LearnVest Becomes an RIA, Plans to Hire Advisors

Written by Elizabeth Wine, Financial Planning Magazine Friday, 14 September 2012

LearnVest, a financial management website that was built as an electronic financial advisor for mass market investors, will announce Tuesday morning that it is now a registered investment advisor and will be hiring more advisors in the coming months.

In addition the New York-based firm has significantly beefed up its existing online tools. The moves expand upon the tech start-up's model of providing clients with financial advice augmented by online educational and planning tools.

"Our clear mission is to make financial planning not a luxury," said Alexa von Tobel, LearnVest's chief executive officer. "We think technology can improve this, not only for planners, but customers," she said.

The company expects to have 50 advisors, who must be certified financial planners, on staff by the fall, both full and part-time. Part of the appeal to advisors who might be considering moonlighting is simple: not having to find clients. Plus, unlike some of its competitors that have set up shop as broker/dealers, LearnVest will not be selling financial products, leaving advisors with one job: providing financial advice. Read More..