Fidelity Investments to acquire Conshohocken wealth planning software company eMoney Advisor

Tom Paine

Follow @phillytechnews

 Subscribe in a reader
Subscribe to Philadelphia Tech News by Email

Boston-based Fidelity Investments announced this morning it had agreed to acquire Conshohocken-based eMoney Advisor, a leading wealth planning software company. Terms were not disclosed.

Founded in 2000 by former financial advisor Edmond Walters, eMoney Advisor was owned for a few years by Commerce Bancorp before returning to private ownership under Walters' leadership. Today, eMoney Advisor's software is used to track more than $1.4 trillion in client assets managed by 25,000 financial professionals, the company says.

See my profile on eMoney Advisor from 2013.

In mid-2013, eMoney Advisors told me it had about 200 employees. There are now 281 employees on its LinkedIn site.

The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, which held a majority stake in eMoney Advisor (if I understand the wording in the press release correctly), will retain a minority stake.

While it expects to expand its footprint under Fidelity, eMoney Advisor says it will also maintain its current offices in Pennsylvania and California.

The trade pub Investment News has more information on the deal.

Walters told Investment News that the firm had more than 40 potential suitors, but none stood a chance against Fidelity.

“Who can compare with Fidelity,” said Mr. Walters. “I didn't tell them at the time, but they were a clear winner.”

The Inquirer's Joe DiStefano cited two sources who indicated that Fidelity paid a "sum north of $250 million, which works out to more than 4 times the company's revenues."

Fidelity is the nation's No. 2 mutual fund company behind The Vanguard Group.