Wealthfront

Wealthfront
Industry Personal Finance, Stock Exchanges, Finance
Founded Palo Alto, California
Founder Andy Rachleff, Dan Carroll
Key people
 Adam Nash (CEO), Andy Rachleff (co-founder, chairman), Burton Malkiel (chief investment officer)
Total assets $2.0 billion (March 2015)[1]
Number of employees
 62[2]
Website www.wealthfront.com

Wealthfront is an automated investment service firm based in Palo Alto, California,[3][4][5][6] founded by Andy Rachleff and Dan Carroll in 2008.[7][8] Rachleff is the executive chairman of Wealthfront and Adam Nash is its chief executive officer.[4]

The company has received funding from Benchmark Capital, DAG Ventures, Index Ventures, The Social + Capital Partnership and individuals, including Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz and Jeff Jordan.[9] As of December 2014, Wealthfront had more than $1.7 billion of assets under management.[1][10]

History

Wealthfront was founded by Benchmark co-founder Andy Rachleff and Dan Carroll in 2008 as kaChing, a mutual-fund analysis company, before pivoting into wealth management.[11][7][5][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.[12][13]

The company started 2013 with $97 million in assets under management and grew by 450% in one year.[8]

In 2013, Wealthfront introduced "direct indexing", a tax-loss harvesting platform that purchases the individual securities of an investment portfolio.[1]

In January 2014, Adam Nash became Wealthfront's CEO.[4] In April 2014, Wealthfront raised $35 million in a funding round led by Index Ventures, Ribbit Capital and Benchmark Capital.[14] The funding round brought the firm's total funding to $65.5 million.[15]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Wommack, Sanders (19 December 2014). "Wealthfront's high-net-worth cat leaps out of the bag -- keeping it one robo 'pivot' ahead of Schwab". RIA Biz. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  2. ↑ "Form ADV: Wealthfront". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  3. ↑ Leena Rao (2014-01-13). "Automated Investment Services Company Wealthfront Now Manages Over $538M In Assets, Up 450 Percent Over The Past Year". Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Brooke Southall (2014-01-30). "Andy Rachleff is out as CEO of Wealthfront as former LinkedIn star takes his place". Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Serena Saitto (2014-03-25). "Wealthfront Said to Be Raising $30 Million Led by Index". Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  6. ↑ "The 2014 CNBC Disruptor 50 List". Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Eric Savitz (2012-03-01). "WealthFront: Asset Manager Targets Valley's Nouveau Riche". Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Leena Rao (2014-04-02). "Automated Investment Service Wealthfront Raises $35M From Index, Ribbit Capital". Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Tom Taulli (2012-02-07). "Interview: Wealthfront CEO and Founder Andy Rachleff". Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  10. ↑ Nick Summers (2014-06-04). "Wealthfront Hits $1 Billion Milestone". Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  11. ↑ Jason Kincaid (2009-12-15). "kaChing Raises $7.5 Million To Turn Mutual Funds On Their Heads". Retrieved 2015-03-19.
  12. ↑ Marcus Wohlsen (2012-10-09). "Now Tech Plebes Can Dodge Taxes Like a Former Governor". Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  13. ↑ Kim-Mai Cutler (2012-10-09). "Financial Planning Startup Wealthfront Woos Silicon Valley Workers With A Once-Secret Investment Trick". Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  14. ↑ "Funding Roundup: Wealthfront Raises $35 Million, Reports 450% Growth". 2014-04-04. Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  15. ↑ Gabrielle Karol (2014-06-13). "High-Tech Investing Startup for Millennials Hits $1 Billion in Assets". Retrieved 2014-08-22.