Articles published 9/2021
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Betterment is ready to burn cash like its 2008 all over again with 2008 co-founder Eli Broverman leading a $60-million VC round to execute the plan he was credited with creating
The 13-year-old New York City startup is one year into a rebirth under new CEO Sarah Levy who is hiring like crazy and plans to invest aggressively in both B2B units -- for 401(k) and RIA custody.
September 30, 2021 at 1:42 AM
Grayscale shreds the hype about Bitcoin's power to 'democratize' finance by showing that RIAs really want a dominant Wall Street middleman and are willing to pay hedge-fund-like fees for 'transparency' and an SEC-approved wrapper
The New York City manager landed Schwab, Wealthfront and now the UHNW alts platform, iCapital, to provide a crypto asset that incites exuberant hopes, crippling fears and little between.
September 28, 2021 at 9:50 PM
Vanguard Group becomes second domino to fall in 401(k) recordkeeper detente on plan portability, and the push is on to cajole Fidelity, the DC king, to follow suit
The $8 trillion Malvern, Pa., asset manager signed a deal with Retirement Clearinghouse to address its $1.8 billion of record-kept plan assets, which suffer universally despised pension 'leakage' that drains minority-held accounts.
September 24, 2021 at 1:21 AM
Manhattan West makes 'inflection point' poach of Reggie Tucker as Los Angeles VC 'deal flow' reaches critical mass and the 2016 RIA startup hires madly to catch a once-in-a-generation opportunity
The 46 year-old Los Angeles venture capital insider is joining CEO Lorenzo Esparza's startup, specializing in media and entertainment.
September 22, 2021 at 2:53 AM
Abby Johnson hires Canadian whiz and possible successor to head up, monetize and automate Fidelity retail to close early digital deficits with Schwab, Robinhood and Vanguard-- and maybe win institutionally embedded 401(k) millionaires
With the $11.2 -trillion Boston giant hiring 9,000 by year end after opening 5 million new retail accounts in six months, Joanna Rotenberg will be asked to rationalize, unify, digitize and monetize low- or no-revenue millennial accounts.
September 21, 2021 at 2:38 AM
Canada's CI Financial and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announce plan for Miami to become the $77-billion rollup's U.S. headquarters in 2023
The Sunshine State used tax incentives to lure the Toronto firm to Miami, where the state has tried to establish a Wall Street South for decades with some success
September 16, 2021 at 10:24 PM
Robinhood's retort to SEC's threat to outlaw kickbacks from order flow is to in-source the trading operation and take more of the bid-ask spread
Robinhood points out it has a 'history of doing difficult tasks' like when it brought clearing in-house to 'market make as a solution to monetize the stream.'
September 16, 2021 at 2:00 AM
AssetMark widens offensive on Envestnet by creating SMA mini-market after canceling the product line in 2017 as demand for direct stock ownership shoots up
The Concord, Calif., company, with $85 billion in TAMP assets, is rebooting with tighter manager curation and software that allows SMAs to work better in a portfolio with non-SMA products -- namely ETFs.
September 14, 2021 at 10:26 PM
Riskalyze tightens ties to CAPTRUST and its $660 billion in AUA with an access deal and its implicit endorsement
Fresh off signing Mariner Wealth's $40 billion with insider help, the Auburn, Calif., firm formalizes and elevates dealings with the Raleigh, N.C., giant.
September 13, 2021 at 9:59 PM
Steve Lockshin's self-funded Vanilla gets Rockefeller VC funding after it shows it can tidy up an RIA client and put her or him in a Zoom room with an estate lawyer
The serial successful RIA entrepreur in Los Angeles is shooting for a real Wall Street/Silicon Valley unicorn success story that starts with bringing in Venrock and Michael Jordan to think big early
September 10, 2021 at 3:24 AM
Schwab Advisor Services scrubs 10-city IMPACT 2021 in-person events, Oct. 18, after the company digests feedback from RIAs and staff
The Westlake, Texas, custodian of $3 trillion-plus is now naming Denver as its location for a 2022 return to normal but won't yet make any promises
September 8, 2021 at 10:30 PM
After freemium-like beginnings, Vanguard Group is priming its $243-billion RIA as a profit engine with high-octane, higher risk, higher-margin proprietary funds, tempered by an 'opt-in' for investors
The wealth management unit of the $8-trillion, Malvern, Pa., manager will exclusively distribute three active, high-conviction mutual funds with fees starting at 40 basis points
September 7, 2021 at 7:35 PM
Fidelity Investments pulls out stops on perks to raise headcount by 7,000 -- by hiring 9,000 -- to shrug off labor shortages, escalating wages and call center attrition
The 53,000-employee Boston firm is offering Google-type benefits and Merrill Lynch-style training--no financial experience necessary-- to reach 60,000 staffers by Christmas to meet crushing demand for service and still advance mega-projects like crypto and youth accounts
September 4, 2021 at 12:57 AM
Marty Bicknell chooses Riskalyze software for Mariner Wealth and integrates it with Orion and eMoney
The Overland Park, Kansas RIA, with $40-billion in AUM, needed to address heightened volatility fears post-2020 but also choose software his advisors were eager to use
