RIABiz

News, Vision & Voice for the Advisory Community

RIABiz

Articles tagged "Lex Sokolin"


Headline

Publish date


Andy Rachleff promises a bank "that makes money with the client -- not from them."

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

Tim Buckley is consistent about wanting to steer the Vanguard ship amid the shoals of financial advice  and past the company's cultural encumbrances that veer to investor self-direction.

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

Andy Rachleff: You can expect us to further extend our services into the banking sector this year.

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

Donna Wells: I consider myself a hacker, even, if not an engineer.

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: It's way better for our clients if technology investments are amortized across  [multiple] large partners as opposed to one-off custom development for any one-off particular partner.

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

Rob Goldstein: Acorns is a pioneer in creating innovative ways to engage investors in a mobile-first world.

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

Alexa von Tobel will keep her title with the relaunch of LearnVest but her idealistic mission may or may not survive.

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

Andy Rachleff says his firm's price drop is an act of conscience reflecting the good example of Vanguard Group. Some find the explanation hard to stomach.

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

Cara Reisman: We want to meet as many needs as possible while still being easy to use.

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

Drew Sievers: [FIS support] is not just a huge moat in the banking business, it's a veritable ocean.

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

Sitting on an extra $75 million of VC cash, Andy Rachleff can see an IPO in the distance

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

Sallie Krawcheck: He proceeded to give me chapter and verse on how financial advisors are hard to manage. (Photo credit: WBUR)

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

Lowell Putnam: It ensures everything on both sides of the transaction is 'fit for purpose,' meaning it's just down to the National Securities Clearing Corp.-DTCC to do the necessary work..

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

Robert Goldstein will get his turn at figuring out how to make FutureAdvisor into a winner.

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

Kelly Lynch: You've got spaghetti going in between the two.

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

October 17, 2017 at 10:45 PM

RIABiz Directory

The Industry Sourcebook for RIAs

   |    LISTING

Add Your Listing

RIABiz Directory sponsored by:

Directory Sponsor Logo

White Paper Postings


Common Tags


Recent Articles


Popular Writers


RIABiz logo

RIABiz

About Us

Directory

Archives

Connect

RIABiz, Mill Valley, California
Copyright © 2009-2024 RIABiz Inc. All rights reserved.