Unfazed by declining assets, VC-backed Covestor has another go with a new CEO and some concessions to the old-fashioned machinery of investment advice
The good news is that it has 400 clients -- up from 150 a year ago -- but can the company still be seen as primarily web-based?
Greg V.
Advani was and odd hire for Covestor having run Virgin Money into the ground losing 50 million. He has no ties to the broker dealer community and with a large falure under his belt there is little chance of him changing a conservative group like broker dealers.
Brooke Southall
Are you sure on your facts and…
Don’t all successful entrepreneurs have a failure or two under their belts?
Greg V.
I’m sure of the facts are they are that Advani stayed with a losing idea, social lending, way to long and fired may good executives who knew it. He is good at raising money but leading a company not so good.
Brett M
[Comment removed by admin on request. This comment was not posted by Brett M.]
<strike>As an employee I tell you it is true what has been said about Advani. No one in the copy had a clue about the direction and we couldn’t believe Virgin let him go that long. </strike>
Paul C
Hmmm… These comments sound like sour grapes from former employees. From a shareholder
perspective, Advani did a remarkable job as CEO of CircleLending and timing is everything. He sold the company to Virgin in 2007 before the financial meltdown, gave the early investors a great return on our money, and groups like Intel Capital and Hub Angels who sold stock to Virgin fared exceptionally well. The folks who stuck with Virgin during the recession did not fare as well but c’est la vie. Advani timed the market well and left two years before Virgin Money focused all of its capital on the UK and becoming a chartered bank. There are also some inaccuracies in the posts above – such as the assumption that the company blew through $50m. Much of that capital from Virgin was used to buy out shareholders and the company even returned cash during the recession – so now Advani can count dozens of family offices and private investors like me as his friends. It will be interesting to see what he can make happen in the investment management world.
Paul C
Hmmm… These comments sound like sour grapes from former employees. From a shareholder
perspective, Advani did a remarkable job as CEO of CircleLending and timing is everything. He sold the company to Virgin in 2007 before the financial meltdown, gave the early investors a great return on our money, and groups like Intel Capital and Hub Angels who sold stock to Virgin fared exceptionally well. The folks who stuck with Virgin during the recession did not fare as well but c’est la vie. Advani timed the market well and left two years before Virgin Money focused all of its capital on the UK and becoming a chartered bank. There are also some inaccuracies in the posts above – such as the assumption that the company blew through $50m. Much of that capital from Virgin was used to buy out shareholders and the company even returned cash during the recession – so now Advani can count dozens of family offices and private investors like me as his friends. It will be interesting to see what he can make happen in the investment management world.
Dan
Paul, the comments about Advani are true, all of the Virgin 50 mil is gone and blown with him at the helm. Only 8 mil was used to buy out earlier investors and 1 mil of it went to Advani. He blew a ton of the money on an over the top office space reminicent of the dot com era.
The only reason you and others got the return on investment was so Advani could put money in his own pocket.
Brett
This is the real Brett M. Whoever is using my name to post opinions please stop. If you have an opinion that you would like to express please use your own name and stop hiding behind other people’s names.
Tom
What happened Brett, why the change of hart?
Related Moves
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
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
Oisín's Bits: Wealthfront drops old mission statement, declares war on institutions and emphasizes banking future • Seeking Utah charter, Edward Jones may become largest bank in US by branch count • After Advent chief leaves, Black Diamond head steps up
Andy Rachleff cans the old 'democratizing' mission statement at his robo; The 14,200 one-man Ed Jones branches may become branch banks; Steve Leivent consolidates power at SS&C.
July 3, 2020 at 1:12 AM
Wealthfront
Portfolio Management System
Top Executive: Andy Rachleff
Interactive Brokers
RIA-Friendly Broker-Dealer
Top Executive: Thomas Peterffy
