Are Robo-Advisors A Threat?
That was the basic question framing the debate, and Nash said he doesn’t think Wealthfront or its rivals are a threat. But, he added, like any technology revolution the robo trend raises lots of questions and upends certain assumptions. He noted Wealthfront doesn’t do a lot of marketing, and much of its growth has come from word-of-mouth advertising.

“Wealthfront now has more than 20,000 clients, and the top reason why people use us is because they were referred to us either online or offline by an existing Wealthfront client,” Nash said. “The reason Wealthfront clients are delighted with the service is it’s personalized. They trust it’s doing the math correctly and believe it’s watching their account 24/7.”

And, he added, the online nature of Wealthfront’s infrastructure and the scalability and innovations of technology will enable Wealthfront to expand its product offering and easily accommodate reams of new clients.

Nash also boasted about Wealthfront’s “world-class financial talent” that includes chief investment officer Burton Malkiel, the Princeton University economist and author of "A Random Walk Down Wall Street," along with a roster of CFAs and PhDs who provide the firm’s investment research.

“The real difference in our model is we don’t believe we should use those people to manage individual accounts, but instead we let software do the execution of the day-to-day management and trading,” Nash said.

The upshot, he noted, is Wealthfront can make available to a much larger audience the types of investment insights and strategies that were previously available mostly to high-net-worth investors.

When it was his time to reply, Edelman cut to the proverbial chase. “I think Adam is being disingenuous, and rather polite because of the audience in front of him,” he said, referring to the large numbers of advisors in attendance.

“There is no way that you are not a threat to the people in this room,” he added as he turned his gaze toward Nash.

Speaking in a matter-of-fact tone while wearing mismatched socks (green on his right foot; red-and-white stripes on his left), Edelman looked out over the audience and said, “Adam is going to put most of you out of business. It’s as simple as that.”

That elicited laughter—perhaps some of it was nervous laughter—from the attendees.