Articles published 2/2023
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CD&R mollifies Focus Financial 'FOMO' with non-monetary sweetener to ease the shareholder pain of dumping the company in a sour market
The New York City buyout firm is offering a 'knock-yourself-out' provision to let Focus make a last-ditch effort to find a white knight to 'cover its bases from a liability standpoint.'
February 28, 2023 at 2:54 AM
Thomas H. Lee made his mark on the RIA business before his death at 78, in part, because he took Ric Edelman to meet Larry Fink to good effect
The founder of his eponymous Thomas H. Lee Partners private equity firm got rich on Snapple and Dunkin' Donuts stakes but made a strong cameo with the radio host's firm then invested in Atria in 2017
February 25, 2023 at 3:33 AM
Bill Crager rebuts what activist hedge fund investor alleged by promising Envestnet is 'turning corner' on profit margins
The embattled CEO says he 'talked to lots of investors' last quarter during the verbal assault and also laid out his case to Wall Street analysts -- Envestnet's profit margins and market share are expanding.
February 24, 2023 at 1:30 AM
Another RIA whisperer, Julian Lopez, has left Schwab Advisor Services after 24 years to join LPL, which he sees as more advisor-focused and 'entrepreneurial'
The Houston executive, like Kelly Smith in Chicago, was considered a key service talent for RIAs though Lopez says his circumstances differ.
February 23, 2023 at 8:14 AM
Rudy Adolf dodges questions on Focus Financial earnings call, possibly because one inconvenient question overhangs a PE firm's $53 share price offer
The New York City rollup CEO said take-private negotiations precluded answering analyst questions; one big question is why the company accepted a $53-a-share offer only 4.5 years past its IPO
February 22, 2023 at 2:42 AM
Sarah Levy makes second unpopular decision at Betterment in two months after showing forbearance her first two years as CEO
The Betterment executive raised prices last month, and she's cutting staff this month to buy time to execute the robo-advisor's strategic pivot to RIA servicing.
February 17, 2023 at 4:25 PM
Fidelity will hire 4,000 staff in first half -- a staggering number but a tapering off from 'unprecedented' rate in 2021-2022 that catapulted it to 68,000 employees
The $10.3 trillion giant explains its hiring -- in a layoff environment -- as an RIA-like goal, namely having the human bandwidth to develop 'lifetime' relationships with its 40 million investors
February 17, 2023 at 2:49 AM
Fidelity files for vast trademark protection as it readies Fidelity 3.0 for the Wild West metaverse -- whatever and wherever it may be
The Boston giant wants to sell in the three-dimensional world, but it wants the U.S. government to confirm its can still win in a real court on brand infringement if all that green pops into 3-D.
February 16, 2023 at 4:14 AM
Alan Moore is the No. 2 busiest man in the RIA business and he just convinced the No. 1 busiest man to budget $200,000 to hire a 'rockstar' to replace him
Alan Moore is CEO of both XY Planning Network and AdvicePay -- and he has three young kids; Michael Kitces agreed to let him hire a full-time replacement CEO for AdvicePay -- with some giant reqirements for the new exec.
February 14, 2023 at 3:15 AM
Fidelity lands RIA whisperer from Schwab in a coup, apparently using quality-of-life perks as lure
Kelly Smith chose the Boston rival for greater flexibility, better pay and a chance to move upmarket to sell family office services to RIAs that mix with the ultra-high-net-worth elite.
February 10, 2023 at 3:39 AM
With IRA inflows as tailwind, RIAs are taking over U.S. pension assets by the trillions as second act to 35 years of ransacking wirehouse talent and booty
Rollovers to individual retirement accounts hit a net $444 billion in 2021, Cerulli reports; advisors got 63% and the 401(k) cow is only going to get more productive.
February 9, 2023 at 5:23 AM
Joe Duran will co-develop Goldman Sachs unit aimed at outsourcing to non-Goldman RIAs after 'magic' never materialized for direct-to-consumer RIA
The Newport Beach, Calif. RIA legend plans to shift from B2C to B2B to fix Goldman's disconnect with RIAs and play to the strengths for him and the bank
February 8, 2023 at 3:03 AM
RIA M&A superstar Liz Nesvold takes control of her own destiny by invoking a contract clause at Raymond James -- and signaling that there is a hard way and easy way the next 90 days can go
The 'Michael Jordan of RIA M&A' may have been passed over on the St. Petersburg, Fla., investment bank's corporate ladder, despite her legendary rainmaking
February 4, 2023 at 2:53 AM
Focus Financial is pushing shareholders to take a take-it-or-leave-it private equity offer worth about $6 billion -- including $2 billion debt assumption -- despite a break-up value near $10 billion
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice's $53-a-share, or $4.1 billion, offer is predatory but likely to be accepted, in the sense that analysts imagine the rollup could be sold off in parts; Buckingham, alone, may fetch $2 billion.
February 3, 2023 at 3:03 AM
Charles Schwab Corp. boasts 99.9% success with (likely) mock conversion of TD Ameritrade data to its own systems on eve of going live, and a hidden bonus -- $500 billion in held-away TDA assets ripe for the picking
First 500,000 TDA accounts will convert to Schwab this month with the promise of little to no repapering, but Schwab braces, nonetheless, for Murphy's Law.
February 2, 2023 at 3:04 AM
Gavin Spitzner, incredibly brilliant, but never overpowering, dies of acute myeloid leukemia, but not before sharing his uplifting spirit with the RIA industry he loved, in the face of his own 'finitude'
The breakaway wirehouse executive and independent consultant made his RIA mark quickly with knowledge, enthusiasm and love, then shared the lessons of mortality with urgency and thankfulness.
