Davis Janowski gets scooped up by Wealthfront

Davis Janowski is leaving InvestmentNews today (Aug. 7) and will pack his bags for an Aug. 19 arrival in California.

The longtime technology voice of the New York-based publication is signing on with Wealthfront, one of a handful of online money management startups that have shown some promise, staying power and ample funding. Recently it received a infusion from venture capitalists on the strength of growing assets — 200% to $300 million of assets under management in 2013. See: Wealthfront raises a cool $20 million from VCs to pursue a big slice of a $1 trillion market.

Janowski will go to Wealthfront’s Palo Alto, Calif. base for two weeks to get going and then work from his New York home. His wife, Winnie Hu, is an education reporter for The New York Times.

Janowski will produce written material in his new job, including e-books and entries for the company blog. The position opened up when Elizabeth MacBride chose to depart from it for personal reasons. The e-books will address topics relevant to Wealthfront’s niche market of young, up-and-coming Silicon Valley engineers — and their national counterparts. See: Top 12 crucial technology happenings affecting RIAs in 2012, Part 2.

“Thought leadership is an important part of our marketing and he’ll lead that,” says Andy Rachleff, founder and CEO of Wealthfront. “Davis has a unique combination of experience in the technology and investments world — and he writes pretty darn well.” It’s a strategy that has succeeded for other RIAs. See: A $17-billion RIA doubles down on a social media strategy that netted it 50 Facebook employees.

Loss to the industry

Wealthfront’s gain is InvestmentNews’ loss, publisher Suzanne Siracuse wrote in an e-mail.

“We are going to so miss Davis. He has been a huge asset to IN and the industry. We knew it was a matter of time that someone with deeper pockets than a media company would scoop him up! He is leaving on great terms and we are so happy for him personally.”

Still, Janowski suggests his thinking about this career move encompasses more than pay

Timothy Welsh, president of Nexus Strategy LLC, says that Janowski’s departure isn’t just a loss for IN but a loss for the industry. “I worry about technology coverage in our industry,” he says. “He had the insight and he had the relationships. He will be missed.” (Yes, I hear your challenge, Tim. — Brooke)

Joel Bruckenstein, producer of the T3 conferences, concurs that Janowski will be missed.

“Over the last few years, I’ve had the opportunity to collaborate with Davis on a number of projects, including technology panels at industry conferences. He is thoughtful, insightful, and he understands advisor technology. InvestmentNews readers are going to miss reading his columns. I know that I will.”

Serving the 99%

Siracuse says that her company plans to replace Janowski but will take an unconventional path to filling the position.

“Davis did not know the advice industry when he started; he knew technology. So we will be starting there and see what we come up with … but it is an essential part of our coverage and it will be replaced … We already have begun the search to replace Davis and have reached out in many areas to see who can help in the interim.” See: Why big RIAs are taking a risk on Wealthfront.

Janowski says he hopes to maintain some contact with the advisor technology business but that he’s excited about entering a world that reaches a broader consumer market.

“It’s at least open to the mass-affluent,” he says.

Indeed, Rachleff says his company continues to address an underserved niche of investors who want the combination of high technology and low fees — and for now 60% of his customers are in Silicon Valley.

$1 billion or bust

“We’ll continue to focus on Silicon valley until we reach $1 billion,” he says.

The beauty of the young techies, investment bankers, journalists and the like who use Wealthfront is that they are more fixated on what he’s delivering than assets under management — breaking the hold of the chicken-or-egg dilemma of an RIA needing clients to prove he’s worthy of clients.

“We’re using that [Silicon Valley] strategy to cross the chasm” to critical asset mass, he says.