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Wealthfront
Automated investment service firm From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Wealthfront Inc. is a financial services company based in Palo Alto, California,[1][2][3][4] founded by Andy Rachleff and Dan Carroll in 2008.[5][6] As of March 2025[update], Wealthfront had over $80 billion AUM across more than 1,000,000 accounts.[7]
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History
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Wealthfront was founded by Benchmark co-founder Andy Rachleff together with Dan Carroll in 2008 as kaChing, a mutual fund analysis company, before pivoting into wealth management.[8][5][3][9] Rachleff was the firm's founding CEO.[9] In December 2012, the firm started tax-loss harvesting for accounts of more than $100,000.[10][11]
The company started 2013 with $97 million in assets under management and grew by 450% in one year.[6] In 2013, Wealthfront introduced "direct indexing", a tax-loss harvesting platform that purchases the individual securities of an investment portfolio.[12] Between January 2014 and October 2016, Adam Nash was Wealthfront's CEO.[2] Founder Andy Rachleff retook the role in 2016.[13]
In 2016, Wealthfront launched a partnership with the state of Nevada to launch a 529 tax-advantaged college savings plan. In the previous year, Nevada passed approval on a new tax credit for employers who provide fund matching to employees participating in 529 savings programs.[14] Andy Rachleff is currently the executive chairman and chief executive officer. In January 2018, Wealthfront launched homeownership planning tool for Path.[15][16] In January 2020, Wealthfront was listed in Business Insider's Top 10 Best Robo Advisors in 2020.[17]
In January 2022, UBS agreed to acquire Wealthfront for $1.4 billion.[18] The acquisition was mutually terminated in September 2022 with both companies not providing a reason.[19][20] UBS announced that it would instead invest in a $69.7 million note convertible into Wealthfront shares, valuing the latter at its acquisition price.[20]
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Cash account
In February 2019, Wealthfront introduced a cash account, a high interest savings account.[21] The cash account has an interest rate that tracks the federal funds rate, is FDIC insured up to $8 million, and has an account minimum of $1. Wealthfront is able to offer the $8 million FDIC insurance because it deposits its clients' cash account funds in a network of partner banks including Citibank, HSBC, and Wells Fargo.[22][23]
In June 2020, Wealthfront added checking features to this account including direct deposit, bill pay, and ATM access.[24]
The cash account was originally available only to clients with an existing investment account. In August 2020, Wealthfront made the cash account generally available.[25]
Wealthfront uses Green Dot Bank for its individual cash accounts' routing and account numbers, and for debit cards linked to individual cash accounts.[26]
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Fee structure
Wealthfront charges an advisory fee of 0.25% on funds it invests for its clients. Only investment accounts are charged this fee (cash accounts are not). Wealthfront periodically offers a fee waiver of $5,000 if clients sign-up from affiliate links. Additionally, clients can earn a $5,000 fee waiver for new client referrals; the new client must start using the service, and the fee waiver will be eliminated if the new client leaves the service. Both the referrer and the referee receive the $5,000 fee waiver.
Wealthfront's investment account minimum is $500.[27]
Finances
The company has received funding from Benchmark Capital, DAG Ventures, Index Ventures, Social Capital and individuals, including Marc Andreessen and Jeff Jordan.[9] In April 2014, Wealthfront raised $35 million in a funding round led by Index Ventures, Ribbit Capital and Benchmark Capital.[28] The funding round brought the firm's total funding to $65.5 million.[29]
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References
External links
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