The platform will serve as the foundation of the bank’s digital-first wealth management offering. UBS says the move underscores its US expansion ambitions as it looks to grow its customer base by catering to “the next generation of investors”.
Wealthfront will become a wholly owned subsidiary of UBS and will operate as a business within UBS Global Wealth Management Americas. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2022.
The acquisition forms part of UBS CEO Ralph Hamers’ three-year digital transformation strategy, which saw around 3,000 jobs on the chopping block in May last year as part of a $1 billion series of cost-saving measures.
