In a significant move for the wealth tech industry, Vanilla, a rising estate planning platform, has announced a strategic partnership with Mariner Wealth Advisors, a leading wealth management firm overseeing $560 billion in assets. This collaboration is set to transform how estate planning is delivered at scale, bringing advanced tech-driven solutions to one of the most traditional—and often overlooked—areas of financial advisory.
🤝 A Match of Innovation and Influence
Vanilla is known for modernizing estate planning by making it more interactive, intuitive, and accessible. Its platform turns complex documents into visually clear, client-friendly experiences—giving both advisors and clients a better understanding of wealth transfer, legal structures, and tax strategies.
Mariner, on the other hand, is one of the largest independent wealth advisory firms in the U.S., with over 800 advisors across the country. The firm has built a reputation for comprehensive planning services, including investment management, tax planning, retirement, and now, thanks to Vanilla, estate planning that is more digitally enabled and client-centric.
🧠 Why This Matters
Traditionally, estate planning has been a manual, lawyer-driven process that many clients avoid due to its complexity and cost. But with generational wealth transfer estimated to reach $84 trillion over the next two decades, demand for modern estate planning tools is soaring.
This partnership aims to solve key pain points:
- Visual clarity: Transforming legal documents into interactive visuals
- Advisor efficiency: Saving hours spent on document interpretation
- Client engagement: Encouraging more meaningful conversations about legacy, inheritance, and wealth continuity
By embedding Vanilla’s platform into Mariner’s advisory workflow, both firms expect to elevate the estate planning experience for high-net-worth clients and their families.
📈 Scaling with Purpose
Vanilla’s CEO, Gene Farrell, emphasized the power of this alliance:
“Partnering with a firm like Mariner validates our vision and accelerates our mission to make estate planning more accessible and valuable for all clients.”
For Mariner, this move is part of a broader push to digitize client services while maintaining a high-touch experience. As wealth firms compete for next-gen clients, tools like Vanilla help differentiate their value proposition.
🚀 What’s Next?
The integration is expected to roll out in phases across Mariner’s advisor network, with training and client onboarding support provided by Vanilla. The partnership also signals Vanilla’s growing presence in the enterprise wealth tech space, potentially opening doors for similar collaborations with other major RIAs and broker-dealers.
Final Thought:
In a sector often resistant to change, Vanilla and Mariner are showing what’s possible when technology meets tradition. This partnership doesn’t just modernize estate planning—it reshapes how wealth is preserved and passed on in the digital age.
