Oisin Breen

Brooke Southall and Keith Girard

New Vanguard CEO sends mixed signals in NYC media tour • Arch assets counted soar after $20 million RIA-intensive raise • Fidelity 401(k) business now home to half-a-million millionaires • Grayscale repeats fee-fumble, losing $1.8 billion of Ether in a week • Fixed-income start-up nabs BlackRock vet

Fidelity Investments

Grayscale

Arch

IMTC

The days when RIAs were the outsiders at the 401(k) party are fast coming to a close. What's new is that the mass of 401(k) assets 
is getting critical at about $3 trillion; fiduciary advisors are getting appreciated; fat fees and questionable kickbacks are getting exposed and stepping out of line is getting dicier as the Department of Labor tightens the regulatory screws.

The old reasons why the 401(k) business is attractive are still in place: there are fresh assets pouring in every month and when employees leave jobs or retire, they produce rollovers that build up IRA accounts for financial advisors. The drawbacks of getting into the 401(k) business are still in place, too. Dealing with retirement assets is really a second line of business and it remains -- unless you overcharge with hidden fees -- a low margin business with high potential fiduciary liabilities.

Still, the outsourcers, infrastructure and accumulated knowledge for RIAs to capitalize on is growing daily and a the mega-shift of assets away from brokers is making the 401(k) business riskier and riskier -- to ignore.

401(k) Stories

Asset custodians are the central players in the RIA business and choosing one is the biggest decision most financial advisors will make to build their business. As the place where RIAs park their assets (the same way a captive broker would park assets at Merrill Lynch or UBS), custodians serve hundreds or thousands of these registered investment advisors and make big investments in technology and service on their clients' behalf.

This section features a series of articles under the “Asset Custody Project” label that cover these companies in a way that keeps advisors abreast of their progress – both with journalistic commentary and a common set of data so that advisors can easily compare them. The articles look at the strengths, weaknesses and niche capabilities of these companies.

&mdash; Brooke Southall

Here are links to the profiles of custodians:

 <li><a href="http://www.riabiz.com/a/11942001/">Equity Advisor Solutions</a></li>
 <li><a href="http://www.riabiz.com/a/4977738934910976/with-robo-advisors-on-the-rise-robo-custodian-apex-is-rising-them-a-diamond-mined-from-the-rubble-of-the-penson-worldwide-debacle">Apex Clearing</a></li>
 <li><a href="http://www.riabiz.com/a/11320001">Raymond James</a></li>
 <li><a href="http://www.riabiz.com/a/10207085">State Street</a></li>
 <li><a href="http://www.riabiz.com/a/1812010">Ceros Financial</a></li>
 <li><a href="http://www.riabiz.com/a/9033656">Fidelity</a></li>
 <li><a href="http://www.riabiz.com/a/7435709">Pershing</a></li>
 <li><a href="http://www.riabiz.com/a/1212007">Royal Bank of Canada</a></li>
 <li><a href="http://www.riabiz.com/a/133138">Scottrade</a></li>
 <li><a href="http://www.riabiz.com/a/8101589">Schwab</a></li>
 <li><a href="http://www.riabiz.com/a/8788433">TD Ameritrade</a></li>
 <li><a href="http://www.riabiz.com/a/124061">Trade-PMR</a></li>
 <li><a href="http://www.riabiz.com/a/1161005">Trust Company of America</a></li>
 <li><a href="http://www.riabiz.com/a/1490002">BNY Mellon</a></li>
 <li><a href="http://www.riabiz.com/a/5385142">Folio Institutional</a></li>
 <li><a href="http://www.riabiz.com/a/108011">Shareholders Service Group</a></li>
 <li><a href="http://www.riabiz.com/a/5933001">National Advisors Trust</a></li>
 <li><a href="http://www.riabiz.com/a/22600260/how-us-bank-appeared-on-the-scene-as-an-ria-custodian-and-where-it-might-find-love">US Bank</a></li>
</ul>

If you want a more chronological look at news about the custodians, just scroll down.

RIA Custodians

The RIA business has many tech vendors working hard to serve its diverse needs, and we're seeing technology become a more crucial part of setting up and running an RIA than ever before.

The Technology section includes unbiased tech reviews, tech-related news, and coverage of tech-related conferences.

Technology

Salim Ramji is high on alts, low on IPO and is piloting AI for service • Arch now serves 270 clients, up from 200 in January • Nearly 2% of Fidelity's 401(k) clients have $1 million or more • Dave Antonelli leaves BlackRock for start-up after 21 years • Grayscale's Ethereum 'mini-trust' inflows of $130 billion fall far short of main-trust outflows nearing $1.8 billion

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