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Edelman Financial Engines
FormerlyEdelman Financial Services
Financial Engines
Company typePrivate
IndustryFinancial services
Founded1986; 38 years ago (1986)
Headquarters
Santa Clara, California[1]
Number of locations
145[2] (2023)
Key people
Jay Shah (CEO)[3]
AUMUS$270 billion[4]
Number of employees
1,500[5] (2024)
Websiteedelmanfinancialengines.com

Edelman Financial Engines is an American financial planning and investment advisory company. As of December 31, 2023, it has more than $270 billion in assets and more than 1.3 million clients.[6][7] The company was formed by the 2018 merger of Financial Engines (founded in 1996) and Edelman Financial Services (founded in 1986).

History[edit]

Edelman Financial Services[edit]

Edelman Financial Services, a financial advisory firm, was founded in 1986[8] by married couple Jean and Ric Edelman.[9] Sanders Morris Harris Group, a publicly traded wealth management firm,[10] purchased a majority stake of Edelman Financial Services in 2005.[11] Sanders Morris Harris Group changed its name to Edelman Financial Group in March 2011, and Ric Edelman was named co-CEO of the company with George Ball.[12] Private equity firm Hellman & Friedman purchased a controlling stake in Edelman Financial Services in October 2015, at which point the company was managing $15 billion in assets.[13]

Financial Engines[edit]

Financial Engines was founded in 1996[14] by Nobel Prize-winning economist William Sharpe,[15] Stanford Law professor Joseph Grundfest, and attorney Craig W. Johnson.[16] In 1998, it offered its first retirement planning and fund picking software. The company launched its managed accounts offering to a small number of employers in September 2004. By December 2004, it had $1 billion in assets under management.[16] Financial Engines acquired registered investment advisory firm The Mutual Fund Store for $560 million in 2015.[17] By 2018, the company managed $160 billion in assets and was the largest provider of managed accounts in the defined-contribution market.[18] The company provided 401(k) investment advice managed by a proprietary technology platform with access to human advisers.[16] In 2018, its clients included Comcast NBCUniversal and IBM.[19]

Edelman Financial Engines[edit]

Hellman & Friedman acquired Financial Engines in 2018 for $3 billion and merged it with Edelman Financial Services. The new firm became the largest independent registered investment adviser in the United States, managing $191 billion.[14] Financial Engines CEO Larry Raffone became president and CEO of the combined company, while Ric Edelman was made its chairman of financial and investor education.[14] In November 2018, the merged company announced it would operate under the name Edelman Financial Engines.[20] One objective of the merger was to combine the companies' workplace retirement and financial planning services.[21]

For six consecutive years between 2018 and 2023, Barron's ranked Edelman Financial Engines as the #1 registered financial advisory firm in the United States.[22][23][24][25][26] Former Department of Labor assistant secretary Phyllis Borzi joined the company's board in November 2018.[27]

As of December 31, 2023, the company managed more than $270 billion in assets for more than 1.3 million clients, mostly in 401(k) plans.[6][28]

In March 2021, Edelman Financial Engines announced that Warburg Pincus would be taking a minority stake in the company. The transaction represented a valuation of $7.3 billion, a 62% increase in the company's value since its formation in 2018.[29]

In June 2021, Edelman Financial Engines announced that Ric Edelman would step down from his role as chairman of financial education and client experience but stay on as a strategic adviser and board member. He also remains the firm's largest individual shareholder.[30]

In January 2022, Edelman Financial Engines launched Everyday Wealth with Soledad O’Brien and Jean Chatzky, a financial and investment advice podcast hosted by Jean Chatzky and Soledad O’Brien. The weekly episodes covered personal finance, the economy, wealth management, and other financial topics. The podcast ended in early 2024.

Services[edit]

Wealth Management - As of January 2020, the company employed 320 financial planners overseeing nearly $40 billion across 92,000 retail clients.[31]

Workplace - This service manages 401(k) accounts for 1.1 million clients across 7,000 companies as of November 2020.[32] The company is the largest provider of managed accounts in the United States,[33] and has more clients than any other independent financial advisor.[34] It also offers Income+, an income service for customers entering or in retirement.[33][35]

Tax Planning - In May 2021, to create a new internal tax planning division, Edelman acquired Viridian Advisors, a Washington State-based financial firm specializing in tax planning.[36]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Ungarino, Rebecca (20 May 2020). "The CEO of $192 billion wealth firm Edelman Financial Engines lays out its post- pandemic roadmap, from 'doubling down' on digital to hiring more planners". Business Insider. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  2. ^ "Edelman Financial Engines Picks Up PRW Wealth Management". WealthManagement.com. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  3. ^ "Our Executive Team". Edelman Financial Engines. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  4. ^ "Edelman Adds $453M RIA in Pacific Northwest". WealthManagement.com. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  5. ^ "EDELMAN FINANCIAL ENGINES - Investment Adviser Firm". SEC. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  6. ^ a b Sergeant, Jacqueline (December 3, 2021). "Ric Edelman To Focus On AI, Crypto And More On New Radio Show, Podcast". FA-Mag.com. Charter Financial Publishing Network. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  7. ^ "PE Daily: Strand Equity Bets on Studio McGee | IPO Healthcare Exits Grow | Hedge Fund Vet Adds Heft at Blackstone". Wall Street Journal. 16 March 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  8. ^ Thrasher, Michael (23 January 2020). "Edelman Financial Engines Names Head of $40 Billion, 320-Advisor Retail Business". RIA Intel. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  9. ^ Caffrey, Michelle (17 October 2016). "$25M gift to transform Rowan University's fossil park into 'world-class destination'". Philadelphia Business Journal. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  10. ^ Jamieson, Dan (26 April 2012). "Why Ric Edelman is going private". InvestmentNews. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  11. ^ Wollman Rusoff, Jane (12 May 2014). "Ric Edelman: What's Wrong With IRAs, 401(k)s, and the Industry That Sells Them". ThinkAdvisor. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  12. ^ Giannone, Joseph A. (15 March 2011). "Adviser Edelman to lead renamed Sanders Morris". Reuters. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  13. ^ Wursthorn, Michael (12 October 2015). "Controlling Stake in Edelman Financial Sold". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  14. ^ a b c Neal, Ryan W. (30 April 2018). "Financial Engines to be purchased for $3.02 billion, combined with Edelman". InvestmentNews. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  15. ^ Steverman, Ben (12 September 2016). "America's Biggest 401(k) Adviser Has a Plan to Manage All of Your Money". Bloomberg. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  16. ^ a b c Anderson, Tom (18 June 2014). "Nest Egg-onomics: Financial Engines Revs Up Retirement Plans". Forbes. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  17. ^ Malito, Alessandra (17 November 2015). "Financial Engines' acquisition of The Mutual Fund Store a turning point in robo debate". InvestmentNews. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  18. ^ Neal, Ryan W. (15 February 2018). "T. Rowe Price expands partnership with Financial Engines". InvestmentNews. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  19. ^ Wenik, Ian (5 August 2019). "One year after mega-merger, Ric Edelman looks ahead". Citywire. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  20. ^ "Edelman Financial Has a New Name". Barron's. 6 November 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  21. ^ Salinger, Tobias (15 March 2021). "Edelman Financial Engines to be recapitalized at $7.3B valuation". Financial Planning. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  22. ^ Garmhausen, Steve (14 September 2018). "Top Independent Financial Advisors". Barron's. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  23. ^ Fox, Michelle (27 March 2020). "'It's going to get much uglier' — How to invest during the coronavirus pandemic, according to Ric Edelman". CNBC. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  24. ^ "America's Best RIA Firms". Barron's. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  25. ^ "These Are the Top 100 Independent Advisors and Top 100 RIA Firms". Barron's. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  26. ^ "Barron's List of Top RIA Firms Brings Plenty of Movement but No Surprises". Financial Advisor IQ. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  27. ^ Min, Sarah (13 November 2018). "Fiduciary leader Phyllis Borzi joins Edelman Financial Engines board". InvestmentNews. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  28. ^ Beltran, Luisa (15 March 2021). "Warburg to Invest in Edelman in Deal That Values RIA Firm at $7.3 Billion". Barron's. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  29. ^ French, David (14 March 2021). "Warburg Pincus acquires stake in Edelman Financial Engines". Reuters. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  30. ^ Hallez, Emile (7 June 2021). "Ric Edelman to step down as chairman of Edelman Financial Engines". InvestmentNews. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  31. ^ Padalka, Alex (27 January 2020). "New Retail Business Head at Edelman Financial Engines". Financial Advisor IQ. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  32. ^ Steyer, Robert (9 March 2020). "COVID-19 uncertainty disturbs DC participants". Pensions & Investments. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  33. ^ a b Thornton, Nick (3 March 2020). "Managed accounts can save virus-panicked retirement savers from themselves". BenefitsPRO. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  34. ^ Hilton, John (12 June 2020). "Trillion-Dollar Advisory Firms On The Way, Tiburon Analyst Predicts". Advisor News. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  35. ^ Tergesen, Anne; Hayashi, Yuka (11 July 2019). "Income Options Are Coming to 401(k) Plans". The Wall Street Journal. ProgramBusiness. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  36. ^ Foerch, Andrew (May 19, 2021). "The $270bn mega-RIA is buying Viridian Advisors, a tax-focused shop based in the Seattle area". Citywire.com. Citywire Financial Publishers Ltd.
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