UBS and Wealthfront, an automated wealth management provider serving the next generation of investors, have signed an agreement whereby the bank will acquire the plataform in an all-cash transaction valued at 1.4 billion dollars.
UBS has revealed that through this acquisition, it will accelerate its growth ambitions in the US, broaden its reach among affluent investors and expand its distribution and capabilities. To do so Wealthfront will become a wholly owned subsidiary of UBS and will operate as a business within UBS Global Wealth Management Americas.
The transaction is currently expected to close in the second half of 2022, subject to closing conditions including regulatory approvals.
With over $27 billion in assets under management and more than 470,000 clients in the US, “Wealthfront’s award-winning, state-of-the-art platform helps clients easily manage their wealth by providing access to financial planning capabilities, banking services and investment management solutions”, the firms say.
Following the transaction, Wealthfront and its clients will benefit from access to UBS’s leading wealth management capabilities, including the UBS Chief Investment Office’s best-in-class thought leadership, an unrivaled global footprint, and deep products and services shelf.
“Adding Wealthfront’s capabilities and client base to our global investment ecosystem will significantly boost our ability to grow our business in the US,” commented Ralph Hamers, Group Chief Executive Officer of UBS.
The platform’s primary focus is on millennial and Gen Z investors, a client segment with significant domestic growth potential. With more than 130 million investors in the US alone, millennials and the Gen Z population together comprise a high growth segment that will own an increasing share of the world’s wealth.
In addition, Wealthfront will expand UBS’s existing offering through the firm’s Wealth Advice Center, which focuses on serving core affluent clients, and its Workplace Wealth Solutions business, which works with employees of corporate clients on equity plan participation, financial education and retirement programs.
“Partnering with UBS will allow Wealthfront to offer our clients additional value-added services and best in class research that will help accelerate our vision to make growing wealth delightfully easy,” said David Fortunato, Chief Executive Officer of Wealthfront.
For Marcelo Soba