Flourish Arms RIAs with Lending Platform to Battle Wall Street Giants

NEW YORK, NY – March 17, 2026 – Wealthtech firm Flourish today launched Flourish Lending, a residential mortgage platform designed to equip Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) with the tools to compete directly with the lending power of major banks and wirehouses. The new offering aims to solve a persistent problem for independent advisors: losing clients and assets when a mortgage or refinancing need arises, often forcing clients toward larger institutions that bundle lending with wealth management.

Flourish, a wholly-owned subsidiary of MassMutual, is positioning the new platform as a critical tool for RIAs to evolve from providing holistic advice to enabling holistic implementation. By offering a co-branded, private-bank-like mortgage experience, the company believes independent advisors can deepen client relationships and prevent the asset attrition that occurs when major financial decisions happen outside the advisory relationship.

“For years, advisors have told us they lose assets to wirehouses and banks when clients need a mortgage. Until now, RIAs have been left behind with no competitive solution of their own,” said Max Lane, CEO of Flourish, in the announcement. “Flourish Lending changes all that, giving advisors both the rates and the technology to compete on every front.”

Leveling an Uneven Playing Field

The launch directly confronts a structural disadvantage that has long plagued the independent advisory space. Large banks and wirehouses have historically used their balance sheets to offer preferential mortgage rates and other credit products, creating a powerful incentive for high-net-worth clients to consolidate their assets under one roof. This bundling strategy often places RIAs in a defensive position, struggling to retain clients who are lured away by favorable loan terms that their advisor cannot match or facilitate.

Industry experts acknowledge this long-standing challenge. “Lending has long been one of the biggest structural advantages banks and wirehouses hold over independent advisors,” noted Dani Fava, Chief Strategy Officer at Carson Group. “When clients need mortgages or refinancing, advisors often have limited ways to help, which can lead to assets leaving the advisory relationship and important financial decisions happening outside the planning process. It’s exciting to see solutions emerging that aim to give independent advisors better ways to add value to clients and stay involved in some of the most important financial decisions they make.”

Research indicates that many wealthy clients prefer a single financial relationship, creating a natural pull toward full-service institutions. Flourish Lending seeks to empower RIAs to become that central point of contact by integrating one of the largest and most emotionally significant components of a client's financial life—their home loan—directly into the advisory workflow.

The 'Wealth 3.0' Vision in Action

Flourish Lending is not a standalone product but the latest pillar in the company’s broader “Wealth 3.0” strategy. This vision centers on transforming RIAs from financial planners into comprehensive financial implementers who can manage a client's entire balance sheet, not just their investment portfolio. The strategy involves building an ecosystem of integrated, tech-enabled solutions across a client’s financial life.

This journey began with Flourish Cash, an advisor-focused cash management solution that allows RIAs to help clients earn competitive interest rates on their cash reserves. The platform then expanded to include Flourish Annuities, providing access to a marketplace of fee-based annuity products for retirement and protection planning. Lending was the logical next step.

To accelerate its entry into this complex market, Flourish acquired Sora Finance in March 2025. Sora, an AI-driven debt optimization platform, provided the technological backbone and mortgage brokerage licensing needed to build Flourish Lending. The acquisition brought an existing framework for analyzing client liabilities and identifying savings opportunities, which has now been integrated into the Flourish ecosystem.

“This is a critical piece of our Wealth 3.0 vision: advisors can now fully implement every aspect of a client's financial plan, from cash optimization to retirement income to home financing,” Lane added.

A Digital Broker Model for Competitive Rates

To deliver on the promise of competing with Wall Street, Flourish Lending operates not as a direct lender but as a digital-first mortgage broker. This model is key to its value proposition. Instead of offering rates from a single balance sheet, the platform accesses rates directly from the capital markets, sourcing loans from a wide array of institutional partners. By “eliminating costly middle layers,” as the company describes it, the platform aims to secure more competitive pricing than a traditional, single-source lender might offer.

The platform is designed for deep integration into an advisor's practice. Key features include:

• Proactive Refinance Alerts: The system automatically notifies advisors when a client could benefit from refinancing, turning a reactive process into a proactive, value-added service.
• Co-Branded Experience: The entire client-facing process, from application to closing, is co-branded with the advisory firm, constantly reinforcing the advisor's role.
• Streamlined Workflow: Advisors can assist clients with the application process, including document uploads, ensuring a smoother experience.
• Dedicated Support: The platform provides concierge-level service from dedicated loan officers who are Flourish employees, not outsourced partners.

The service supports new home purchases, refinances, and cash-out refinances for loans up to $10 million on both primary residences and investment properties.

Navigating a Crowded and Complex Market

Flourish is entering a dynamic and increasingly competitive corner of the wealthtech market. Other firms, such as Orion with its Cash & Credit platform, are also developing lending solutions for advisors. Meanwhile, direct-to-consumer players like Wealthfront are building their own home lending services, signaling a broader industry trend toward integrating credit and banking with investment management. Flourish’s RIA-centric, broker-based model is its primary differentiator in this emerging landscape.

Operationally, Flourish Lending is offered through SoraFinance, Inc. (NMLS #2355841), which now does business under the Flourish Lending name. As a licensed mortgage broker, the entity is subject to state-by-state regulation. The platform is currently available in over 20 states, covering more than half of the U.S. population. The company has announced ambitious plans for a rapid expansion, aiming for nationwide availability within the next 12 months to support the more than 1,100 advisory firms on its platform, which collectively manage over $2.6 trillion in assets.