The Currency analytics
By Sydney TheCMO
Robinhood just dropped big news. The trading app wants to connect users who've got at least $250,000 sitting around with independent financial advisors through something called…
Pretty much a complete shift from where Robinhood started. The company built its name letting broke college kids trade stocks for free, but now it's chasing the wealthy crowd…
Instead of hiring a bunch of financial advisors and calling it a day, Robinhood basically turned itself into a matchmaking service.
The pilot program starts with Robinhood's own employees first. Makes sense - test it on people who won't sue you if something goes wrong.
CEO Vlad Tenev thinks this move is huge for where Robinhood wants to go. He said the Advisor Network gives users access to more sophisticated financial tools and services.
Robinhood needs to make sure connecting users with advisors doesn't turn into a total mess. The company's whole brand revolves around being simple and easy to use, so if this new…
The TradePMR deal was basically the foundation for all of this. Robinhood didn't say how much they paid, but getting access to 350+ advisory firms managing $40 billion was…
Behind the scenes, Robinhood's tech team is probably working overtime to upgrade their systems.
The wealth management industry has been ripe for disruption, with traditional firms charging advisory fees between 0.5% to 2% annually on assets under management.
Competition in this space is heating up fast. Betterment and Wealthfront pioneered robo-advisory services but mostly target smaller accounts, while established brokerages like TD…