RIABiz

News, Vision & Voice for the Advisory Community

RIABiz

Articles published 8/2015


Headline

Publish date


Anthony Perkins: When they started poaching from Morgan and Merrill, I started to take notice.

LPL installs a former Wells Fargo tech-meister as it races to replace software, RIAify itself, for 14,000 restive advisors

The No. 1 IBD has miles to go in its mission to strip down and rebuild its once 'pretty horrible' platform but CIO Victor Fetter says dramatic changes are already evident

August 31, 2015 at 6:19 PM

Eric Clarke [r.] next to brother Todd: They didn't even blink an eye about our expansion proposal.

How Orion's parent company -- NorthStar -- is recovering, Omaha-style, from underestimating space needs by 45,000 square feet

After hiring 326 people in last 18 months, people are being all but stuffed in closets but a cheap solution is at hand -- a new campus

August 28, 2015 at 4:43 PM

Frank Polefrone: RIAs are growing assets they manage at a faster rate than all other channels, especially the wirehouse channel. RIAs are utilizing lower-fee products index funds and ETFs in a bigger way.

ETF makers mostly have $500-million-plus-AUM RIAs to thank for growth, study shows

RIAs added half a trillion in assets to ETFs in a recent 12-month period, far outpacing wirehouse brokers

August 27, 2015 at 8:37 PM

Virtus's latest challenge for its former affiliation with F-Squared is a lawsuit.

Allegations in Virtus class action relate to the fund company using a track record improperly calculated by its subadvisor

The suit says the track record was fabricated using backtested hypothetical results that were not only falsely presented to investors but were themselves grossly inflated

August 26, 2015 at 3:54 PM

Don Trone: Because ethotic leaders tend to have a broader view, they are able to keep a better sense of perspective in the face of adversity.

The 10 essential qualities an advisor must possess to become an 'ethotic' leader in these days of roiling markets

Why? Because it's time for the industry to accept that consumers will never care about suitability vs. fiduciary and recognize that they're hungry for leadership

August 26, 2015 at 2:59 PM

Bill McNabb: It's OK to ignore volatility—that's part of the plan.

Vanguard urges considered inaction -- not knee-jerk reaction -- to market's wild ride

The S&P 500 is way, way up since the dark days of the crash, says CEO Bill McNabb, so stop fretting and enjoy the rest of the summer

August 25, 2015 at 2:54 PM

Gabe Zichermann: In a game setting, you are challenged and achieve success through a swipe of the finger hundreds of times an hour. And it isn't just the millennial generation that are addicted. [Bill Winterberg, FPPad.com. Used with permission ​]

The buzz at RIA event in San Diego was how to get buzzed, dole out buzzes as inducement to automate practices

The intellectual puzzle of the Envestnet-Yodlee deal was one game played but Laser App's featured speaker took gaming deeper

August 24, 2015 at 4:08 PM

Daniela Pedley and Lauren Cosulich: We've been champing at the bit.

Why two women advisors broke two unwritten breakaway rules en route to taking $500 million to a $3-billion RIA

Daniela Pedley and Lauren Cosulich held back to give the original Summit Trail blazers their earned glory -- but gave notice on a Monday to let clients have their weekend peace

August 21, 2015 at 4:26 PM

Burt White: History suggests stocks are capable of posting total returns this year in the range of 5% to 9% including dividends, despite touching negative territory on the year in August.

Why a flat start doesn't mean a flat finish for the S&P 500

Halfway-point blues notwithstanding, strong earnings and other catalysts that could push the S&P 500 into the black by Christmas

August 20, 2015 at 3:53 PM

Ashley Fieglein Johnson earned close to $1 million in total compensation last year but a $12 annoyance bank fee charged to her five-year-old son was a big reason she joined Wealthfront.

Two ways of reading Wealthfront's inscrutable hire of a power CFO -- one it may not really need anytime soon

The Palo Alto-based robo-advisor may have tapped Ashley Fieglein Johnson to raise more VC -- or just because it doesn't need to count every bit of cash it burns

August 19, 2015 at 3:05 PM

Sharron Ash: If there's one rule about raiding it's this: there are no rules.

The odd case of MetLife's claim that it's being bullied by LPL

The $60 billion market-cap insurer alleges LPL was underhanded in luring away 60 employees -- but thousands have already left its broker-dealer without LPL's help

August 18, 2015 at 5:07 PM

Greg Verfaillie: In the conversations I've been having with advisors, it's clear this decision is not going to be made on product or platform; it's about the relationship.

Curian Capital predators position to pounce -- but a few copiously keep their distance to avoid quills

As smaller TAMPs play the finesse game, SEI, AssetMark and Envestnet, with combined $100 billion-plus AUM, see a path to play up their size and scale after the smaller TAMP falters

August 17, 2015 at 4:51 PM

Jon Stein frequently rolls up his sleeves to handle Betterment investor queries as part of his non-robo strategy.

Consumer Reports names Betterment in top five for customer service with USAA, Schwab, Vanguard and T. Rowe Price

The recognition flies in the face of a bias against that says robos can't hold hands with their bony robot fingers

August 14, 2015 at 8:05 PM

Laura Pierson: I'm anticipating some of our loyal clients may question us about this choice. It's bold and unconventional.

Monica Lewinsky is giving a keynote at Ron Carson's Peak conference

The ex-intern's message about cyberbullying, public shaming and personal branding is one advisors need to hear, according to Carson and industry advisors

August 13, 2015 at 6:01 PM

 Eric Clarke (l.): It was possible to snatch an hour or two of shuteye prior to hike departure, but I highly doubt anyone slept.

What I learned about our industry’s toughness, endurance and character across four peaks, 28 miles and 7,500 vertical feet in Aspen

Bears, lightning, not to mention the 'Frigid Air Pass' and the 'Soul Crusher,' challenged the RIA adventurers on their fourth, and most grueling, trek

August 12, 2015 at 6:55 PM

Jud Bergman: So, you're basically asking if you need a quart of milk, why did you buy the cow. Is that what you're asking, Chris?

Envestnet stock skidded 35% -- so will it force a rethinking of the Yodlee deal?

The Chicago-based outsourcer's bid to increase shareholder value hazards a counterproductive outcome

August 12, 2015 at 2:59 AM

Anil Arora: There’s an enormous transformation going on in financial services, and we’re going to accelerate that.

Envestnet buys Yodlee and its treasure trove of 'permissioned' data by selling its vision of the future of financial advice

The Chicago overachiever's deal is its third Silicon Valley acquisition overall, and second this year

August 10, 2015 at 10:11 PM

Amy Parvaneh: I was a cold-calling machine.

How an ex-Goldman superstar asset gatherer in LA is bringing her bazooka to the RIA knife fight

Growing up in a West Egg-East Egg scenario among the Long Island rich, Amy Parvaneh burnished her credentials with unusual Parisian luxury brands training, a Duke MBA and a dramatic Wall Street debut

August 10, 2015 at 7:28 PM

Brooke Southall: Our business cards, inert in their boxes, are still our main print product.

RIABiz turns six, with plans to keep riding an ever-swelling RIA wave

The Mill Valley, Calif.-based website strives for a new journalistic model, based on old-fashioned values, to cover an advice industry going through a parallel set of changes

August 7, 2015 at 4:56 PM

Louis Harvey: They assumed that a market existed, but then discovered what many have known for years -- 401(k) plans need a very personal sales effort.

After cutting 401(k) middlemen out backfires, Schwab cuts them back in

The problem for Walt Bettinger's newfangled Index Advantage DC plans was that for three years only $10 billion of assets showed up in an atmosphere of self-direction

August 6, 2015 at 5:17 PM

Walt Bettinger: Building a B2C brand is incredibly expensive, as we all know, and difficult. Takes many, many years, but ultimately we think we are looking at a tool.

In a six-month-mark reality check, Walt Bettinger recasts Schwab's retail robo-advice as a 'tool' -- but a handy one

After the mini-Manhattan Project of Schwab Intelligent Portfolios, its CEO is showing a fuller hand of cards that goes way beyond B2C

August 5, 2015 at 6:52 PM

Ric Edelman: His departure has no impact on the firm's future or our strategic plans.

Ric Edelman and David Bach go their own ways after super-partnership dissolves

After less than a year together, Bach is on a long vacation and Edelman is still pursuing a succession plan

August 4, 2015 at 8:21 PM

 Dave Romhilt: I was having all of these conversations separately and Tom Palecek said, 'What are we going to do about this?'

How exactly five ex-Barclays advisors and one analyst across three time zones combined to make a $3 billion RIA

A 38-year-old researcher played point man in the offensive that formed Summit Trail Advisors with offices in New York, Chicago and San Francisco

August 3, 2015 at 6:35 PM

RIABiz Archives

RIABiz Directory

The Industry Sourcebook for RIAs

   |    LISTING


RIABiz Directory sponsored by:

Directory Sponsor Logo