UBS and Wealthfront, an automated wealth management provider targeting “millennials and GenZ” investors, signed an agreement whereby UBS would acquire Wealthfront in an all-cash transaction valued at $1.4 billion. 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.
Through this acquisition, UBS expects to accelerate its growth ambitions in the US, broaden the firm’s reach among affluent investors and expand its distribution and capabilities.
With over $27 billion in assets under management and more than 470,000 clients in the US, Wealthfront’s platform helps clients easily manage their wealth by providing access to financial planning capabilities, banking services and investment management solutions. Following the transaction, Wealthfront and its clients will benefit from access to UBS’s leading wealth management capabilities.
“Adding Wealthfront’s capabilities and client base to our global investment ecosystem will significantly boost our ability to grow our business in the US,” said Ralph Hamers, Group CEO of UBS, in a statement. “Wealthfront complements our core business in the US providing wealth management to high net worth and ultra high net worth investors through trusted relationships with financial advisors, and will enhance our long-term ambition to deliver a scalable, digital-led wealth management solution to affluent investors.”
“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, CEO of Wealthfront, in a statement.
Wealthfront’s existing clients will see no immediate change to their experience and can look forward to benefiting from UBS’s breadth of products, services, and intellectual capital. Clients will continue to have access to automated investing and personalized financial planning, which provides the ability to link and view outside accounts to better tailor services to each individual client. In addition to investing services, clients will also continue to have access to Wealthfront’s banking services, including securities backed loans, instant transfers to investment accounts, direct deposit, bill pay, and transfer services.