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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

Betterment whistleblowers net $2.5 million • Wealthfront's big pivot leads to profits • Altruist launches tax service • CMOs in at Ascensus, Wealthspire & Joe Duran's Rise • Savvy bags four advisors as Mariner sues it for poaching • Jim Dickson launches RIA stake buyer

Betterment is also bending to RIA needs • Wealthfront is in the black, thanks to cash • Altruist reveals where it makes its money • Rise, Wealthspire and Ascensus each add two executives • Compound hits $2 billion of AUM • CAIS slashes alts prices • BlackRock ups private debt sales to RIAs, through GeoWealth.

June 29, 2024 at 3:00 AM

Altruist is CTO-less, for now, quasi-intentionally, it says • Ex-rival exec hired to jumpstart cross-selling Orion products to enterprise clients • BlackRock tops Grayscale • Facet outsources estate plans • Advyzon profits off Goldman exodus • Dan Wiener's RIA has new CEO • CFP count tops 100k

Shiralker out at Altruist • Orion gives Trevor Noble his cause • Bitcoin has a new fund king • Software maker benefits from Goldman custody exec. churn • Carson Group denies lawsuit • Merge of Wiener's old shop complete • 100,000th CFP named.

June 7, 2024 at 1:44 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

See more related moves

Mentioned in this article:

Wealthfront
Portfolio Management System
Top Executive: Andy Rachleff



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