Personal Capital Extends Series E Round by $40 Million

Personal Capital Extends Series E Round by $40 Million

Wealth management company Personal Capital just scored $40 million in additional funding today. The money comes from existing investors as an add-on to the $75 million Series E the company received from IGM Financial in May of 2016.

This brings Personal Capital’s total funding to $215 million since it was founded in 2009 by Bill Harris, former CEO of both Intuit and PayPal. The company, which aims to build a better money management experience for consumers, offers financial tools such as a retirement planner, a portfolio fee analyzer, and a net worth assessment. To differentiate the platform from other wealth management tools, Personal Capital prides itself on offering a high level of personal touch by combining digital advisory technology and human advisors. The company will use the funds to boost product development and marketing, grow its human advisor workforce, bolster offerings for specific customer segments, and expand its offices in San Francisco and Denver.

In the press release, the company disclosed it now has $4.9 billion in AUM, $1.4 billion of which was added in the past 7 months. Over the course of the same time frame, the company’s average client size has grown from $340,000 to $380,000. Jay Shah, CEO of Personal Capital, said that the funding will help the company “capitalize even further on [its] rapid growth trajectory.”

The San Francisco-based company also announced this week that it has integrated with real estate investment platform PeerStreet. The partnership aims to offer Personal Capital clients a more comprehensive view of their overall net worth. With PeerStreet data loaded into a Personal Capital account, users can track the performance of their crowdfunded real estate portfolios within the same view of the rest of their net worth. Brett Crosby, co-founder and COO of PeerStreet, said that the integration will improve the customer experience and “provide greater control and transparency.”

Personal Capital debuted its One-Click Investment Proposals at FinovateSpring 2014. At FinDEVr Silicon Silicon Valley 2016, the company’s Ehsan Lavassani, Founding Engineer & Chief Engineering Officer, and Ravi Gundlapalli, Director of Frontend Engineering, gave a presentation titled, Data-Driven Account Opening. Personal Capital was recently named in CB Insights’ Fintech 250 List. Earlier this spring, the company appointed Jay Shah as CEO.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Personal Capital Extends Series E Round by $40 Million.
  • Conversational AI Comes to USAA Courtesy of Clinc.
  • nCino Inks 100th Customer in Pacific Western Bank.

Around the web

  • Actiance Introduces First Compliance and Archiving Solution for WeChat and WhatsApp.
  • Xero expands Stripe partnership for automated reconciliation.
  • DBS, Xero unveil bank feed integration for SMEs.
  • ICT solution provider Telindus announces integration into the Ripple network.
  • LeanXcale earns a spot in the DB-Engines Ranking of relational and NoSQL database management systems
  • BioCatch granted patent for technology that detects remote access tools in order to spot malicious behavior.
  • Flybits launches new Experience Studio, announces partnership with Bouygues Energies & Services.
  • Wipro opens new Silicon Valley Innovation Center in Mountain View, California.
  • Micronotes partners with TimeTrade to bridge the clicks-to-bricks divide.
  • Credit Union CEOs Move 5 Millionth Member to Insuritas.
  • Gro Solutions to relocate its headquarters to Midtown Atlanta.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

44 Alums Populate CB Insights’ Fintech 250 List

44 Alums Populate CB Insights’ Fintech 250 List

This week, CB Insights unveiled its Fintech 250 list. The research outfit selected 250 emerging, private companies in 17 sub-sectors of fintech that are changing the face of financial services. The roster includes 44 Finovate and FinDEVr alums that were selected using CB Insights’ data-driven process that analyzes company momentum, market participation, funds raised, and investor quality.

The list is in alphabetical order.

Algomi

AutoGravity

Avalara

Behalf

Betterment

Blend

Chain

Coinbase

Credit Karma

Currencycloud

CurrencyFair

Fenergo

Financeit

Gusto (formerly ZenPayroll)

Juvo

Kabbage

Kensho

Kreditech

Klarna

LendUp

Moneytree

PayNearMe

Payoneer

Personal Capital

Plaid

Quantopian

Quovo

Revolut

Ripple Labs

Roostify

Signifyd

SocietyOne

Socure

Tink

Token

Tradeshift

Transferwise

TrueAccord

Trulioo

VATBox

Wealthfront

Xignite

Zooz

Zopa

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • AlphaPoint Launches Solution for Initial Coin Offerings
  • Finovate Alums Prepare for Citi Tech for Integrity Challenge Finals

Around the web

  • Bellingham, Washington-based Whatcom Educational Credit Union (WECU) to deploy core processing technology from Fiserv.
  • Digital Wealth Insights reviews Moven Enterprise.
  • Ledger announces XRP support on Nano S and Blue.
  • IDology named one of 2017’s Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in Atlanta.
  • Bankless Times: Lighter Capital an alternative for tech startups.
  • Barefoot Innovation Group features Bill Harris, CEO of Personal Capital.
  • Check Point’s SandBlast Mobile receives Miercom’s Certified Secure Award.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

FinDEVr APIntelligence

FDLD17_EventLogoV1_wdate(large) (1)We saw some great stuff at FinDEVr New York earlier this year. If you missed out, check out FinDEVr London on June 12 & 13 during London Tech Week. Register today and save big time.

On FinDEVr.com

  • FinDEVr Veteran OutsideIQ Acquired by Exiger

Alumni updates

  • Plaid and Dwolla partner to provide fully-tokenized ACH payment integration.
  • Xero features its partnership with Equifax.
  • London Metal Exchange locates LMEselect Platform at Interxion’s Data Center
  • Envestnet unveils expanded data analytics portfolio for wealth management.
  • FinDEVr Alum Quovo Raises $10 Million
  • Prival Bank of Panama to deploy Temenos’ core banking solution, T24.
  • Trulioo adds new Canadian data sources to its GlobalGateway verification technology.
  • Jay Shah promoted to CEO of Personal Capital
  • Xero awarded the Best Overall Fintech Platform by the Fintech Breakthrough Awards.

Stay current on daily news from the fintech developer community! Follow FinDEVr on Twitter.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Twitter Talk: The Top Tweets from FinovateSpring 2017
  • FinDEVr Alum Quovo Raises $10 Million

Around the web

  • TransferWise unveils new APAC hub in Singapore.
  • Temenos adds open banking, PSD2-based services to its MarketPlace initiative.
  • Ten FIs join Ripple’s cross-border, blockchain network.
  • Prival Bank of Panama to deploy Temenos’ core banking solution, T24.
  • Qumram wins “Best RegTech Company” in 2017 FinTech Breakthrough Awards.
  • Pendo Systems completes first full deployment of the Pendo Data Platform and receives certification as a Women’s Business Enterprise.
  • Trulioo adds new Canadian data sources to its GlobalGateway verification technology.
  • Jay Shah promoted to CEO of Personal Capital
  • Xero awarded the Best Overall Fintech Platform by the Fintech Breakthrough Awards.
  • Jumio wins Best Fraud Prevention Platform Category in FinTech Breakthrough Awards.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

FinDEVr APIntelligence

We saw some great stuff at FinDEVr New York last week; stay tuned for videos of the live presentations! If you missed out, check out FinDEVr London on June 12 & 13 during London Tech Week. Register today and save big time.

On FinDEVr.com

Alumni updates

  • FinDEVr New York newcomer Fiserv announces enhancements to its real-time, loan servicing solution, LoanServ.
  • Swiss financial sector infrastructure operator SIX partners with IBM Watson to build cyber-security hub.
  • PYMNTS.com looks at speculation that Kabbage may acquire OnDeck.
  • BBVA among the latest companies to join Hyperledger.
  • MasterCard introduces new fraud detection solution, Decision Intelligence.
  • Credit Donkey lists StockTwitsDriveWealth, and Personal Capital among its Best Investing Apps of 2017.
  • Forrester recognizes FinDEVr newcomer Outsystems as a leader in low-code development platforms.
  • E-commerce services from Vantiv achieve Oracle Validate Integration. Video of Vantiv’s FinDEVr 2017 New York presentation will be available soon.
  • VISA to enable electronic business payments for SME clients of B2B electronic invoicing network, Viewpost.
  • Fiserv reports nearly 30 banks and CUs deployed its digital banking technology in 2016, taking the total number of FIs using its online banking solutions to 3,500.

Stay current on daily news from the fintech developer community! Follow FinDEVr on Twitter.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com:

  • Twitter Talk from FinDEVr 2017 New York.

Around the web

  • FinDEVr New York newcomer Fiserv announces enhancements to its real-time, loan servicing solution, LoanServ.
  • Credit Donkey lists StockTwits, TradeKing, SigFig, DriveWealth, and Personal Capital among its Best Investing Apps of 2017.
  • Swiss financial sector infrastructure operator SIX partners with IBM Watson to build cyber-security hub. Video of IBM’s FinDEVr 2017 New York presentation last week will available soon in our video archives.
  • PYMNTS.com looks at speculation that Kabbage may acquire OnDeck.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Top Direct-to-Consumer Wealthtech Plays

Top Direct-to-Consumer Wealthtech Plays

wealthtech4

Our wealthtech industry coverage continues this week. We looked at the industry last week and reviewed the top trends earlier this month. Today we’re taking a look at industry players with B2C offerings—in other words, companies that market directly to consumers and not through businesses.

Since wealthtech is broader than just roboadvisers, we’ve divided B2C wealthtech players into seven categories and laid out our top picks for each group. Since category sizes vary, the number of our selections also vary.

Top in-house builds from traditional players
These are offerings from traditional wealth management firms that have been built in-house (or purchased and then white-labeled) and marketed under the firm’s brand.

Fully automated roboadvisers
These are online platforms that provide automated, algorithm-based portfolio management without intervention from human advisers and without personalized, one-on-one conversations with a human adviser.

screen-shot-2016-12-22-at-4-06-40-pmAcorns takes a unique approach by linking a user’s debit card and investing their “spare change”

Hybrid roboadvisers
These are traditional advisory services, including personalized conversations and actively managed portfolios blended with computerized portfolio recommendations. Business Insider reports hybrid roboadvisers will manage 10% of all investable assets by 2025.

screen-shot-2016-12-22-at-4-11-08-pmSigFig has partnered with multiple banks, including Wells Fargo, Pershing, and Citizens Bank

Non-U.S. roboadvisers

Alternative investing platforms
These are platforms that link participants to unconventional investment types, such as private equity, hedge funds, futures, real estate, etc.

screen-shot-2016-12-22-at-4-18-08-pmWith Motif, uses invest in grouped stocks and ETFs that revolve around a common theme

Non-U.S. alternative investing platforms

News and information companies
These are online platforms that help users discover news and market trends before they go mainstream. Some include social networking aspects.

screen-shot-2016-12-22-at-4-23-47-pmTickerTags helps users discover trends even before they become news

Personal Capital’s Growth Leads to Additional $25 Million in Funding

Personal Capital’s Growth Leads to Additional $25 Million in Funding

screen-shot-2016-12-15-at-1-47-22-pm

Digital advisory service and wealth management firm Personal Capital is closing out 2016 by adding another $25 million to the $75 million in equity investment the company took home from IGM Financial in May. Today’s funding was part of a contingency from investor IGM Financial that stated Personal Capital had to reach a certain growth milestone by Q2 of 2017. Since the California-based company exceeded the specified growth target, the funds were distributed early, just in time for the new year. This closes Personal Capital’s Series E round and increases its 2016 funding to $100 million and boosts its total funding to just over $175 million.

“IGM Financial has been a great investor,” said Bill Harris, CEO of Personal Capital. “Over the past six months, we’ve been able to grow marketing, staffing, and offerings to our users and clients. With the final $25 million in investment secured, we look forward to seeing even more growth as we help more families manage their financial lives.” The company used the initial $75 million to increase its marketing efforts and hire new staff across its offices in San Carlos, San Francisco, and Denver.

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Personal Capital’s CEO Bill Harris and CPO Jim Del Favero demoed at FinovateSpring 2014.

The new investment lifts Personal Capital’s valuation to around $500 million. That’s double what the company’s valuation was after its Series D funding round closed in 2014—$200 million shy of competitors’ valuations. Betterment and Wealthfront (pure robo advisory plays), as well as SigFig (a hybrid robo advisor) each have valuations of $700 million.

In addition to the funding from IGM Financial, Personal Capital has received a $25 million line of credit from Silicon Valley Bank. With regard to the credit, Mike Armsby, CFO of Personal Capital, says it will help the company “spur rapid growth in the New Year.”

Personal Capital delivers financial planning and investment portfolio management services. The company blends high tech and high touch by combining unbiased, algorithmic investing approaches and conversations via video chat—with real, human advisers. Personal Capital has added $1.5 billion in AUM in 2016. This represents 80% growth in less than 12 months and brings the company’s total AUM to $3.4 billion. In addition, Personal Capital offers a free, account-aggregation tool to help its 1.3 million registered users view all of their accounts in one place.

Personal Capital most recently presented at FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2016, where Ehsan Lavassani, the company’s founding engineer and chief engineering officer, talked about data-driven account opening. At FinovateSpring 2014, CEO Bill Harris and Chief Product Officer Jim Del Favero debuted One Click Investment Proposals.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • “Socure Raises $13 Million in New Capital”
  • “Investment from Rakuten Boosts Kreditech’s Total Capital More Than $10 Million”
  • “Personal Capital’s Growth Leads to Additional $25 Million in Funding”

Around the web

  • eToro forges strategic partnership with Lufax Holding, China’s largest internet financing company.
  • PayPal teams up with Citibank, FIS to expand cross-channel presence.
  • NICE Systems celebrates record year in customer acquisitions.
  • SocietyOne appoints Maria Loyez as chief marketing officer.
  • NuData Security partners with Arvato Financial Solutions to combat fraud and enable a smoother customer experience.
  • Quantopian hires Marc Volpe as chief financial officer.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Wealth Tech: A Fintech Buzzword Overview

Wealth Tech: A Fintech Buzzword Overview

wealthtech4

Continuing our series on wealth tech (check out our first post highlighting top trends), I wanted to step back and look at the industry as a whole. While multiple published analyses about robo advisors can be found, little is published regarding the broader wealth tech industry.

What is wealth tech?

Simply put, wealth tech is a segment of financial technology that focuses on enhancing wealth management and investing. That means that while robo advisors are a large—and quite popular—piece of the wealth-tech puzzle, other pieces merit discussion, too.

What does wealth tech encompass? Exclude?

Technology from traditional wealth management firms, alternative investment solutions from non-bank players, and tools to support financial advisors—all fall under wealth tech. Ancillary technology, such as PFM, are not considered part of wealth tech.

A robo advisor by any other name

While the term robo advisor is commonly used (a Google search produces 2.2 million results), not all automated management and advisory companies appreciate the name. For example, Personal Capital (FS14, FDSV16) CEO Bill Harris doesn’t classify his company as a robo advisor, which he views as a wholly automated investment tool. Instead, he strives to balance high tech with high touch. In an interview with WealthManagement.com Harris said, “We do have technology that is helping to automate and scale what we do, but in addition to that technology, just as important, are the individual advisers. Ultimately, the job of matching a household with the optimal portfolio is a more complicated thing than plugging information into a series of algorithms.” iQuantifi (FF14) is on the other end of the spectrum. In his demo at FinovateFall 2014, iQuantifi founder and CEO Tom White said, “We’re the only true robo advisor, and we’re not ashamed to call ourselves a robo advisor.”

Industry movement

Since the advent of robo advisors in 2008, we’ve seen a lot of growth in the U.S. robo advisory market. Take a look:

screen-shot-2016-12-13-at-1-28-26-pm

Assets under management are predicted to climb six-fold in the next three years, to $2.2 trillion. With the number of robo advisor launches increasing by an average of 43% YOY since 2008, it’s likely we’ll see a decrease in the number of robo advisor launches in the U.S., combined with an increase in M&A (mergers and acquisitions) activity to further consolidate the industry.

Next week, I’ll continue the wealth tech industry analysis by taking a look at divisions in the industry and reviewing some key players.


Sources:

Financial Review
Logging on to the Future of Financial Advice
by James Frost

A.T. Kearney
Hype vs. Reality: The Coming Waves of “Robo” Adoption
by Teresa Epperson, Bob Hedges, Uday Singh, and Monica Gabel