Envestnet lets the 'Wolfe' in the door after she huffed and puffed in the media -- now she promises to deliver 'ownership mentality' on the outsourcer's board

Lauren Taylor Wolfe simply would not take 'no' for answer, an activist shareholder tactic that is bearing her fruit; Envestnet's shares stayed flat while she made clear she has more cards to play.

Author Brooke Southall March 29, 2023 at 1:33 AM

2 Comments

Lauren Taylor Wolfe's board appointment was "informed by Envestnet's ongoing dialogue with shareholders."

Keith Girard contributed to the editing of this article.

Bill Crager

Envestnet

Lauren Taylor Wolfe

Brian Murphy

April 3, 2023 — 12:15 AM

Great to hear Lauren Wolfe made it onto the Envestnet board, but I fear she did so to her fund's detriment. I suspect as the cooperation agreement looks more like a greenmail tactic by Envestnet to buy time and limit Wolfe's ability to get much of anything done (2 of 7 votes isn't overly compelling). My guess is that she leaves at the end of the 2 year tie-up with an investment worth less than it is now, and without much change in the status quo. That said, I hope I'm wrong. Maybe she can draw in other activist investors to add pressure.

Kevin Starkey

April 3, 2023 — 7:27 PM

Not surprised Ms Wolfe jumped in after reviewing Envestnet's YoY Topline and Net Income numbers in the recent 10-K. This will be great to watch knowing financials finally matter in this environment, ESG mandates are justifiably being questioned and Envestnet has much work to do on their financials. It was interesting to see a 10-K lead with a AUM graph...my guess is Envestnet is taken out by a bigger, deeper pocketed player within 18-24 months.

Related Moves

Bill Crager shuffles the deck on management team created just seven months ago: Tony Leal is out of 'Big Three' inner circle, replaced by Morgan Stanley vet Rose Palazzo

The RIA software 'trailblazer' and co-founder of MoneyGuidePro has been working on departure for a year; will transition to a 'consultant,' company says

January 7, 2023 at 1:50 AM

Envestnet just named an ESG head to meld 'wellness,' 'The Intelligent Financial Life' and 'sustainable investing' into a single nirvana -- that starts outside of the product realm

Ron Ransom earned CEO Bill Crager's trust as chief business development officer and now will define how Envestnet conducts itself as a global citizen and vendor of wellness.

July 27, 2022 at 2:27 AM

Biz Briefs: SEC cracks down anew on RIA reverse churning ~ Envestnet borrows $350 million to buy its own stock ~ Fidelity is creating a crypto waiting list while exec questions crypto ecosystem

Fed up SEC is ready to take on all nonsense at once; stock shocks, Orwell's new name game; Fidelity hosts a line dance

November 18, 2022 at 2:56 AM

Envestnet and Edmond Walters end odd couple 'Apprise' relationship with buyout, but leave open the door to jointly pursue RIA-to-entrepreneur dashboard... later

The MoneyGuidePro owner and eMoney founder execute clean break with Apprise IP rebranded as 'Wealth Studio.' Walters off to the races with a startup and vague promise to collaborate later.

April 6, 2021 at 12:50 AM

See more related moves

Mentioned in this article:

Envestnet Inc
TAMP
Top Executive: Jud Bergman