Name: Rich Romano
Title: Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder
Company: FIDx
Website: www.fidx.io
Founded: 2017
Headquarters: Pennsylvania, USA
Description: FIDx is redefining how advisors deliver income, protection, and retirement solutions by modernizing an industry long stuck in outdated systems.
Rewiring WealthTech: Inside the FIDx Revolution
As the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of FIDx, Rich Romano leads the company’s overall strategy, vision, and growth. FIDx empowers comprehensive financial planning by seamlessly uniting the industry in innovative, unprecedented ways. Rich, deeply committed to enhancing financial advisory services, is striving to revolutionize the role of insurance products in helping clients achieve their retirement goals within wealth management. With three decades of experience in financial services consulting and specialized knowledge in brokerage and insurance, he has established and managed IT consultancies, providing expert guidance and enterprise consulting to major industry players in insurance, retirement, and asset management. Rich holds bachelor’s degrees in Actuarial Science and Economics from Rider University and the London School of Economics.
In an interview, he speaks on an array of topics. Excerpts:
Founding of FIDx
The wealth management industry faced a core issue—fragmentation. Advisors couldn’t easily access or integrate annuity products into their existing platforms, leading to inefficiencies and compliance challenges. FIDx was built to bridge this gap, embedding insurance solutions into the advisory tech stack and simplifying annuity management. It emerged as a direct response to Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI), which further complicated access for Investment Advisor Representatives. With FIDx, annuities become a seamless part of holistic financial planning—without disrupting advisor workflows or fiduciary duties. Says Rich, “FIDx enables holistic financial planning by connecting the industry together in ways that have never been seen before.”
Simplifying Annuities Through Seamless Tech Integration
FIDx simplifies annuity recommendations by embedding them directly into the tools financial professionals already use. Through the company’s Insurance Exchange, advisors can easily compare, illustrate, and implement annuity solutions—compliantly and without jumping between systems. This integration reduces errors, eliminates paperwork, and enables a fully digital, end-to-end experience. For advisors without insurance licenses, FIDx offers an outsourced support desk that manages the complexities, helping them stay focused on clients.
Rewiring WealthTech with Purpose and Perspective
Rich’s experience in both tech-driven and advisor-centric spaces revealed a clear gap between client needs and platform capabilities. This insight shaped FIDx’s mission: to build seamless, connected experiences across carriers, platforms, and advisors—always guided by client outcomes. His entrepreneurial roots also fostered a culture of action, clarity, and measurable impact. He adds, “We’re not here to slightly improve a broken system. We’re here to rewire it.”
Bringing Income Planning into the Financial Planning Fold
FIDx’s Insurance Exchange embeds insurance and income planning directly into the advisor’s ecosystem, integrating seamlessly with financial planning tools and managed account platforms. This transforms traditionally siloed and manual income conversations into real-time, data-driven discussions. Advisors gain deeper insight and alignment—making it easier to demonstrate how protected income fits into the bigger picture. The result? Simplified planning and stronger client outcomes.
Rich says that the company gives advisors tools to have more complete, confident conversations around retirement. “When advisors can illustrate how annuities protect income or reduce sequence-of-returns risk in real time, clients feel more secure—and more engaged.” FIDx empowers advisors to offer protection and income strategies as seamlessly as they recommend ETFs or mutual funds, elevating their value and strengthening client trust.
Built on Trust: Security and Compliance by Design
At FIDx, data security and regulatory compliance aren’t afterthoughts—they’re core to how the platform is built, says Rich. From enterprise-grade encryption and secure authentication to detailed audit trails and vetted technology partners, every element is designed with protection and transparency in mind. “Given our work with regulated insurance and investment entities, compliance and suitability checks are seamlessly woven into every integration, ensuring confidence, oversight, and peace of mind for advisors and clients alike.”
Powering Progress Through Strategic Partnerships
Partnerships are the backbone of the FIDx model—whether it’s carriers contributing products, platforms integrating their technology, or compliance desks enabling smooth execution. “A standout example is our collaboration with iCapital, which unified traditionally siloed—and sometimes competing—products into a single, cohesive ecosystem. With 19 of the top 20 carriers now live on our platform, we’re seeing strong momentum and a growing commitment to delivering a better, more connected advisor and client experience.”
Forging Ahead: Innovation That Listens, Learns, and Leads
FIDx is forging ahead with the launch of our Insurance Overlay Marketplace—a breakthrough that empowers advisors to add protection to managed accounts without transferring assets to an insurance carrier. “We manage all the backend connectivity between custodians, wealth platforms, and insurers, making the experience as effortless as adding trip insurance to a flight,” says Rich. This seamless integration reflects more than just technological agility—it’s part of a broader commitment to inclusive innovation, with continued investments in DEI-focused talent recruitment and platform intelligence.
He also adds that agility is embedded in the company’s architecture through modular services and short innovation cycles, but what truly sets them apart is how closely they stay connected to users. “Advisor, home office, and carrier feedback actively shapes our roadmap, allowing us to deliver real impact in weeks, not years. And if a better path emerges, we’re not afraid to rebuild—because experience always comes first.”
Digitization That Meets Advisors Where They Are
Digitization is woven into the company’s DNA, but it is recognizing that adoption isn’t one-size-fits-all. “Advisors come with diverse levels of comfort around both technology and insurance, while home offices often have varying compliance frameworks. Our greatest challenge—and opportunity—has been designing flexible, inclusive workflows that adapt to every scenario: licensed or unlicensed, direct-to-carrier or desk-assisted. And our momentum shows that once those barriers come down, adoption naturally accelerates.”
A major part of this shift is how the company is enabling advisors to view annuities as integral parts of the portfolio, not sidelined as “held away” assets. “By embedding annuities into the broader financial picture, we help turn them into core components of holistic planning. This is where our Insurance Overlay capability shines—powerful, seamless, and often underappreciated in how it redefines income planning within a fully digital, integrated experience.”
Redefining What’s Possible in WealthTech
A powerful example of FIDx’s transformative potential comes from a firm that had never offered annuities before. Initially lacking the infrastructure to support fee-based annuities, the solution was considered a low priority—until FIDx was integrated into their platform. What followed was a remarkable shift: within just six months, the firm reached a $500M annual run rate, a pace they’ve sustained for over three years, says Rich. The results not only redefined their operations but significantly elevated the financial outcomes for their clients. “It’s a clear demonstration of what happens when accessibility, innovation, and advisor enablement come together.”
