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UBS backs out of Wealthfront deal, coughs up $69 million and will 'build' not buy as digital top gun Naureen Hassan's arrival as CEO of UBS Americas hangs nigh

The Swiss-owned wirehouse was going to pay $1.4 billion before the market plunged, and UBS brought on a new digital-savvy CEO to lead its online efforts

Author Brooke Southall September 3, 2022 at 1:34 AM
1 Comment
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David Fortunato: We will be cash flow positive and EBITDA profitable in the next few months.

Robo-Advisors


Brian Murphy

Brian Murphy

September 6, 2022 — 4:06 AM
Interesting development - a low cost option I suppose (5% of the $1.4B deal size for 6-9 months). I suspect the major Wall Street firms haven't seen the expected economic efficiencies Robo-advisors had suggested just 5 years ago to move forward with this. Kind of puts Wealthfront in an unenviable position, not unlike Robinhood. Both have products either too easy to replicate internally by the major WS firms, or in direct competition with others. They both need to broaden their thinking around product (and economics) to sustain growth. Not sure either is able to do so based on their current initiatives.

Related Moves

July 16, 2022 at 1:35 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

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


Mentioned in this article:

Wealthfront
Portfolio Management System
Top Executive: Andy Rachleff



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