After BNY Mellon buys $2.7-billion Silicon Valley RIA, it files suit against four former staffers who file swift-uppercut countersuit

Four former Atherton Lane advisors form Lyell Wealth Management and say they never promised anything to their employer's acquirng mega-bank

September 27, 2016 — 8:07 PM UTC by Janice Kirkel

Brooke's Note: This whole BNY purchase of a big RIA in Menlo Park had a surreal feel from the start. See: BNY buys $2.7B Silicon Valley RIA  But if it's true that employees got sued for a deal that they never were part of then this situation got stranger.

Picture this: You, an advisor at Atherton Lane Advisers LLC, a $2.7-billion AUM RIA in Menlo Park, Calif., walk into work on Jan ...

FolioDynamix president uses conference to KO robos and call them a 'free beta test'

A half-full message on DOL rules is the federal mandate to ask clients about held-away assets as a matter of fiduciary responsibility

September 23, 2016 — 6:23 PM UTC by Guest Columnist Timothy D. Welsh

FolioDynamix remains the Avis of TAMPs -- and its new president Steve Dunlap has much to show for trying harder even when it hurts

“We’ve been punching under our weight class for a while now,” said Dunlap, the former Cetera, Pershing and Lockwood executive, as he reflected on his first nine months in the lead role at Secaucus, N.J.-based FolioDynamix. See: Ex-Lockwood CEO Steve Dunlap takes on role at FolioDynamix after being a customer ...

RIA Zen and the art of doing what's prudent -- even if you can't brag about it over beers

James Osborne confesses his guilty desire to make his practice more exciting and why he resists the temptations of adrenaline highs on behalf of clients

September 23, 2016 — 5:43 PM UTC by Guest Columnist James D. Osborne

Brooke's Note: We throw around the term "temperament" around every day as we contemplate having somebody run our military who can be baited by a tweet. But precious little is said in the RIA business about coolheadedness, what it looks like and what costs there are to staying moderate. It can assure success. It is is an embrace of the mundane. Not everybody has the temperament for that or they haven't convinced themselves of the necessity for ...

What to make of Wealthfront's three big hires and why its artificial intelligence bid may be indefensible as a strategy

The Redwood City robo bets big on an ex-Google engineering whiz amid a Betterment onslaught and after a period of high-profile departures

September 22, 2016 — 9:06 PM UTC by Brooke Southall

Brooke's Note: Wealthfront was comfortable in the role of front-runner in the robo-advisor race, a position it held comfortably until about 18 months ago. Now, its destiny will be determined by how good Adam Nash is at managing from behind. Wealthfront is operating with less cash and fewer robo assets than its chief competitors, Schwab and Betterment. But it still holds the lead in the number of pedigreed veterans of super-unicorns it has on its staff. Wealthfront continues to make impressive hires ...

How Personal Capital got a stunning $1-billion AUM boost in six months -- after gathering its first $2 billion over six years

CEO BIll Harris says part of the secret is hiring human advisors to stoke referrals

September 21, 2016 — 9:12 PM UTC by By Lisa Shidler

Brooke's Note: Personal Capital is doing well. It has been for a while but this last $1 billion of new assets is a real heat check. It's hot. What's up? Business success always comes down to people doing something right. Managing a large pool of quality financial advisors under one brand is damned difficult. Personal Capital is showing signs it is honing that HR challenge. When I talked to Lisa about her reporting for this article, she ...

Reality closes in on Felipe Luna as TD and Fidelity move to cut the cord, he goes off BrokerCheck and his $2 billion RIA gets shopped

Recent SEC woes are forcing the hands of owners of the 'wirehouse-lite' platform that allegedly raised capital in an improper fashion

September 20, 2016 — 4:42 PM UTC by Irwin Stein

Brooke's Note: In my first career as a business broker we were often selling businesses after they had gotten themselves behind the eightball. It was hard to witness the agony. Despite that, I was encouraged that one day I might own my own business because of something I observed about these situations. Rarely did troubled companies have some unbeatable or undiagnosed illness. Most often it was an issue that was solvable and hiding in plain sight. It ...

In search of a 'mind-set' shift, $2.2 billion Wichita team tunneled out of Morgan Stanley -- taking absolutely no chances with the guards

Despite the team's three-decade age span, the Morgan Stanley veterans shared a vision for a practice -- one without a roll-up, outsourcer or dictates from New York.

September 19, 2016 — 6:30 PM UTC by By Lisa Shidler

Brooke's Note: This breakaway is molded -- like a gigantic chunk of prairie sod -- out of the heartland of America. But its sheer size, attitude and sophistication have all the markings of the big breakaways we see in places like New York and LA. Part of that attitude includes the insistence by the RIAs' principals that the dumped wirehouse had nothing wrong with it and that it wasn't left for dead because of any deficiencies. It's not you, Morgan ...

The FPA finally puts on a better CFP face and she lights up the hall in Baltimore

Gigi Guerra was the 75,000th CFP recipient and she captured an air of revitalization the Financial Planning Association will need to survive and thrive amid massive industry changes

September 17, 2016 — 12:24 AM UTC by Guest Columnist Timothy D. Welsh

Brooke's Note: As the RIA business moves inexorably ahead, you might ask yourself why there basically isn't an RIA association out there. NAPFA comes close but it remains small and seemingly unlikely to gain mass and momentum. The FPA has the strength and self-limiting aspect of being tied to the CFP designation. It's limited by what the CFP stands for and what you need to learn to get a CFP. Basically any advisor can and ...