Communify Acquires Empaxis to Enhance AI Platform
Communify, a digital platform run by Former InvestCloud CEO John Wise, has acquired Empaxis Data Management, an investment data management and operational services provider for wealth and asset managers.
The Empaxis technology will be integrated into Communify’s platform, helping the firm solve for fragmented and inaccessible data, a barrier many wealth managers face when implementing artificial intelligence.
“Advisors and asset managers demand faster insights, automation and personalization—but data management remains a major obstacle,” said Wise, the CEO of Communify, in a statement. “With pre-integrations to 175+ market data vendors worldwide, Communify is already one of the largest global market data distribution platforms. The acquisition of Empaxis Data Management eliminates the barriers between client and internal systems, unifying client and market data within Communify’s Knowledge Base.”
The data management system will power MIND AI, Communify’s flagship suite of AI-powered tools, including MIND AI Stories and Events. MIND, which stands for Market Intelligent News Discovery, is a proprietary collection of smart applications that turn large data sets into intelligent insights that advisors can use to deepen client relationships.
The firm’s MIND AI Stories suite is meant to turn complex financial data into clear, compliant narratives that advisors can use with their clients. It recently expanded this suite to include Client Stories, which provide a full financial snapshot with actionable insights, and Portfolio Stories, which explain the drivers, allocations and risks in plain language.
Empaxis’s data management will allow Communify to bring more accurate, reliable and actionable AI insights through those Stories.
“Everybody’s talking about AI,” said Jennie Wang, chief client solutions officer at Communify. “One of the big problems that they’re seeing is that we really don’t have very reliable client data. Their client data is disparate. They have an accounting source; they have a performance source; they have a CRM. They don’t talk to each other. When you plug that into any AI engine, it doesn’t really give you anything that’s actionable.”
“We made a strategic choice with the Empaxis acquisition to solve this data management challenge. They know data management better than anyone in the industry,” she added.
Empaxis was launched in 2004 by CEO Stephen Van de Wetering. It specializes in portfolio accounting, back-office automation and middle/back-office data management. It has over $500 billion in assets under administration and hundreds of custodial integrations.
Communify is owned by Just Build It, a software investment firm launched by Wise in 2024. Last August, Communify acquired Fincentric, a developer of mobile applications and websites for retail brokerages and other financial institutions, from S&P Global. It made the investment alongside Stellex Capital Management, a New York-based private equity firm.