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People Moves Related to "Charles Schwab & Co. dials in what it may consider SEC's all-clear signal on bitcoin, while Vanguard's take includes nothing to turn a red light green"


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Biz Briefs: Schwab puts checks for $52 million in mail to robo-RIA customers allegedly misled about cash allocations • BlackRock blacklisted (again) • iShares beats NZAM-exiter Vanguard • Fidelity makes first acquisition in eight years • CFP board realizes Moms don't like CFPs

BlackRock gets Kentucky coal in stocking, and Vanguard keeps skating; iShares inches above -- by 2.8% -- Vanguard's annual net new ETF asset haul; Fidelity takes "natural next step" for stock plan business; new CFP chair outlines plans and the DOJ is set to become a major Robinhood shareholder..

January 13, 2023 at 3:01 AM

Tim Hockey leaves baffled analysts (and everyone else) probing for answers to explain abrupt departure plan as TD Ameritrade CEO; It's about... nothing!

Discount brokers are facing myriad issues as trading fees continue sliding to zero, causing TD's board to seek a more RIA friendly CEO

August 8, 2019 at 6:32 PM

TD Ameritrade's board suddenly pushes out Tim Hockey after his big misread of RIAs; Tom Bradley name-dropped as successor

The CEO broke the TD promise never to compete with RIAs, took it back and got sent packing

July 23, 2019 at 4:30 AM

Biz Briefs: Vanguard's tax-loss harvest yields a caveat• Vermont green with envy ... of red states? • CFP Board spends $12 million on bungee metaphor • BlackRock isn't neutral on Credit Suisse • Women are the Goliath of 'David' in UK finance

Tax-loss harvest gains may have some home assembly required, says Jeff DeMaso • Adrian Johnstone is now in the driving seat at Practifi • CFP Board spending just topped $150 million • and Vermont shares some Texas thinking on ESG investing.

March 25, 2023 at 1:32 AM

Biz Briefs: Fidelity says humans beat robots, even for Gen Z • Joe Lonsdale's Opto starts signing RIA test-drivers • Vanguard launches oddly delayed fund • Wealthbox hires, and Dynasty buys

Fidelity wins Delta Airlines business with sweetener • Opto pairs-up with Riskalyze and Merchant • Moonfare raises $15 million • CAIS bucks real estate trend • Vanguard launches "curious[ly]" delayed fund • WealthBox, Dynasty, and others buy and hire.

March 8, 2023 at 3:28 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

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

RIA recap: Bernie Clark promises to 'be there' for coming TDA-Schwab system snafus; Fidelity gets custody win; Vanguard dishes out big tax bill to investors

Schwab RIA chief petitions for 'patience' for coming merger inconveniences but 'repapering' is no culprit; Carrie Pomerantz gets Schwab board seat; Addepar wins $65 billion AUM contract.

November 3, 2022 at 1:59 AM

Dimensional Fund Advisors, long the flagship of factor investing, struggles to chart a course as a nimble rival and big foot competitors cut into its market--and exploit its slow move to ETFs

Vanguard, BlackRock and Avantis rattle a complacent Dimensional Fund Advisors with fee cuts and ETF roll outs based on 'smart beta.'

August 9, 2022 at 1:57 AM

Robinhood gets 'brilliant' upper manager -- and a spare CEO -- by nabbing TD Ameritrade's ex-thinkorswim top exec, hopefully to throw a lifesaver to Robinhood's sinking stock

The Menlo Park, Calif., firm nabbed Steve Quirk as first-ever chief brokerage officer to 'bridge the gap between academia and reality.'

January 6, 2022 at 10:33 PM

Oisín's snippets: Charles Schwab brand goes up on Omaha's TD Ameritrade stadium, home of college baseball world series • Interactive Brokers lands an RIA custody insider, Charlie Latimer, to climb the custodian ladder

The TDA brand lives on until the techies figure out how to make two systems into one, but change is in the air in Omaha, while Interactive Brokers gets a leg up in the custody business with a new hire.

December 27, 2021 at 9:58 PM

Wealthfront cedes to four years of investors clamoring for crypto by taking on expensive third-party vendor that Betterment rules out

The Redwood City, Calif., robo-advisor turned a hard 'no' into a soft 'yes' by dealing with Grayscale and its 200 basis-point-plus fees, which its robo rival in NYC -- also without a crypto path -- finds ludicrous.

August 14, 2021 at 2:20 AM

Vanguard Group shows up as 'alpha' disciple with two new fixed-income fund launches as it surpasses PIMCO's $2 trillion with ex-Goldman Sachs partner now calling the shots

The $8 trillion Malvern, Pa. manager owns beta investing, but RIAs are demanding higher income -- hence market timing and cherry picking -- from their fixed-income allocation.

August 10, 2021 at 11:46 PM

Fidelity Investments is paying 2,000 employees to hasten their corporate exits, including high-profile RIA overseer, Sanjiv Mirchandani, as part of its shift to a digital future

The Boston giant offered voluntary buyout packages and the 4% of staff who accepted will leave by June 30 to give other staff room to grow careers and make room for hires.

June 24, 2021 at 5:39 PM

Jason Wenk raises $50 million from Vanguard Group and others, and Altruist may soon overtake Pershing's No. 3 RIA custodian spot, the Altruist founder asserts

The Los Angeles founder's disruption blitz involves a mobile-first Robinhood feel and a plug-and-play outsourcing one-stop-shop -- a sweet combination, except that it may not lure many big RIAs, analysts say.

May 20, 2021 at 3:22 AM

Charles Schwab prunes another 200 or so staff but assures Wall Street analysts the Jenga piece of TD Ameritrade RIA services is still part of the puzzle post-merger

The Westlake, Tex., broker deemed John Tovar 'best talent,' hence a keeper, and ex-TD staffers affirm Schwab's good instincts.

February 11, 2021 at 12:08 AM

Fidelity Investments loses Kathleen Murphy who largely caught up Fido to Schwab (near $4T) on the retail side by reversing net promoter scores

The 'no whining allowed' leader of the Boston giant's retail business, who oversaw $2 trillion in net new assets, was ready to exit but hung in through a year dominated by COVID-19 challenges

January 23, 2021 at 2:02 AM

Goldman Sachs nabs TD Ameritrade's Darla Sipolt for RIA custody; Kate Healy, Jim Dario and Peter Dorsey are among 1,000 staffers cut by Schwab post TD merger

Included in the wholesale reduction of the Omaha, Neb.-based broker's redundant talent, about 40% of TD Ameritrade's marketing staff also got word today they have no future with their San Francisco-based owner

October 27, 2020 at 1:20 AM

Fidelity Institutional looks like a big TAMP after Mike Durbin removes last internal walls between products and advisors after 'meteoric' 2019 leap; two Fido RIA sales legends depart amid the shift

Rich Policastro and Tom Valverde are out after Fidelity Custody & Clearing assets leap to $2.6 trillion AUA, restructuring gets the credit -- and so restructuring gets extended.

March 13, 2020 at 10:36 PM

Mark Tibergien sets up Ben Harrison to challenge Schwabitrade with a $150 million cut to Pershing's minimum and millions more to develop Veo-busting technology

The CEO suite hand-off in Jersey City pulls a trigger on a plan to bypass Fidelity's and eventually Schwab's custody units by luring disaffected RIAs.

March 11, 2020 at 7:58 AM

Into the PIMCO void, Vanguard re-applies itself to active fixed-income funds and Bond Kings get a bitter taste of what the Peter Lynches of yesteryear learned the hard way

The Malvern, Pa. giant has only 24% of assets invested in bonds but nearly 40% of its portfolio staff are bond-directed as it seeks to exploit a world of high fees driven by fiefdoms and petty monarchs.

January 3, 2020 at 1:33 AM

Head of Schwab Private Client is apparent casualty as Charles Schwab slices $100 million in expenses by pink-slipping 600 staff in face of interest rate 'time bomb'

Schwab executive Chris Thom let go by Schwab as part of its efforts to reduce its workforce by 3% this week, a source says to get ahead of an expected Fed rate cut that will slash revenues.

September 18, 2019 at 4:39 AM

Walt Bettinger axes current and former Schwab retail chiefs, Terri Kallsen and Andy Gill; funnels responsibilities to Jonathan Craig, for now

The Schwab CEO is 'restructuring,' which includes cutting the Chairman's Club program that sent 200 top performers to Hawaii on a free junket

July 24, 2019 at 12:53 AM

Capital Group miraculously recovered after deep 2008 dive but RIA help may get No. 2 American Funds through the next downturn under new CEO

Matthew O’Connor takes the CEO helm of the giant LA-based active manager from Kevin Clifford with conviction not to jam the rudder hard but to be open to new markets

November 2, 2018 at 9:26 PM

October 19, 2018 at 7:41 PM

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