Wealthfront's high-net-worth cat leaps out of the bag -- keeping it one robo 'pivot' ahead of Schwab
The Palo Alto firm with $1.7 billion of managed assets reveals that its little secret is big accounts
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UBS bets its 'wealth' future on ex-Schwabbie Naureen Hassan, a corporate digital A-lister, who analysts give a fighting chance to transcend PaineWebber's ossified culture
Still a $2-billion cash-flow cow, the Swiss bank's 6,000-broker, US-based wirehouse is milking aging broker relationships with aging investors but needs a new kind of human presence, empathy, mindset and smarts to draw in Gen Z.
July 16, 2022 at 1:35 AM
Wealthfront's unlikely tapping of Sheila Bair and Tom Curry signals likely push to gain a bank charter, analysts say
The Redwood City robo-advisor's addition of two renowned former chief banking regulators brings legitimacy and guidance that could lead to a margin-fattening bank charter and help solve the robo-advisor's problem of high client acquisition costs.
December 31, 2020 at 4:37 AM
Wealthfront cedes to four years of investors clamoring for crypto by taking on expensive third-party vendor that Betterment rules out
The Redwood City, Calif., robo-advisor turned a hard 'no' into a soft 'yes' by dealing with Grayscale and its 200 basis-point-plus fees, which its robo rival in NYC -- also without a crypto path -- finds ludicrous.
August 14, 2021 at 2:20 AM
Second Betterment exec departs as new CEO Sarah Levy orients to her first month on the job and is confronted by personnel matters
Chief operating officer Dustin Lucien is the latest to leave the New York City robo-advisor, one of at least eight positions open as it prepares a push across multiple business lines to ignite growth.
January 19, 2021 at 6:32 PM
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Grant Barger
Nice report. Probably a pretty good strategy for wealth front to focus on HNW clients seeing as ROI (especially in indexed products) has little to do with the creation of wealth. That being stated, we all know that the rich are not content in maintaining wealth…they want to get richer. And without going into detail about the flaws in Fama-French folklore (just Google it) offering discounted,tax-efficient, marginal performing portfolios does not sound like a win-win.
In this industry, which is paradoxical by nature, when solutions are offered freely in such broad strokes it should beg more than a few questions: What type of indexing (specifically) are we talking about? What are the flaws associated with the presentation of indexing as being a cure-all? How is indexing supposed to handle the dynamic fluctuations of the multitude of risks associated with investing? What are the real risks associated with indexed structured products?
Chuck versus wealth front is of noise in the bushes scenario that bodes well for both companies…as long as you spell their names right. The serious advisor understands the folly of engaging with digital noise makers… A big part of their job now is to make sure their clients understand that folly as well. Thanks for sharing, Brooke. Keep tearing down that wall.
Paul Damon
Does Wealthfront really have > $130 billion in financing? (“earn ROI on $130 billion-plus of venture capital.”)
I’d imagine that “B” should be an 'M’ (per below CNBC article), though that type of 'Jack Ma money’ is a pleasant aspirational typo not really worth addressing for any founder.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102127447#.
brooke southall
Good catch, Paul. I recall when you did that quite effectively on articles where your clients were involved. you have a good eye.
Grant. I’ll keep at it on walls but I may need to go to my greener self.
Incredible Hulk
