Edelman Financial Services

Edelman Financial Services, a financial advisory firm, was founded in 1986^[7] by married couple Jean and Ric Edelman.^[8] Sanders Morris Harris Group, a publicly traded wealth management firm,^[9] purchased a majority stake of Edelman Financial Services in 2005.^[10] 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.^[11] 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.^[12]

Financial Engines

Financial Engines was founded in 1996^[13] by Nobel Prize-winning economist William Sharpe,^[14] Stanford Law professor Joseph Grundfest, and attorney Craig W. Johnson.^[15] 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.^[15] Financial Engines acquired registered investment advisory firm The Mutual Fund Store for $560 million in 2015.^[16] By 2018, the company managed $160 billion in assets and was the largest provider of managed accounts in the defined-contribution market.^[17] The company provided 401(k) investment advice managed by a proprietary technology platform with access to human advisers.^[15][13] In 2018, its clients included Comcast NBCUniversal and IBM.^[18]

Edelman Financial Engines

Hellman & Friedman acquired Financial Engines in 2018 for $3 billion^[19][20] and merged it with Edelman Financial Services.^[13][21] The new firm became the largest independent registered investment adviser in the United States,^[13] managing $191 billion.^[18] 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.^[13] In November 2018, the merged company announced it would operate under the name Edelman Financial Engines.^[22] One objective of the merger was to combine the companies' workplace retirement and financial planning services.^[23]

For five consecutive years between 2018 and 2022, Barron's ranked Edelman Financial Engines as the #1 registered financial advisory firm in the United States.^{[24][25][26][27][28]} Former Department of Labor assistant secretary Phyllis Borzi joined the company's board in November 2018.^[29] The company named Kelly O'Donnell, founder of its Women in Leadership program, as head of its workplace business in November 2019.^[30][31] Jason Van de Loo became head of its wealth planning business in January 2020.^[32]

As of August 2020, the company managed $291 billion in assets for more than 1.3 million clients,^[4][33] mostly in 401(k) plans.^[34]

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.^[35]

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.^[36]

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 cover personal finance, the economy, wealth management, and other financial topics.