ROBINHOOD LAYOFFS: Investors Should Be Clients, Not Users

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You want to be more than a “user” to the people helping you invest your money. “Users,” are people who post memes. “Users” are people who get a ride home from the bar. “Users” are people who change their fantasy sports lineups. There’s nothing wrong with being a user, but when it comes to investing your hard-earned money in the hopes of a healthy, fun, and relaxing retirement for you and your family, you want to be more than a user. You want to be a valued client, to someone who has a fiduciary duty to put your interests first.

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Now, Robinhood, with 11 million monthly active “users,” is about to lay off 7% of its full-time employees. The Wall Street Journal reports:

Robinhood Markets is cutting about 7% of its full-time staff, the online brokerage’s third round of layoffs in just over a year as the company adjusts to a slowdown in customer trading activity.

About 150 employees are being laid off, according to an internal company message seen by The Wall Street Journal.

The layoffs were made to “adjust to volumes and to better align team structures,” Chief Financial Officer Jason Warnick said in the message.

Robinhood cut more than 1,000 jobs in two rounds of layoffs last year. As of the end of 2022, Robinhood had about 2,300 full-time employees, according to its annual report.

…

Robinhood ushered in a free stock-trading phenomenon during the Covid-19 pandemic, thanks to its easy-to-use, mobile-first online brokerage platform.

By the second quarter of 2021—Robinhood’s best, according to public filings—the company boasted more than 21 million monthly active users, who flocked to the app to trade stocks, options and cryptocurrencies.

As of May, Robinhood had fewer than 11 million monthly active users. Transaction-based revenue in the first quarter dropped 5% year over year and was more than halved from the first quarter of 2021.

Action Line: Work with someone who treats you like more than a “user.” When you’re ready, let’s talk.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West (RIP JB) and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.