Articles published 12/2018
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Rockefeller Capital puts its third RIA talent anchor in place with hiring of Anthony Grosso in San Francisco and his venture capital connections
With Chris Dupuy in New York and Michael Outlaw in Atlanta, CEO Greg Fleming is building the ground floor for an edifice of broker recruitment
December 28, 2018 at 9:42 PM
Will the S.E.C. aid and abet fraud in 2019? A fictionalized grilling of Jay Clayton under truth ether reveals the perils
With brokers the special interest, the simple principle of putting client interests first, gets mangled in the wording. But two can play that game so Ron Rhoades fights back with his pen
December 27, 2018 at 8:40 PM
When Steve Janachowski's RIA hit the $1-billion wall, he started hiring women execs and talking M&A; Now he's at $1.7 billion but still seeking to validate his strategy
Bookended by poaching Peg Pike to COO in 2014 and Jill Carothers of late, the Brouwer & Janachowski CEO is seeing success but no great surge in women clients -- yet
December 26, 2018 at 6:16 PM
SEC clobbers Wealthfront on multiple alleged offenses; settles case with 'cease and desist' order, $250,000 fine
The big charge relates to tax-loss harvesting but Tweeting testimonials also comes into play
December 21, 2018 at 7:58 PM
In wake of Goldman Sachs presentation, Focus Financial shares hit new lows, analyst compares RIA rollup to GM's ill-fated Hummer H-1
The roll-up's share price closed at $25.51, a steep drop from the $37 where it traded on day one -- and even below the targeted $33. But is it really the ungainly, inefficient, over-priced SUV or more the Ferrari CEO Rudy Adolf promised but thrashed by an unruly market?
December 20, 2018 at 9:54 PM
Voya CEO Charlie Nelson gets payback by winning the $21.6 billion New York City 401(k) and 457-plan recordkeeping from Empower, which passed him over twice for promotions
The Voya CEO redeems himself after losing the $45 billion Lockheed Martin plan to Empower
December 20, 2018 at 8:00 PM
Wealthfront throws open its freemium advice to non-customers and calls it peerless, causing critics to yawn 'so what else is new?'
Critics say free planning is everywhere these days -- including firms, like Betterment, that provide humans to answer planning-related questions.
December 18, 2018 at 1:28 AM
After finally convincing TD Ameritrade and Schwab to create an account-opening API, Orion will give RIAs power to open accounts with robo-like wizardry
The two Omaha firms 'shave hours' off the process of getting a client aboard, but first compliance and security fears needed to be assuaged
December 17, 2018 at 4:27 PM
Vanguard's asset machine wobbles under Abby Johnson's withering pricing assault, but Fidelity's new cost-cutting front aimed at advisors is proving more lethal for BlackRock
Net inflows surge at Fidelity Investments as its CEO plays strategic gambit that Vanguard can't follow, including bargain basement model portfolios aimed at advisors
December 13, 2018 at 11:37 PM
In new $150-million lawsuit, Mark Hurley alleges ex-boss's smears wrecked his valuation, his reputation and his chances of providing capital to RIAs ever again
The trump card for the maverick ex Fiduciary Network CEO was to open across the street with new backers, but the filing clams he may not have that play anymore
December 12, 2018 at 9:36 PM
Andrew Salesky's tantalizing PortfolioConnect remark hints at Schwab's technology future, and 'open' or 'closed' -- that was API question at In|Vest West 2018 RIA custody panel
The Schwab technology chief may have stumbled on a strategy for big RIAs, but he also got challenged on his API philosophy by Apex Clearing's Chris Fesler
December 11, 2018 at 11:48 PM
Liberated (in part) by an Envestnet deal, Scott MacKillop isn't ho-humming a second-round infusion of $1.5 million
Asking first-round funding friends and family to extend support stressed out First Ascent's CEO but the fresh capital arrives as new sources of asset inflows kick in
December 10, 2018 at 11:25 PM
Mike Durbin speech spellbinds; David Kowach prompts head-scratching and Brian Hamburger-Dale Brown showdown has one tense moment at Market Counsel Summit
The Fidelity exec shows forward thinking; the Wells Fargo exec talks branded RIAs and the cage match ... not so much
December 8, 2018 at 5:06 AM
Lisa's Bits: Commonwealth and Cambridge jump into RIA custody game bigger; Goldman Sachs buys $600-billion 401(k) RIA as Wells Fargo reportedly eyes 401(k) exit ; Mercer does four deals in one month; LPL slashes an important advisor fee; A $13 billion advisor's fate is uncertain
Commonwealth launches its own RIA unit, Mercer goes on a one-month buying spree; Wells Fargo seeks to escape retirement low margins and Goldman buys in; Cresset looks to reinvent itself,
December 7, 2018 at 6:36 PM
SEI targets the 60% of its book that are planning virgins with Advizr's 'lite' planning software -- an MRI on held-away assets and way to boost SEI products sales
The Oaks, Pa.-based TAMP plans is to lure reps with the 'nibbling' software maker it part owns with a buy-one-get-one-free coaching and planning deal
December 5, 2018 at 11:03 PM
Decades-old stench of annuity sales and deception hangs heavy, but very 2018 efforts by DPL, Nationwide, Allianz and others offer whiff of hope of cracking the RIA market
As RIAs kick stockbroker butt, old-line insurers like Nationwide are taking the RIA fee-based and open-architecture model seriously -- because they have to -- and target the $2 trillion fixed-income aspect of RIA portfolios.
December 5, 2018 at 8:40 PM
LPL Financial's $28 million cash purchase of AdvisoryWorld solves one big problem: Now it can make sure the proposal software includes annuities in its proposals
The Fort Mill, S.C.-based IBD is the No. 1 annuity distributor in the United States but it still cranks out proposals focused on stock/bond allocations
December 4, 2018 at 10:46 PM
In historic UHNW talent grab, Cresset Capital Management makes three more head-turning poaches -- with Deloitte, Wells Fargo and Abbott Downing pedigrees -- in its bid to create a national family office
The Chicago-based RIA seeks to better serve the heirs-to-be as part of a broader strategy to shake the cobwebs out of a stodgy segment for the 1%
December 3, 2018 at 9:41 PM
Raymond James promotes yet another woman to a powerful position -- this time an alum of Duke, Columbia by way of Goldman Sachs -- to head the very LPL-intensive Northeast corridor
Jodi Perry puts Shannon Reid in charge of the wealth-intensive Maryland-to-Maine corridor
