‘Our goal is to create  a community of people who want financial accessibility and simplicity’: Timothy Rooney

“We like to say that the ‘& Co.’ in Marygold & Co. stands for community.”

Imagine if you had the opportunity to incorporate all of your life experiences to build the ideal banking and investment management company. That is exactly what the Marygold & Co. team has been doing since 2019. They have been in the “lab” working to build a financial services firm that incorporates, in their opinion, the very best options for helping people at all stages of life manage their finances by simplifying the process, all within one app. Marygold & Co. is building a community of like-minded people to create a fintech that brings together high-touch service with high-tech financial management.

Within banking and investment management, the pace of change is accelerating at a tremendous rate. The fintech market is experiencing extraordinary growth, partly because this sector is best poised to take advantage of the latest cutting-edge technology to bring sophisticated products and services to market. According to Market Data Forecast, the global FinTech market is projected to reach $324 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 23.4%. Fintech firms can create the very best solutions by accessing cutting-edge technology or partnering with firms that have already built the solution.

The Marygold team is focused on simplifying the financial lives of their clients and providing the most user-friendly experience possible to send, receive, spend, and save money. They do this within their full-service app by providing the tools to allow the client to simplify the process. For example, why have only one account where you save when everyone has many financial goals that they hope to achieve? Wouldn’t it be better to have an account for every goal? This way, the client can track their progress toward each goal with a tap of the finger. Marygold & Co. offers a highly flexible feature called “Money Pools,” which allows for an unlimited number of accounts to track each financial goal independently. Each Money Pool can be invested differently  since short-term goals should be handled differently from long-term ones. Money Pools give the client the sophistication of bespoke investments tailored to each of their financial goals, with the ease of answering a few questions on the app.

Marygold & Co., a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Marygold Companies (NYSE: MGLD), was established in the U.S. in 2019 as a development stage company. Marygold is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, and has a presence in the United Kingdom as well. Plans are underway to launch the company in other markets in Europe and Asia.

The Marygold leadership team is accustomed to the start-up environment and has experience launching various businesses. Timothy Rooney, Marygold & Co.’s president, has spent the majority of his career launching financial enterprises, including mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, and retirement plan operations.

The technology available today allows the Marygold & Co. team to focus on the goal of simplifying all areas of personal financial management. According to Mr. Rooney, managing our financial lives can be straightforward if we ask the right questions and have access to the right information. For example, is borrowing money good or bad? Neither, according to him. Taking on debt is a tool that is sometimes used effectively for overall financial advantage and other times not. Borrowing money to buy a house is typically a sound decision, but running up credit card debt at high-interest rates is usually a last resort decision that we can all learn to minimize.

In addition to Money Pools, another Marygold innovation allows their clients to “PayAnyone”. This feature allows clients to send money to anyone in the United States with just an email address or mobile phone number. The payee does not need to be a client of Marygold, and they are given options on how they want to receive the money. “Features like ‘PayAnyone’ allow us to move the market forward,” says Mr. Rooney. “We should be able to send money to friends or family without first having to ask them if they have the app necessary to receive it. We have already heard from a client who had a family member tell them to ‘Marygold me some money’.”

As the big banks and investment firms attempt to provide these types of services to their clients, they are adding layers of complexity for their clients to navigate. Marygold’s app simplifies money management by providing a single app and dashboard for all their clients' financial needs. Ease and transparency allow clients to see their financial profile and growth in real-time. They no longer need to navigate multiple apps or link accounts manually to see how their portfolios are performing.

And what if a client has a question or needs help? Marygold took the unprecedented step, for a fintech company, of forming a department dedicated to ensuring the happiness of its customers. If a customer needs assistance, they have the option of contacting Marygold using the chat feature found inside the app, sending an email, or calling the Marygold Customer Care Number. “White Glove Service” is a phrase you hear a lot when talking with Marygold leaders.

Despite the attention surrounding the growth of the fintech market and new company launches, Mr. Rooney does not see other fintech companies as his competition. “Many fintechs are moving the industry in the right direction. Fintechs have an advantage over standard banking and brokerage models in that they can provide better efficiency, which results in better products and services for the client,” he says.

“Marygold is providing clients with increased efficiency and transparency. We focus on helping our clients reach their financial goals by showing them how to organize their financial lives. The real competition is the old school model of exclusivity and opacity, firms that have banking or investment minimums or are charging their clients fees such as overdraft charges. We are helping our clients leave the big banking mentality behind. Our goal is to create a community of people who want financial accessibility and simplicity. We like to say that the ‘& Co.’ in Marygold & Co. stands for community.”

Timothy Rooney | President

Timothy Rooney has spent 30 years building new businesses for large financial corporations, including exchange-traded funds, mutual funds, and retirement plan organizations, and is excited to bring his experience to the next generation of financial innovation at Marygold & Co. His educational background includes a master’s degree from NYU’s Stern School of Business and executive education coursework at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

“Features like ‘PayAnyone’ allow us to move the market forward.”

“Marygold & Co. offers a highly flexible feature called “Money Pools,” which allows for an unlimited number of accounts to track each financial goal independently.”