Articles tagged "Lex Sokolin"
Headline
Publish date
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
Vanguard jilted RIAs 16 years ago. Now its CEO Tim Buckley is green-lighting RIA custody again -- with bells, whistles and added urgency
In a series of emails last week, Vanguard was coy but said its retail RIA platform for 600 staff advisors is getting retrofitted for non-Vanguard RIAs; the potential is huge and the potential pitfalls may be even greater, analysts say
May 23, 2019 at 6:16 PM
Wealthfront adds staggering $1 billion to its robo-bank in 'less than a month', but critics say it's treading the line, again, on possible conflicts of interest
CEO Andy Rachleff's made a smart move -- short-term, for sure -- but the two months come with a big asterisk and cultural, business model and marketing pivot may cause longer-term headaches
April 26, 2019 at 2:20 AM
Betterment turns to ex Mint and Schwab marketing exec Donna Wells to 'hack' back copycat robos and make its brand a household name
No longer the disruptive New York upstart, the $14 billion AUM robo is outgunned by institutional heavy-hitters -- a dynamic Donna Wells knows
July 12, 2018 at 6:12 PM
Mike Sha's robo-advisor faced tough choices until two wirehouses offered unique partnerships -- and maybe a new business model to boot
Sure, the SigFig's founder plays by some of UBS's rules in taking its financial backing and giant systems account but beyond that, the freedom to cavort with Wall Street rivals is pretty unlimited.
June 14, 2018 at 3:46 PM
Mindful of 'Snapchat' dynamic, BlackRock takes big Acorns stake after the micro-robo wins 2.2 million investors in 12 months
The $6.3-trillion asset manager led the $50-million round to ensure a foothold at LA-based firm with an app that onboards 6,000 investors daily
May 24, 2018 at 3:28 AM
Why exactly Northwestern Mutual bought a digital darling for $250 million, shut it down, orphaned its customers and declared progress
When the Milwaukee-based mega-insurer relaunches in six months, the one aspect certainly subtracted from the mix will be the cash-draining 8,000 mass market customers
May 9, 2018 at 9:23 PM
In robo-CEO vs. Twitter gadfly battle, it was no contest as Wealthfront's Andy Rachleff does 'ultimate flip-flop' without tweeting a reply
The $10-billion robo-advisor may weather 'PR nightmare' but not thanks to Rachleff's 'Vanguard' explanation, critics say
April 25, 2018 at 12:03 AM
Betterment reboots its RIA business big-time with new chief, ACATS for ETFs and the ability to fold existing holdings into robo portfolios
Cara Reisman absorbs duties of Tom Kimberley -- then gets to work making the New York robo-custodian more like classic RIA custodians
March 29, 2018 at 12:06 AM
Trizic CEO raises $10M, poaches ex-FolioDynamix COO and luxuriates in 'ocean' of FIS 14,000-bank insider advantage
Drew Sievers vows that firm's five-year plan will make his bank clients massive competitors to Wealthfront and Betterment
March 21, 2018 at 8:13 PM
With hedge fund help, Andy Rachleff buys Wealthfront $75 million of time and swaps out 'robo-advisor' moniker he reviles for his own coinage
Tiger Global PE unit's cash buoys CEO of Silicon Valley who recategorizes his robo as 'software-only' and gives it new life in contending with front-running Betterment
January 10, 2018 at 8:12 PM
Robo-advisors hit lull in everything but VC backing as reality fragments their identity
A Silicon Valley venture capitalist lectures Sallie Krawcheck on drawbacks of human advisors after she explains she needs capital to hire some
December 11, 2017 at 9:43 PM
Quovo is developing an ACATS rooter process with Apex Clearing as first to sign on
The Silicon Alley startup is using its data science as a way of attacking a clog considered not susceptible to intervention
November 14, 2017 at 11:09 PM
BlackRock may build the biggest, baddest RIA platform yet as 'Boy Wonder' begins 'Aladdin-izing' FutureAdvisor
Since its acquisition in 2015, crickets for the $152-million robo-advisor, but under young legend Rob Goldstein, that could all change as BlackRock rolls out its play to own the advisor desktop
November 7, 2017 at 8:39 PM
US Bancorp venture uses $2.6-trillion running start in bid to become the supermarket-of-fund-supermarkets -- with analysts seeing threat to Pershing and other clearing giants
Using DOL rule as spur, the Minneapolis bank conjoins with hundreds of small IBDs with tantalizing promise of placing them on the same footing as the biggest self-clearing firms
