The RIABiz Top 10 for March: High drama in the tech world; and the 401(k) revolt

March came in with a set of stories about the retirement market, and went out with news of growth at national chains and asset managers.

But the theme that runs through the entire month was technology, one of the drivers of the revolution of financial advice. Advisors are forward-thinkers when it comes to integrating technology in their practices. From stories about big portfolio management platforms to those about apps for the iPads that are de rigueur in the business, RIABiz readers consume technology news and reviews. (For a good list of those stories, check out our technology section.)

It didn’t hurt, of course, that some of them were stories of high business drama, like two of Brooke’s big hits (see no. 1 and 3). The depth of our tech coverage is aided by the insights of Techy Nevin Freeman (that’s the title he adopted to cover the many facets of his job at RIABiz) and contributor Heather Underwood.

The retirement market stories are perennial hits on RIABiz. We cover the topic less exhaustively than some other areas, aiming to update readers on what really matters for advisors working ion one of the market’s biggest opportunities.

RIABiz was started during a low point in the economy; we’re glad to be reporting on the growth being enjoyed from many kinds of companies in our business (see nos. 2 and 10).

March was a quiet month for news about the big custodians. We had a smattering of stories about how independent broker-dealers are steadily trying to leverage themselves toward the fee and fiduciary sides of the business (see no. 9). Elsewhere in the industry, of course, news about imploding broker-dealers dominated the headlines.

The RIABiz Directory grew by leaps and bounds over the last month, helped along by the efforts of John and Dawn Kodin, who have joined the RIABiz team on a part-time basis to build the directory. Among those companies joining in the past few days were BAM Advisor Services, The Renaissance Group and ExecAtlas. First Allied Securities joined with a premium listing, as did Quantivus Consulting.

“As a function of our newly launched Quantuvis Online Practice Management Portal, we felt it imperative to have a presence on RIABiz – particularly given the audience and clear commitment to bring top-notch solutions to the financial services industry,” wrote Dana Marin in an e-mail. She is consulting manager for the firm that is a subsidiary of Genworth Financial Wealth Management.

One final note: In March, the city that led our readership numbers was New York, with San Francisco, Boston and Chicago the runners-up. But if you count Jersey City as part of New York, the metro area has more readers by a third than San Francisco – and New York’s share of readership is steadily growing. See: RIABiz goes to New York in search of RIA life in the land of investment banking giants and In a Q&A, Todd Thomson explains why Wall Street’s glitter faded beside Dynasty opportunity.

We’re not sure what that suggests, except that interest in the independent space is rising in the wirehouse homeland.

Here’s a list of the RIABiz Top 10 for March.

1. Black Diamond wins a $4-billion RIA right in Advent’s backyard

2. TAMP assets came easily to Genworth, Envestnet and Loring Ward in 2010 and the fourth quarter sizzled

3. Giant of the broker-dealer tech world takes aim at Advent

4. Advisor Tested: Top iPad apps for RIAs

5. DOL’s proposal puts the screws to legacy 401(k) providers

6. Fidelity launches gigantic referral database to give advisors a shortcut to wealthy prospects

7. A Q&A with Phyllis Borzi, the DoL powerbroker aiming to remake the retirement market

8. E*TRADE unwinds its RIA roll-up, and a giant RIA rises in the Boston burbs

9. Cetera’s big fee move with a game-changing twist

10. Radio-star RIAs drive giant growth at national chains one $400,000 investor at a time