TIAA, the provider of insurance and retirement products that oversees more than $860 billion in assets, bought MyVest, a San Francisco-based wealth-management technology firm that assists broker-dealers and banks.
MyVest has worked with TIAA since 2009 and will continue to collaborate across TIAA's product line, the New York-based buyer said Thursday in a statement that didn't disclose terms. MyVest uses a cloud-based software-and-services platform to provide personalized investing information and advice for savers, advisers and wealth-management firms.
TIAA Chief Executive Officer Roger Ferguson, a former Federal Reserve vice chairman, has been building the company's business that deals with individual customers, naming Kathie Andrade as CEO of the retail financial services operation in May. Insurers including Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. are seeking to gain more capabilities through technology platforms. The Milwaukee-based company last year acquired LearnVest, which provides digital financial planning services.
Personalized Service
"Our customers deserve choices and should be able to interact with us on their terms — when, where and how they want," Andrade said in the statement. "This move will improve our ability to personalize financial services offerings and better meet customer needs, including those who prefer to interact with us online."
TIAA Chief Digital Officer Scott Blandford will oversee MyVest, which will continue to serve its current customers. The company can help banks start investment programs for clients or aid registered investment advisers in building portfolio management operations.
"We have benefited from MyVest's innovations for many years," Blandford said. The acquisition will help TIAA "find new ways to simplify the complex — and often daunting — world of personal finance our clients navigate throughout their lives."
