Meet Chicago 40 Under 40, M1 Finance CEO Brian Barnes At Benzinga's Fintech Deal Day Event

With a passion for trading stocks from as young as 11, Brian Barnes went on to have a prolific career at an equity hedge fund and management consulting firm.

In a quest to carve his own path, he launched an online automated brokerage company -- M1 Finance. The firm offers a modern approach to managing an investment portfolio. Traders have the option to convey their choice and quantity of investments based on sectors.

Barnes will be a Featured Speaker at Benzinga's Fintech Deal Day & Awards on Nov. 13 followed by the Future of Digital Assets conference on Nov. 14, both events will be held in New York City.

Not only was Barnes chosen in the 40 Under 40 (The Class of 2022) at Crain’s Chicago Business, but he was also nominated for the outstanding tech CEO at the 15^th Annual Momentum Awards.

Launched in late 2016, Chicago-based M1 has amassed more than 500,000 users with $7 billion of assets in management. M1 also raised more than $325 million in investment from investors including SoftBank, Coatue, Left Lane, Jump Capital, Clocktower, Chicago Ventures, and others.

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Vision: Barnes looked to launch a digital private bank not for the people with $100 million but to bring it down to people with $100,000.

“Where most of the money is held now is the affluent 65-year-olds," he said. "We're getting the affluent 30- or 40-year-old who will become the affluent 65-year-old.”

Barnes' company dropped retail commissions on investments and instead made money on lending, credit cards, and other services.

On the personal front, the Stanford University alum may be a cautious investor, but he's also a thrill-seeker with a motorcycle and a pilot's license who also has tried skydiving and bungee jumping.

Meet and engage with transformative Digital Asset and Crypto business leaders and investors at Benzinga's exclusive event — Future of Digital Assets. Tickets are flying — get yours!