Lambertville Tech Firm RobustWealth Acquired by Principal Financial Group

Lambertville-based financial tech company RobustWealth will be acquired by Principal Financial Group, a global financial investment management and insurance company headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa.

With the deal, RobustWealth gains access to insights from Principal’s work with more than 16 million customers, while Principal will be able to better serve its clients with leading digital advisory capabilities, the companies said.

“This is a great opportunity for us at RobustWealth,” said Founder and CEO Mike Kerins. “We get to maintain our start-up culture and agility, while gaining access to incredible resources at Principal. All of this will help us grow our presence in the community and hire great local talent.”

Located at 204 N. Union St., RobustWealth will remain under the management of Kerins as part of Principal, and plans to expand its team in Lambertville. In fact, Kerins just signed a lease for another 9,000 square feet for their offices in Lambertville.

“From employee culture to investment philosophy and a client-focused approach, Principal and RobustWealth have a lot in common,” observed Kerins. “Together we will continue to evolve a digital advice platform that is sophisticated, but simple.”

Principal has worked with RobustWealth since August 2017. By joining forces, clients will have access to investments (ETF, Mutual Funds), annuity and protection products.

While RobustWealth is now part of Principal, they will continue to focus on providing innovative solutions, and delivering those solutions quickly and efficiently using agile product development methodologies, the companies said.

The RobustWealth platform will retain its open architecture philosophy and operate independently under a management committee within Principal, according to the companies. RobustWealth provides a suite of white label solutions for investment advisors including a digital advice platform, goal-based investment tools, and efficient client onboarding processes, and will continue to sell their platform to firms outside Principal as part of their growth strategy.