Andreessen Horowitz’s recent hiring of former Jordan Park Group Chief Investment Officer Michel Del Buono suggests the venture capital firm is engaged in the startup founder’s wealth management business.
The outfit, better known as a16z, confirmed Del Buono’s appointment as CIO to oversee those kinds of services for founders, as first reported by Bloomberg.
ukbusinessupdates.com reached out to A16z for comment, but had not received a response at the time of writing.
Andreessen Horowitz isn’t the first to dip his toe in this arena. both meconiq capital and Sequoia Capital offer money management services.
Iconiq is managing over $80 billionan increase of $23 billion in 2020, and it is Client list includes Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg and Jack Dorsey.
Meanwhile, Sequoia’s business unit, Sequoia Heritage, was founded in 2010 and currently manages $16.4 billion, according to Bloomberg. This is just one of the numerous internal programs that the venture capital giant offers to founders.
as Bloomberg notes, wealth management can be a hugely profitable business once the money starts rolling in. Managers charge a percentage of the assets they oversee and profit margins can be as high as 50%.
Andreessen is no stranger to breaking the norm in the corporate world. In 2019, Andreessen formally become a registered investment advisor, meaning the company no longer had to restrict its holdings, including in its general fund.
A16z recently made headlines for another reason when it announced that moving forward, its headquarters will be “in the cloud”“. In addition to divesting a centralized headquarters, a16z announced new offices in Miami Beach, New York and Santa Monica, in addition to existing posts in Menlo Park and San Francisco.
That move was notable because the legendary venture firm was founded in 2009 in Menlo Park and has historically been associated with the Bay Area. It is also a reflection of how much has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic as more businesses and ventures work remotely.
The company also announced earlier this year that it build an accelerator for start-ups, which could also be an indication that it wants to broaden its offering.
