Owen introduces Ortec and the services it provides. 

● 3:02 – How did Richard come to be involved with Ortec? 

● 4:32 – Jason and Richard compare Monte Carlo analysis and Ortec’s analytical strategy. 

● 7:28 – Richard and Jason break down the differences between financial projection companies in Canada and Ortec. 

● 11:17 – Jason and Richard discuss Ortec’s core capability of providing a realistic view of the future. 

● 16:06 – How often do Ortec’s algorithms shift and adjust with the market? 

● 18:18 – Richard breaks down just how specific of information their models bring to advisors. 

● 20:11 – How do Ortec’s clients feel about its methods and projections? 

● 22:02 – What are the real-life deployment cases for Ortec’s software on a retail level? 

● 24:53 – What kind of feedback does Ortec get from institutions and advisors? 

● 28:30 – Jason and Richard discuss the tendency for businesses and individuals to have the wrong goals. 

● 30:06 – What would Richard change in the financial planning industry? 

● 31:08 – Richard explains the biggest challenge for Ortec in North America. 

● 32:07 – What excites Richard the most about what he is doing? 

3 Key Points 

1. Ortec creates large economic models, up to 40 years out, for both companies and individuals throughout the European and North American markets. 

2. Most large financial institutions make the mistake of solely looking backward to historical data to project for the future, while Ortec uses historical data and current trends to make its projections. 

3. Ortec deploys its software in 3 different ways: client-facing API, integration with existing systems, and integration with Salesforce. 

Tweetable Quotes: 

● “Historical data has biases...it doesn’t necessarily give you a good view of what the future looks like.” – Richard Owen

● “It’s very very hard to operationalize those capital market models...The assumptions that you’ve built into the plan then need to change because the portfolio has changed.” – Richard Owen 

● “Really, a lot of this is about driving what is the next best action for the advisor.” – Jason Pereira 

● “You tell us the asset allocation and portfolio value, we’ll project out that future returns. What you do with that really depends on the use case.” – Richard Owen 

Resources Mentioned: 

Facebook – Jason Pereira’s Facebook 

LinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedIn 

FintechImpact.co – Website for Fintech Impact 

JasonPereira.ca – Sign up for Jason Pereira’s newsletter 

Woodgate.com – Website for Woodgate Financial 

Ortecfinance.com – Website for Ortec