SmartAsset, founded in 2012 is a financial technology venture with a mission is to help people make better financial decisions. Whether it’s about helping someone choose a mortgage or investigating how much a new roof will add to their monthly rent, SmartAsset helps people make financial decisions.
At SmartAsset, they want to make sure that every financial decision is driven by something more than just emotion; by data.
But how do they make money and what’s their business model? If you are wondering the same, this post is for you. This article takes an in-depth look at how SmartAsset generates revenue and what its monetization strategy is.
SmartAsset makes money by lead generation. It provides personal finance tools, calculators, and expert-curated content to website visitors. These visitors can connect with financial advisors on the platform for tailored advice. The service is free for consumers but advisors pay SmartAsset for leads generated.
About SmartAsset
SmartAsset is an online platform connecting people needing financial advice with professionals who offer the best. They understand that money doesn’t grow on trees and that the financial choices we make can have a tremendous, lasting impact on our lives.
This is why they emphasize their mission of empowering people to make smart money decisions. Unsurprisingly, this is also why they can boast over 10 million views per month. Yes, you read that right.
Business Model of SmartAsset
Helpful Guides
SmartAsset boasts a number of in-depth professional guides to help you navigate the more tedious planning processes like home buying, estate planning, and more so that you don’t have to do it alone.
For example, tools that help you determine whether you should rent or purchase a home based on your personal finances have been a game-changing resource for the platform’s users.
Additionally, they offer more detailed, step-by-step content to educate unfamiliar users on the basics of money management like how the stock market works, or how to fill a W-4.
These guides also include investment advice and a wealth of information that one might typically pay a professional to access.
Reviews and Comparisons
The company also offers a wide range of comparisons and reviews on various popular topics such as banking institutions, tax software, lenders, and more.
They also deliver great comparison articles that assist with choosing the right banking account to meet your specific needs.
These reviews and ratings come from trustworthy and reliable sources who have done heavy-duty research so you don’t have to.
Life Insurance Quotes
SmartAsset even offers to provide life insurance quote comparisons that users get the best bang for their buck.
Simply identify your needs and desires using their quote comparison tool, and within minutes receive a personalized policy that best aligns with your preferences.
Not exactly sure what you want? They have you covered in that case, too. Their informative life insurance guide breaks down how much coverage you might need, for how long, and how much it will likely cost you.
Innovative Technology
SmartAsset uses a groundbreaking system called Automated Financial Modeling, kind of like a financial fortune teller of sorts. But instead of rubbing a crystal ball, this system
takes user information and uses precise calculations and cutting-edge technology to convert the data into easy-to-read financial projections.
Take Joe, for example, Joe is excitedly planning for his upcoming retirement. He knows that with this big transition comes big financial change as well. Recognizing that financial planning can be a typically arduous and time-consuming process, he turns to SmartAsset’s Automated Financial Modeling system for help.
The process is simple. The system asks Joe to answer a set of questions such as “What is your annual income?”, “What age will you elect Social Security Benefits”, and “How much are you saving per month?”.
Once finished, the AFM system uses this and other information like Joe’s location to calculate and safely project his foreseeable financial landscape.
And just like that, AFM makes financial decision-making quick and convenient. Joe is now better prepared for retirement. And he’s not the only one.
Millions of users are taking advantage of the free tools that SmartAsset offers on their online platform, and that number is steadily increasing. But that’s only part of what made the company what it is today.
How Does SmartAsset Make Money?
SmartAsset makes money by offering a number of valuable, financial resources at the click of a mouse, thus crediting themselves as the most widely viewed source of personal financial information and advice online.
Although the tools provided by the company to its consumers are available free of charge, SmartAsset does make money by promoting financial products such as mortgages to interested users.
Paid advertisements can be found on the pages of the company’s money management articles and guides. However, these paid ads are clearly labeled as such, maintaining a sense of trust between the brand and its users.
Adding to their profits, in 2018 SmartAsset launched SmartAdvisor, an extension of their already successful platform that connects you with qualified professionals who can help guide you on your financial journey. Whatever that journey looks like, SmartAdvisor promises to find someone who can help walk you through it.
This program not only benefits the user but has proven to be highly lucrative for the company. Credited as being “the largest client acquisition platform for financial advisors in America”, while advisors are making money and growing their businesses exponentially, SmartAsset is doing the same.
For a fee, the company helps to cultivate and nurture the businesses of both new and seasoned advisors, lending a hand in assisting with the tedious processes of research and marketing.
Instead, the company delivers prospective clients to qualified financial advisors based on their own “ideal client profile”. Even greater, the program also helps connect advisors to potential investors, making available the opportunity for much larger revenue streams.
The company has also partnered with powerful investors including Focus Financial Partners, Peterson Ventures, New York Life Ventures, and more!
In a smart move, the company also launched a program collaborating with publishers and bloggers to drive traffic to their websites and ultimately generate wider sales margins.
SmartAsset Funding, Valuation, and Revenue
SmartAsset increased its revenue by 10 times since June 2018 following its Series C funding.
The company announced a new addition to their SmartAdvisor program called Live Connections. It is a service that helps advisors remove the burden of generating leads by connecting them with a team of experts who do all the prospecting for them. This cuts the research process down for advisors by more than half, driving the bottom line even further.
In doing so, and backed by investor TTV Capital and a group of other investors, SmartAsset closed its Series D funding at over $110 million. The platform was able to raise more than 10 billion dollars in new assets, valuing the company at 1 billion dollars in June of this year.
This huge marker put the company at the head of the game and both established and solidified their reputation as power players in the industry.
SmartAsset is a profitable business. The company’s valuation has soared, reflecting its potential for continued growth.
History of SmartAsset
Started in 2012 by Michael Carvin, the CEO, and co-founder credited with developing the highly successful and patent-pending AFM system, as well as co-founder and coding genius Philip Camilleri, SmartAsset was destined for a quick, upward trajectory.
A big reason for their claim to fame and why they are trusted by so many is their emphasis on the importance of togetherness in their core values.
Why Is SmartAsset so Successful?
They Empower Users
SmartAsset equips users with reliable resources that better prepare them to make important financial decisions.
Providing a wide range of invaluable tools such as savings calculators, helpful guides for handling your finances during a pandemic, or informative articles and reviews comparing banking institutions makes hard decisions easier to navigate through.
They Rise and Adapt
Their focus on keeping up with current economic and industry trends, changes, and budding technological advancements propels the company to the head of the class.
They are able to maintain their position by consistently creating unique tools and launching programs that help cut down on the time, energy, and frustration involved with financial planning.
For example, Forbes praised the company’s personalized financial calculator noting that “the smooth design of the software makes each calculation look simple”. Persistent innovation sets them apart.
They Collaborate
They’re trusted by many, including a number of heavy hitters in the industry, such as The Wall Street Journal, Yahoo! Finance, Business Insider, and more.
They’ve also partnered with big-name investors as well, including Citi Ventures, New York Life Ventures, and Transamerica Ventures.
The company also focuses on teaming up with smaller businesses as well, building a successful service helping local financial advisors generate leads to help them grow their practice.
They Trust Each Other
SmartAsset emphasizes their drive to be “committed to bringing you transparency and accuracy no matter where you are in your financial journey”.
They are highly confident in their abilities to deliver results, and apparently so are the 10 million new and returning users who frequent their platform on any given month.
Data Fuels Their Decisions
Using highly analytical market research, identifying trends, and noting user’s personalized calculations, the company puts data at the forefront of their operations, promising accuracy for every user. Their ability to deliver on their promise is what allows for a steady increase in traffic to their website.
These core values drive both the company as a whole and its individual team members. In 2020, Forbes ranked SmartAsset as 7th in NYC of America’s Best Startup Employers 2020, putting them on the map as a highly collaborative, team playing company to work for.
With a company future that fosters drive and motivation, SmartAsset has quickly figured out the key to truly driving the bottom line.
Is SmartAsset profitable?
Consistently progressing towards bigger and better, SmartAsset has big hopes for its future.
If there’s any question regarding whether the company’s business model will serve long term, the company has already been announced this year’s winner of the “Top 100 Financial Technology Companies” according to The Financial Technology Report.
CEO and co-founder Michael Carvin has no plans of slowing down, promising to increase his employee count by 75% in 2021.
He states that by using the additional capital earned, the company is “going to make further investments in building the web’s best personal finance resource and enhancing our ability to connect consumers to financial advisors across the U.S.”
If that’s any indication of the future trajectory of the company, SmartAsset is on a clear path towards success.
Conclusion: How Does SmartAsset Make Money?
To sum up, SmartAsset is an online platform that helps people make the best possible decisions about their personal finances, from credit cards and loans to taxes and retirement savings. They do this by offering unbiased, personalized guidance from their team of experts.
The company operates through three segments: Advice, Analytics, and Automation. It offers free advice on topics regarding personal finance, including retirement planning, college savings plans, and investing.
SmartAsset has been a huge player in the personal finance space for years. They have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and have grown to become one of the most used financial tools online. They have a network of financial advisors that offers personalized paths to help clients build the best portfolio for any situation.
Thanks for visiting. In this article, we made it clear how SmartAsset makes money and broke down each of its revenue sources.
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