RIABiz

News, Vision & Voice for the Advisory Community

RIABiz

Articles published 9/2020


Headline

Publish date


Eric Poirier: We’re on track for an even stronger third quarter.

Addepar now counts 20% of Barron's Top-100 RIAs as clients, but Tamarac, SS&C Black Diamond and Orion all retain an edge

Now 11-years-old and getting RIA religion, the Mountain View, Calif., VC creation shared numbers that put it on the doorstep of big milestones -- if enough alts-minded prospects are still there for the taking.

September 29, 2020 at 10:33 PM

Chip Roame:  Many Tiburon members believe that Tiburon can have a huge impact on improving industry success for both women and minorities.

One year after Alex Chalekian tweeted, Chip Roame still searching for a Tiburon Summit date to showcase his new, improved 'inclusive' conference

Roame cancelled the Oct. 12-14 event late last week and will make another run at a live conference this coming April in  New York City.

September 28, 2020 at 8:27 PM

Noreen Beaman: While we respect what [Envestnet] has done, we’re focused on the future. The end investor is demanding a more seamless interaction with their money.

With Envestnet-Yodlee showing no let-up, Orion Advisor Services and Brinker Capital race to close merger in just three months, a leap toward 'unstoppable,' both organically and inorganically

The closing of the Omaha, Neb. and Berwyn, Pa. brands creates one Orion brand that will begin cross-selling software and asset-management products as early as October, with a profile more like Envestnet.

September 25, 2020 at 5:02 PM

Ric Edelman: We're confident the outcome of this RFP process will be very beneficial for our clients, and our planners and staff who serve them.

Ric Edelman throws his RIA's $30 billion-plus retail asset custody accounts up for grabs with anchor custodians -- TD and E*Trade -- set to be swallowed whole by Schwab and Morgan Stanley

The Edelman Financial Engines co-founder expresses 'confidence in the RFP process,' and sources say the leading contender may be Apex Clearing.

September 24, 2020 at 2:02 AM

Rob Foregger: We’re starting to see demand from TDF providers … [to] help reinvent how they do business.

With fears rising that robo-advisors can disrupt $2-trillion target date fund universe, NextCapital raises fresh $30 million and wins five big customers, but can its software spur widespread TDF adoption?

TDFs are cash cows and asset magnets but also dumb robots in an era of smarter ones and the Chicago-based outsourcer is promising answers -- most recently to Franklin Templeton

September 22, 2020 at 8:59 PM

Amy Parvaneh: [Success] comes to me from Wall Street training but also from the hard knocks of immigrating to the US when I was 12 years old

RIAs need to get over 'quotas' when it comes to sales and growth, or end up being owned by an RIA that knows how to impose them

To achieve growth, investment advisors need to stop avoiding a 'sales culture' and achieve clear organic growth goals by, cough... selling

September 22, 2020 at 4:31 AM

Larry Fink: Our job is to make [RIAs] better and we are not a threat to go direct to their clients.

Chiding [but not naming] Vanguard Group, Larry Fink answers whether BlackRock will compete directly with RIAs: 'We are not a threat'

The BlackRock CEO reverse spun the success of big rivals in retail advice : 'We don't go to the customer like some other asset managers do'.

September 19, 2020 at 4:00 AM

Salllie Krawcheck:  This idea of you build a startup with an eye on the exit door, and who are you going to sell to ... it hasn't entered the equation.

Ellevest's 'for-women, by-women' message gets more literal after Sallie Krawcheck and her male co-founder part ways and AUM growth picks up steam

Charlie Kroll co-founded Ellevest but he kept a low profile and mostly followed the 'wildly creative' lead of his boss who is taking the firm upmarket and to a subscription model

September 18, 2020 at 3:28 AM

Jason Lahita: I'm not going to enter into a client relationship if I don't feel a connection and if there isn't a fit.

Known for his high 'emotional quotient,' Jason Lahita rides solo, again, as a PR guru; this time, he's selective and looking for a few good non-robots

The Los Angeles RIA PR pro is launching a company called StreetCred from a backyard outbuilding with a mindset of finding clients who click with him

September 16, 2020 at 6:00 PM

Jeff Carney:  While this is a tough decision to make, stepping aside at this time is the right move .

Jeff Carney will step down immediately from IGM Financial Inc. after early on-set Alzheimer's diagnosis; Nova Scotia Bank exec James O'Sullivan replaces him

The CEO made his mark at Fidelity, Schwab and Personal Capital in addition to turning around the Canada wealth manager and asset manager

September 15, 2020 at 4:00 PM

Yodlee wobbled for 18 months but it never tumbled into the abyss.

Never mind the short-term gains, Bill Crager tells Wall Street he's keeping Yodlee as it wins back accounts from the Plaid-era firms with oodles of value yet to be unlocked

Envestnet modernized Yodlee, cut fees, after clients dumped it for upstarts and now the fixed-up fixer-upper is worth more in-house than on the auction block, CEO Crager says.

September 14, 2020 at 8:47 PM

Clara Shih: Over the next several months, I'll take some time off to recover from the millions of miles I’ve traveled in the last decade.

After picking a CEO and securing Salesforce cash, Clara Shih leaves Hearsay's exec suite and 2.0 questions behind

The San Francisco firm's success solved a compliance problem, but authenticity-at-scale-by-bots is still a grail to reach

September 11, 2020 at 3:18 AM

Brian Hamburger: Cutting out free lunches doesn't end the conflicts.

Merrill Lynch bars brokers from accepting freebies from third-parties but Brian Hamburger sees the play as a classic Wall Street 'card trick'

In a world where RIAs often accept lunches from a wholesalers, the New York wirehouse's out-of-the-blue change of heart has the lawyer saying it looks more like a way of bolstering its position as the intermediary

September 10, 2020 at 3:33 AM

Peter Jubber: Every incumbent should be spending time and money on this topic to understand it, at least to understand the threat.

Fidelity Investments applies its proven Peter Jubber to its unproven bitcoin unit and its launch of Fidelity Digital Funds signals it's all in on blockchain currency

By launching Fidelity Digital Funds under an 18-year seasoned exec, the Boston giant is signalling no let-up by putting something scarcer than capital into the crypto-pot -- its seasoned talent

September 9, 2020 at 2:20 AM

Bob Oros: These were not deals that were almost done and we were just waiting to sign the paperwork.

After becoming a 'Zoom' maestro, Bob Oros spurred Hightower Advisors to close a $1-billion deal a week -- surpassing 2019's total in just over a month

CEO Elliot Weissbluth's replacement spent a year doing housekeeping -- then learning digital due diligence under the sword of COVID-19. But now Oros is loaded with fresh Thomas H. Lee capital, and RIAs like doing business with him

September 4, 2020 at 8:51 PM

Phyllis Borzi: Trump administration didn't follow the customary 60-day comment period expected.

Trump administration 'ramrodding' DOL rule to beat 2020 presidential election, depriving advisors ability to comment, says Ex-Obama DOL official Phyllis Borzi, the 'Godmother' of ERISA

The Trump administration is trying to wave a magic wand, and it's going to work, but it may make matters worse for the pro-suitability lobby if Joe Biden becomes President

September 4, 2020 at 3:43 AM

Jake Gilliam: For advisors who prefer to use the framework and implement it on their own, they certainly can.

Cozier (and nearer zero-fee) by the day, Schwab again teams with Envestnet-- this time tapping the outsourcer's reach to 103,000 IBD reps to launch super-cheap model portfolios

Already bonded through PortfolioCenter and MoneyGuidePro, the San Francisco-based broker's Charles Schwab Investment Management unit chose Envestnet's supermarket with 100,000-plus advisor-shoppers for a key launch

September 2, 2020 at 6:31 AM

Jim Dickson: You will see Merrill shrink [its] training program ... and follow Fidelity's lead.

Fidelity, Schwab, Robinhood and even (days numbered) TD Ameritrade are hiring thousands of staff -- even as Merrill Lynch hits a snag-- what's that say about free trading?

Schwabitradehood's growing pains aren't just in website glitches but also to keep hold times to a mimimum in the phone service queue

September 1, 2020 at 1:37 AM

RIABiz Archives

RIABiz Directory

The Industry Sourcebook for RIAs

   |    LISTING


RIABiz Directory sponsored by:

Directory Sponsor Logo