How Wealthfront Finally Became Profitable After 14 Years

Summary

Forbesの編集者であるMaggie McGrathとJeff Coughlinは、デジタル資産管理サービスであるWealthfrontについて議論しました。Wealthfrontはロボアドバイザーとして知られ、顧客のリスク許容度と投資目標に基づいて投資ポートフォリオを作成します。2014年に報道されて以来、2023年にようやく利益を上げるようになりました。彼らの利益化に貢献した要因は、高金利の現金口座アカウントの提供とその金利の引き上げでした。また、Wealthfrontは自動化に注力し、固定費用を抑え、低い手数料で持続可能なビジネスモデルを築きました。彼らは現在約65億ドルの資産を管理しており、将来的には上場も視野に入れていますが、その道はVanguardなどの大手企業との競争が激しいと予想されます。

Takeaways

• 😀 Wealthfrontは、リスク許容度や時間軸に基づいてカスタマイズされた投資ポートフォリオを提供するロボアドバイザーです。
• 😀 Wealthfrontは2014年から観察されており、2023年にようやく収益化しました。
• 😀 彼らの収益は2022年の8000万ドルから2023年には2億ドルに増加しました。
• 😀 高金利のキャッシュアカウントが顧客を引き付け、収益の増加に貢献しました。
• 😀 Wealthfrontのキャッシュアカウントの資産は2022年末の90億ドルから2023年末には270億ドルに増加しました。
• 😀 UBSによる買収提案が2022年に失敗し、従業員の士気に影響を与えましたが、同時期に収益化に成功しました。
• 😀 Wealthfrontはコストを抑え、自動化を重視する文化を持ち、効率的な運営を行っています。
• 😀 同社の手数料は0.25%であり、競合他社と比較しても競争力があります。
• 😀 Wealthfrontは800,000人の顧客を持ち、米国の中間所得よりも高い収入の顧客をターゲットにしています。
• 😀 Wealthfrontは今後も成長を続ける見込みがあり、将来的に公開企業になる可能性があります。

Q & A

ウェルスフロントがどのようなサービスを提供しているのか説明してください。

ウェルスフロントはロボアドバイザーとして知られており、顧客のリスク耐性や将来の資金ニーズに基づいてカスタマイズされた投資ポートフォリオを作成します。

ウェルスフロントがどのようにして利益を得ているのか教えてください。

ウェルスフロントは主にキャッシュアカウントを通じて利益を得ており、これは銀行が提供するハイイールド貯金口座よりも優遇された金利を提供しています。

ウェルスフロントが利益を上げるために行った主な戦略は何ですか。

ウェルスフロントはキャッシュアカウントの提供を開始し、その金利を競合他社よりも高く設定することで顧客を引き寄せました。また、自動化を通じてコストを削減し、低い手数料を維持しています。

ウェルスフロントのキャッシュアカウントはどのようにして顧客を引き付けたのですか。

キャッシュアカウントは銀行の提供するハイイールド貯金口座よりも高い金利を提供し、2019年に開始してから金利を競合他社よりも高く設定することで顧客を引き付けました。

ウェルスフロントが利益を上げるために行った変革の1つに、従業員の給与を含む固定コストを管理することがあります。これはどのように実現されたのですか。

ウェルスフロントは自動化を通じて固定コストを削減し、エンジニアを含めた従業員の給与を管理しました。また、オフィスのコストを低く抑えることで固定コスト全体を管理しました。

ウェルスフロントの顧客層はどのような人々ですか。

ウェルスフロントの顧客層は平均年収が約12万ドルの比較的高所得層であり、一般的なアメリカ人の平均年収よりも高くなっています。

ウェルスフロントの今後の展望について教えてください。

ウェルスフロントは現在、利益を上げており、将来的には上場を目指しているとされています。しかし、収益が700百万ドルを超えるまではIPOのリターンが良いとは言えません。

ウェルスフロントがどのようにして顧客の関心を引きつける戦略を展開しているのか教えてください。

ウェルスフロントはキャッシュアカウントの金利を高く設定し、自動化を通じてコストを削減することで顧客の関心を引きつけています。また、マーケティング費用を抑えながら効率的に顧客を獲得しています。

ウェルスフロントの競合他社と比較してどのような相対的な位置づけがあるのでしょうか。

ウェルスフロントはBettermentやVanguardなどの他のロボアドバイザーと比較して、同じレベルの手数料を設定しています。しかし、キャッシュアカウントの提供により、より多くの顧客を獲得しています。

ウェルスフロントのキャッシュアカウントが今後どのように発展すると思いますか。

キャッシュアカウントは現在、顧客を引き付ける重要な要素です。しかし、金利が下がる場合、顧客はキャッシュアカウントから投資アカウントに資金を移動する可能性があります。ウェルスフロントはこの変化に対応する戦略を展開する必要があります。

ウェルスフロントが今後上場する可能性についてどう思いますか。

ウェルスフロントは上場を目指しているとされていますが、現在収益が200百万ドルとなっており、700百万ドルを超えるまでにはまだ成長が必要です。そのため、今後数年間は民間企業として成長を続けるか、他社によって買収される可能性があります。

Outlines

00:00

😀 ウェルスフロントの成功と利益化への道

ウェルスフロントは、個人のリスク許容度と目標に合わせたカスタム投資ポートフォリオを提供するロボアドバイザーです。2014年にForbesに取り上げられた後、10年以上かけてようやく利益化に成功しました。その過程で、プロのマネーマネージャーのパフォーマンスを比較するサービスから、ロボアドバイザーへとシフトし、最近ではキャッシュアカウントの提供で急速にアセットを増やしました。2023年に利益化に到達した背景には、そのキャッシュアカウントの高金利が大きな役割を果たしました。

05:01

😉 経済環境とウェルスフロントの成長

ウェルスフロントは、経済環境の変化に合わせてキャッシュアカウントと投資アカウントのマーケティング戦略を切り替えています。金利が高かった2022年にはキャッシュアカウントを主軸にし、多くの新規顧客を獲得しました。また、UBSによる事業買収が失敗した影響で社内モラルが下がったものの、キャッシュアカウントの成功と利益化に向けた取り組みがその打撃から回復を促しました。

10:02

😎 ウェルスフロントのビジネスモデルと将来展望

ウェルスフロントは自動化を通じてコストを抑制し、持続可能なビジネスモデルを築いています。ロボアドバイザーの基本的な手数料は0.25％であり、競合他社と比較して低い水準です。2023年の売上高は約2億ドルで、利益化につながる重要な役割を果たしました。将来的には、市場シェアを拡大し、数十億ドル規模の企業になる可能性がありますが、Vanguardのような巨拠企業と比べるとまだ小さい企業です。

15:04

🤔 消費者へのメッセージとウェルスフロントの今後

ウェルスフロントの今後の焦点は、キャッシュアカウントの金利が下がった場合の顧客動向と、売上高の成長です。金利が変動する中で顧客を維持し、投資アカウントの顧客獲得にも力を入れていく必要があります。消費者にとって、ロボアドバイザーは積極的な資産管理を行いたいが、個別株や共同基金の選択を自分では行たない場合の良い選択肢です。

Keywords

💡財産形成

「財産形成」とは、個人が資産を蓄えるプロセスを指します。ビデオでは、Z世代とミレニアル世代の多くの人が親の世代よりも財産形成が難しく感じているという調査結果が取り上げられています。このキーワードは、ビデオの中心テーマである財産形成の難しさと、それを支援する金融技術企業の役割に関連しています。

💡ロボアドバイザー

「ロボアドバイザー」とは、技術を利用して投資ポートフォリオを作成し、顧客のリスク耐性や目標に合わせたカスタム投資サービスを提供する自動化された投資管理システムです。ビデオでは、Wealthfrontという企業がこのサービスを提供していることと、それがどのように彼らの利益性を実現に寄与したかが説明されています。

💡財産形成の助け

「財産形成の助け」は、人々が資産を蓄えるのを支援するサービスやシステムを指します。ビデオでは、Wealthfrontがそのようなサービスを提供し、特に高収益の現金口座を通じて顧客に利益を提供していることが強調されています。

💡固定コスト

「固定コスト」とは、企業が維持するために一定の期間に支払う必要のあるコストであり、売上や収益にかかわらず支払われるコストを指します。ビデオでは、Wealthfrontが固定コストを超えるためには、彼らのビジネスモデルをどのように拡大し、利益を実現するかが議論されています。

💡収益性

「収益性」とは、企業が利益を生み出すことができる状態を指します。ビデオでは、Wealthfrontがどのようにしてその収益性を達成し、特に2023年に利益を上げることができたかが分析されています。

💡高金利貯蓄口座

「高金利貯蓄口座」とは、通常の銀行の貯蓄口座よりも高い金利を提供する金融商品です。ビデオでは、Wealthfrontが提供した高金利貯蓄口座が、顧客を引き付け、企業の収益性に寄与したと説明されています。

💡資産の成長

「資産の成長」とは、企業や個人が保有する資産の増加を指します。ビデオでは、Wealthfrontの現金口座の資産が大幅に増加し、それが企業の収益性にどのように影響を与えたかが議論されています。

💡マーケティング戦術

「マーケティング戦術」とは、企業が市場で顧客を獲得するために使用する戦略的なマーケティング方法を指します。ビデオでは、Wealthfrontが金利が低い時に投資口座を、金利が高い時に現金口座を主導するマーケティング戦術を用いることについて触れています。

💡自動化

「自動化」とは、手動の操作を機械やソフトウェアに委ねることで、効率を高めるプロセスです。ビデオでは、Wealthfrontが自動化を通じてコストを削減し、持続可能なビジネスモデルを築いたことが強調されています。

💡市場シェア

「市場シェア」とは、企業が特定の市場で占める割合を指します。ビデオでは、Wealthfrontがどのようにして市場シェアを拡大し、競合他社と比べてどのような位置づけにあるかが議論されています。

💡IPO

「IPO」とは、企業が初めて株式を公開して株式市場に上場することを指します。ビデオでは、Wealthfrontが将来的にIPOを目指していること、または他社によって買収される可能性があることが言及されています。

💡ロボアドバイザーの利点

「ロボアドバイザーの利点」とは、自動化された投資サービスが提供する利便性や効率性、低手数料などを指します。ビデオでは、消費者がどのようにしてロボアドバイザーを選び、その利点を利用することができるかが示されています。

Highlights

Wealthfront, a fintech startup, has recently become profitable after 10 years in the industry.

Wealthfront operates as a robo-advisor, creating customized investment portfolios based on user risk tolerance and financial goals.

The company initially allowed users to select professional money managers but pivoted to a robo-advisor model within a few years.

Wealthfront's profitability was driven by the growth of its cash accounts, which are high-yield savings accounts.

Fixed costs, primarily employee salaries, were around $100 million, and the company needed to exceed $100 million in revenue to become profitable.

In 2023, Wealthfront's revenue more than doubled to $200 million, allowing it to surpass its fixed costs and achieve profitability.

The company attracted $18 billion in new deposits due to its aggressive interest rates on cash accounts.

Wealthfront's cash accounts are more profitable than the average robo-advisor customer's stock and bond portfolios.

The company has kept costs reasonable by automating processes and maintaining a frugal culture.

Wealthfront has not raised its fees since inception, maintaining a fee structure of 25 basis points on assets.

Compared to competitors like Betterment and Vanguard, Wealthfront's fees are in line with industry standards.

The company's growth was significantly impacted by the acquisition deal with UBS falling through, which affected morale.

CEO David Fortunato emphasized the importance of having a short memory and focusing on the company's cash accounts after the failed acquisition.

Wealthfront's customer base has an average income significantly higher than the median income in the United States.

The company aims to potentially go public, with board member Mike Vuli expressing this as a goal.

Wealthfront's growth in 2024 is a key area of interest, with Q1 revenue showing an 80% increase compared to the previous year.

The impact of lowering interest rates on Wealthfront's cash accounts and overall growth is a significant factor to watch in the coming years.

For consumers, robo-advisors like Wealthfront are a good option for those who want a proactive approach to managing finances without actively picking stocks or mutual funds.

Transcripts

hi everyone I'm Maggie McGrath senior

editor at Forbes we know from surveys

that nearly two in five gen Z members

and Millennials say that they have a

harder time Building Wealth than their

parents did and so I'm sitting down with

my colleague Jeff Coughlin he is a

senior editor covering finex and we are

going to be talking about one of those

fintech companies that is helping people

build wealth literally has wealth in the

name Jeff thanks so much for joining us

thanks for having me great to be here so

you wrote a story on wealth front which

is a fintech startup that we actually

covered back in 2014 in a story called

the new money Masters but 10 years later

this company is finally profitable we'll

get into how they built profitability

but I want to start by asking a very

broad question for those who might not

know what is wealth front and why do we

care about it yeah so wfront is what

they call a robo advisor basically they

will create kind of customized

investment portfolios for you based on

your risk tolerance uh your time Horizon

are you saving for retirement and so

yeah it's a robo advisor and they

started a little bit differently they

actually started by allowing people to

pick money managers professional money

managers and they kind of had a

competition which money managers are

performing the best and you could pay to

pick a money manager but they pivoted

pretty quickly uh just a couple years

after they they got that uh that one

going into the robo advisor and so just

like betterman or Vanguard other

companies that have Robo advisors that

that's what wealthfront does now they

only just reach profitability and as I

started this conversation saying we've

been watching them since 2014 what took

so long to become profitable yeah um it

is a long time and I mean I feel like

you often see that with startups but I

think that for wealth front they had

fixed costs that were a certain level

probably around $100 million or so so

they have this model this business model

where they have fixed costs which is

mostly really employees salaries uh they

have about 280 employees and a lot of

those are Engineers which command pretty

high Sal salaries and so but they had

these fixed costs that for a long time I

think they knew we have to get to really

well above a 100 million in Revenue to

actually become profitable and finally

uh in 2023 after uh you know 14 years

their revenue really took off it it more

than doubled to 200 million do from

about 80 million in

2022 and so finally you know they've

been able to get above you they had this

level fixed Clause finally they were

able to kind of break through that

threshold and become profitable what

drove that breakthrough was it a rush of

consumers using this the service or was

it something else yeah a big thing was

what they call Cash accounts it's

basically high yield savings accounts

they're broker accounts that act like

high yield savings accounts and they've

always offered a pretty competitive

interest rate on these um they started

offering them in

2019 and um they were one of the early

fintechs to start offering these high

yield savings accounts and they started

very aggressive on the interest rates

they were higher than any other high

yield savings that Banks offered um even

in 2019 when interest rates were super

low and they kind of stayed on that

strategy and now that didn't work so

well in 2020 and

2021 um especially when when interest

rates were zero oh no they surged in

when did interest rates surge 2022 early

2022 they started going up okay and so

that was the big thing is they stayed on

this strategy and then they Rose in 2022

and then in

2023 um and because of that they

attracted their Assets in these cash

accounts Grew From I think about 9

billion at the end of 2022 to 27 billion

at the end of 2023 so they added like

$18 billion in new um deposits and they

make money on interest through those

this is a very profitable product for

them more profitable than the average

Robo advisor customer who's just buying

the stock and bond portfolios and so

because they had this Big Sur merg in

assets and on a on a profitable product

that helped them become profitable

that's really interesting cuz I'm

thinking to what I was doing in 2021 and

2022 and I remember ibonds were really

going up so I was putting money in

ibonds I wasn't even considering a high

yield account through something like

wealth front I mean I do that now

but what I'm hearing is it sounds like

during that time as the economy is

ebbing and flowing they're just drawing

how many consumers came to them or

customers came to them during this time

yeah I think I think it was hundreds of

thousands I think that um I don't know

exactly but I think it was in the

hundreds of thousands and and so it was

a lot of new customers and it was a lot

of I think probably interest from

existing customers too who said wow

there's the they're offering what is now

a 5% interest rate um you know I'm going

to I'm going to try this out and earn

more interest than my bank which is in a

lot

less does this indicate that consumers

are more interested in high yield

accounts than actively managed or Robo

accounts or is it just a symptom of the

economy at the time yeah I think it's a

symptom of of the economy at the time I

mean they say that you know when

interest rates are high they lead with

cash accounts because it's a great

marketing tactic when interest rates are

low and inevitably they will they will

go down we don't know when but

eventually they will and when they start

to go down or they're low they lead with

investment accounts and so they try to

kind of um toggle their marketing um

that way to to the kind of economic

environment now another factor that was

going on here for wealth front in

2022 UBS said it was going to acquire

the business for $1.4

billion that deal fell through and what

was the effect on wealth wealth front's

business from that deal falling through

yeah I think that I think one big impact

was just on morale one of their board

members um Mike vuli talked to us about

how they were demoralized and and you

know I think it's really hard everyone

is accepting this big payout is $1.4

billion um you know if you're an

employee and you're thinking about

buying a house this is a fantastic

windfall you're you're going to get

especially if you're an early employee

um

and it fell through and so and you spend

a lot of time management spends a lot of

time on these kinds of things on you

know um selling the company and so when

that fell through it was demoralizing

for people for sure um you know the kind

of fortunate thing is at the same time

that it fell through they were just

about hitting profitability and so that

was really helpful for them this was

late 2022 interest rates were going up

still the cash accounts were really

driving a lot of people to the business

um and so that was fortunate for for the

timing where they were hitting

profitability and so but instead of you

know the CEO David fortunado instead of

kind of being bummed out about it and uh

I'm sure he was but instead of focusing

on that he focused on the cash accounts

and and kind of really trying to push

those more and um luckily their 2023 was

was a really good year for them he had

an interesting comment to you something

to the effect of you have to have a

short memory yes yeah I know he's a very

he's a pretty quiet and and um uh

reserved guy I would say and um I kept

trying to kind of get him to talk about

you know how did it feel what were kind

of the emotions you had after this and

it was pretty limited what he wanted to

say except except for that you know you

have to have a short memory for these

kinds of things so he's focusing on the

cash accounts and that's interesting

because I wanted to ask you you wrote

about how wealth front hasn't raised its

Rock Bottom fees since Inception but has

found a way to build a sustainable

business so how has it done that is it

the focusing on the cash accounts or is

there another Factor they're employing

yeah um it is a lot of things the cash

accounts definitely was a big driver the

biggest one um over the past year or two

the other thing they've done is really

just in general they've kept costs um

reasonable they've really had this

culture of automating everything their

founder Andy racku um said to us you

know if we didn't if we couldn't

automate something we wouldn't do it and

so they automated um the investment

portfolios they audited they automated

this process called tax loss harvesting

is which is when you essentially you're

selling profitable you're selling losing

investments in a similar time frame to

offset gains from profitable Investments

and they kind of automated this whole

system so you could get um a tax benefit

from it and so they did things like that

they you know they don't have that many

employees they have 280 employees which

um you know it's a decent size but for

Finch uh that's been around for 14 years

is not that big and during covid when a

lot of people were really hiring like

crazy they didn't add that many

employees they added maybe a few dozen

um half of their employees are Engineers

so that's another way to automate things

focus on

automation they've kept a pretty Frugal

culture too like David fortunado in the

early days he they bought um the desks

they got were from Ikea and he said he

personally built 40 Ikea desks um for

new hires and they were like $130 each

so they were very cheap keep overhead

low when it comes to the office yeah

exactly um and so yeah they did they

don't spend that much on Market Mar I

think they spent $6 million in marketing

in 2023 which is which is less than

their competitors and and not a a huge

amount so I do think they have this

culture of keeping costs reasonable so

they keep the business costs low so they

can keep the fees low what are their

fees right now there are 25 basis points

so 0.25% of assets and how does that

compare to their competitors like a

betterment or others on the market yeah

so betterment it is the same for their

kind of lower tier service betterman has

other services too where they offer like

a h they call it a hybrid um offering

essentially where you get access to a

financial adviser as well you can do

phone calls with them that one I think

is 65 basis points um Vanguard I believe

is about 20 to 30 basis points um so

they're kind of in line with Vanguard I

think one of vanguard's features is a

little bit lower on price um but they're

kind of in line in line with with some

of those others so speaking of Vanguard

you also write that the big winner in

terms of assets has not been a fintech

startup it's Vanguard and across some of

its platforms not even all of it is 300

billion dollar in assets under

management yeah so what's the long-term

outlook for a fintech startup like

wealthfront when you have the incumbents

like Vanguard commanding so much money

yeah yeah it's a great question I think

that I think there is certainly a place

for wealth front as they've proven you

know they have they've built a a pretty

good size business they have about

800,000 customers they have you know 200

million Revenue in

2023 65 billion roughly in assets um and

so I think it's really hard to say are

they going to be able to get to you know

I don't know are they going to be able

to get to 25% market share or that's

hard to say because Vanguard is so big

and powerful has so much kind of um

built-in distribution they and a lot of

Vanguard customers a lot of vanguard's

Robo customers most of them are actually

were already Vanguard customers so they

were already into Vanguard mutual fund

so that's very powerful for them to be

able to sell things to existing

customers so but I think there's a good

there is a good um and and they've

proven it for for I think there's a good

place for them in the market where you

know are they going to be a hundred

billion doll company I don't think so

but they um they've proven they can get

to over a billion you know if they keep

growing the way they do I think they

could be in the multiple billions um so

I think there's a place for them it's a

little bit of a smaller Niche like I

said 800,000 customers it's not you know

Mass Market tens of millions of

customers and the average income for

their customers is relatively High about

$120,000 a year yes that's a good point

yeah so much higher than the median

income in the United States absolutely

you're right so that yeah that's a great

illustration of How It's a niche and and

but they play you know if they can keep

kind of penetrating this Niche um and

and maybe broadening out a little bit I

think there's a a good place for them

will they ever be a publicly traded

company so I they want to be they're

investor you know one board member Mike

vulpi says that's the goal that's the

um wealthfront CEO

says you know we're not focused on it

now but it's certainly possible and so I

think that um that is their that's their

goal they're a little small now I think

to go public and Mike vulpi conceded

that too there's some research recently

saying that if you're below 700 million

in Revenue the IPO returns have not been

good um and so they're about 200 million

Mike vulpi thinks they can maybe double

this year so maybe it takes a couple

more years if things still go well to

get to around that level um that's

assuming a lot but um yeah I think I

could see it I think it's 5050 on

whether they do it or they get acquired

or they keep going as private um but I I

could see it I could see it happening so

you cover fintech companies as your beat

what's the one or two things you're

going to be looking for from wealthfront

over the next year year or two yeah I

think that um it'll be really

interesting to see I mean the growth in

2023 was so high can they can they

double again you know and and I think

that I think it's possible they said

their q1 revenue grew 80% in 2024 versus

q1

2023 I think it's possible they double

again but that that will be the thing I

look for the most is what is growth this

year and then also what happens with the

cash accounts as interest rates as they

eventually start to go down again we

don't know when but what happens there

do people do some people pull their

money out of cash accounts and how much

let's say assuming interest rates go

down and the stock market potentially

goes up how many more how much more can

they offset that um I don't think that

they're going to be as profitable when

if they start losing cash account

customers and gaining more investment

account customers we know the cash

accounts are more profitable and so

that's a potential Factor but um yeah

mainly I'll be watching for the effect

of of lowering interest rates and then

the growth what what does the growth end

up being and what's the number one

takeaway for consumers here if folks

watching this don't know where to put

their money have their money with an

incumbent have their money with another

fintech startup what's your message for

them yeah um it's a good question I

think that

um you know I I personally think Robo

advisors are a good offering I think

that um for someone who doesn't want to

who wants to be proactive in managing

their finances but they're not going to

pick stocks they're not going to even

choose wh exactly which mutual funds

they want or what allocation they want

across mutual funds I think Robo

advisors are a good option I personally

use one um and I think you know morning

has good research on who are like the

the benefits the pros and cons of all

the different Robo advisor so I would

say do research and places like Morning

Star objective um places on what are the

benefits I don't think I would recommend

one in particular but I do think Robo

and you think about the top you know

there's a few that are really at the top

there's Vanguard wealthfront betterment

um Schwab and Fidelity have an offering

too although I don't know if they're as

quite as highly rated as those others

Jeff Coughlin thank you so much for

coming in and breaking this down for us

thank you Maggie enjoyed it