UBS Group agreed to buy U.S. robo-adviser Wealthfront for $1.4 billion in cash, the first major acquisition of a fintech company under Chief Executive Ralph Hamers.
The deal will add more than $27 billion in assets under management and over 470,000 clients in the U.S., Switzerland’s biggest bank said in a statement Wednesday. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of this year.
“Adding Wealthfront’s capabilities and client base to our global investment ecosystem will significantly boost our ability to grow our business in the U.S.,” Hamers said in the statement. It “will enhance our long-term ambition to deliver a scalable, digital-led wealth management solution to affluent investors.”
Hamers, a former ING Groep executive, has pledged to use more technology to win more clients and streamline services to the world’s rich. Started in 2008, Wealthfront was one of the first so-called robo-advisers, or wealth managers that rely on apps that charge low fees and use algorithms to make trading decisions.
These upstarts have upended the wealth and asset-management industries by displacing active managers, who rely on their own expertise to place money. Investment giants such as Charles Schwab Corp. and brokerages including Morgan Stanley have since branched into the space.
Chicago-based Mesirow Fiduciary Solutions adds flexPATH's plan-level outsourced fiduciary book, boosting its retirement market reach to $164 billion.
Also, Raymond James's employee advisor channel adds breakaways from Wells Fargo and Stifel, while UBS welcomes an ex-Morgan Stanley duo in Indiana.
It promised guaranteed principal and 10% monthly returns. The SEC says it invested nothing.
Ten years after entering the fee-based annuity market, MassMutual Ascend says nearly half its lifetime sales came in the past two years alone – but barriers remain among fee-only advisors.
Amplify, WealthReach, Zeplyn and Zocks have unveiled partnerships aimed at automating portfolio management, content creation, account opening, and client communication.
Northern Trust’s Ken Lassner shows advisors how to convert volatility into after-tax portfolio gains
Dan Biagini of American Equity says the steady decline of pensions, longer lifespans and a reset in interest rates are rewriting how advisors build retirement income
