Articles published 10/2014
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Betterment's bad-news play at getting in good with RIAs and investors
Oct 30, 2014The NYC-based auto-advisor will flash tax ramifications at investors as they test drive trades
The second-largest 401(k) provider drops 'Great-West' for 'Empower'
Oct 30, 2014The name chosen for the second-largest retirement firm hits a mark but may face the challenge of seeming jargony
Grand thoughts at the NYC Grand Central Hyatt from Fidelity Investments and RIAs
Oct 30, 2014Part rally, part book launch, the Boston-based custodian rolled into NYC for the last gig of a whistle-stop tour
Can Schwab, six years late to the robo party, 'freeze the market', catch up and blow doors?
Oct 29, 2014The potential is awesome but the San Francisco giant is currently generating PR for an offering that does not yet have a launch date
Wealthfront responds with force to Schwab CEO's robo announcement
Oct 28, 2014The Silicon Valley-based auto-advice leader stokes its aura of invincibility by raising $64-million that it won't need anytime soon
'Paradigm shift' in 401(k) flows opens the DOL door for annuities in 401(k) plans and RIAs are split
Oct 28, 2014In the wake of DOL and Treasury rulings, some fiduciaries, certainly not all, seem willing to give the oft-reviled instruments a chance
Barron's: David Zier's death takes another tragic twist
Oct 25, 2014The Convergent executive's death was likely a suicide related to non-Convergent money managed for family and friends by Zier in a 'personal account'
The RIA business mourns the death of David Zier
Oct 25, 2014The chief executive of Convergent Wealth Advisors was only 44
Charles Goldman rolls up a TAMP that handles clients with concentrated equity positions and 401(k) accounts
Oct 24, 2014The AssetMark deal adds $1.7 billion and 600 advisor-clients
The backstory of how a Merrill UHNW team found love in the time of U-5 -- but not with an RIA
Oct 23, 2014Recruiters are still a little baffled as to why the $2.5-billion firm skipped a chance to go independent with a 'compelling story' but chose the comfort of the familiar business model -- and an office of their own
LPL Financial shares hit rough patch on $18-million surprise as RIAs now represent the vast majority of the firm's business development
Oct 23, 2014Wall Street dings the IBD for spiralling compliance costs but hybrid RIA assets are serious bright spot
Zero Alpha Group fraternity adds a sister to its elite $14-billion DFA RIA club
Oct 22, 2014The esteemed study contingent tapped Trisa Summers, an elementary school teacher by training who now leads a $1.7-billion RIA
How Mariner Holdings is angling to become a $3-billion 401(k) company overnight by co-opting a local SageView office
Oct 21, 2014The $40-billion RIA/asset manager plans to combine $2 billion from Randy Long's RIA to $1 billion of existing 401(k) assets
Schwab phones (at least some) Private Client customers to advise dumping PIMCO Total Return fund
Oct 21, 2014Funds under Schwab discretion exited the Bill Gross fund three weeks ago
How Abby Johnson won the hearts of mega-RIA clients in advance of taking the CEO spot at Fidelity Investments
Oct 20, 2014It wasn't what Ned Johnson's daughter said; she mostly let her ears do the talking
Why unconstrained bond fund skepticism is justified (think 2008, not 2013) and why RIAs should say: None of the above
Oct 17, 2014Brent Burns counter-dissects the Sanders Wommack vivisection of an article written by experts from LPL and Google
Top 7 RIA takeaways, including some ouches, from Charles Schwab's earnings commentary
Oct 17, 2014Windhaven's reverses are official, Schwab is minting advisors at its 'Wealth Academy' and the ETF 401(k) plan found just one taker but Schwab's asset growth is stellar
What's behind the sudden exit of Voya's top 401(k) exec, Maliz Beams, and her replacement by the firm's CEO, Rod Martin
Oct 16, 2014In post-IPO, post-rebranding mode, the No. 2 defined contribution company is open to big change in the face of 401(k) hyper-competition
Fidelity and Betterment sign a deal with Steve Lockshin and Marty Bicknell as groomsmen at the altar
Oct 15, 2014The RIA principals are distributing the online asset manager service to fellow RIAs, and Fidelity is quelling an uproar of demand from RIA clients for robo answers for the mass affluent
What exactly is doable for an RIA in the 401(k) business?
Oct 15, 2014Conflicting forces of change have made the question harder to answer but has sweetened the pot
Ray-Jay RIA event produces how-I-did-it talks from four high-achieving RIAs
Oct 14, 2014The confab also extruded real news on the St. Petersburg custodians' roll-out of an no-transaction-fee platform and its de-manualization of social media for RIAs
After Merrill Lynch allegedly 'crippled' their careers, two advisors are prepping a big counterstroke, lawyer says
Oct 14, 2014FINRA may decide whether the wirehouse pulled the trigger too whimsically on its PBIG stars
Why I respectfully reject the harsh take on unconstrained bond funds expressed by Google and LPL co-authors
Oct 13, 2014An article by LPL's Adam Cohen and Google's Jingwei Lei in IMCA's publication flukily conicided with the revelation of Bill Gross's new job managing just such a fund
How RIAs can compete with super-RIAs, robo-RIAs and the 'phono'- and faux-RIA market of 2015 and beyond
Oct 10, 2014A transcript of the recent webinar includes thoughts from an RIA owner, a top RIA lawyer and RIABiz reporter
Why ETF sponsors are ponying up big fees to get on Schwab's ETF OneSource in a bid for access to ticket-averse RIAs
Oct 9, 2014Direxion hands over much of its management fee to Schwab, its CEO says, but the rewards are worth the sacrifice
The very good news that RIAs can take away from the whole Bill Gross imbroglio
Oct 8, 2014Without a say-what-he-wants-when-he-wants 70-year-old to hold to account, PIMCO is reduced to a robo status that makes many decisionmakers nervous
How a Deloitte breakaway built a $3.8 billion RIA rapidly in Seattle -- and why those billions moved from Schwab to Fidelity as part of the story
Oct 7, 2014Jon Jones took a year off to hike 35 countries with four kids but a vendor really made his patience run thin
United Capital unveils its killer electronic app but boomer clients still say: Paper, please
Oct 7, 2014The $10.5-billion RIA spent millions of technology but client habits may delay use of the electronic version
Derek Bruton brings aboard two advisors seeking big back office after founder of their RIA, UHNW Kinko's founder, moves on
Oct 6, 2014The former LPL executive's roll-up effort absorbs accounts of West Coast Asset Management, after it had challenges as a stand-alone RIA
Josh Brown and Barry Ritholtz, masters of the financial Twitter/blogging universe, launch a robo effort to monetize their followers
Oct 6, 2014The pair's modest RIA and immodest following could come catch fire with Upside as a partner
After bagging Google, Wealthfront hires a Facebook web-traffic pied piper to manage mega-prospects knocking at the door
Oct 2, 2014With 'bigger' deals than Google in the works, Alison Rosenthal hits the ground running -- fast -- at the online RIA
How a hybrid RIA with nearly $2 billion in assets claimed a 10,000 square-foot Smith Barney redoubt
Oct 2, 2014Queasy about wirehouse practices, Rich Dragotta broke away to LPL 11 years ago but missed the old brass, glass, mahogany bullpen
How RIAs are managing the Bill Gross problem -- from firing his old PIMCO fund, to detailed letters to clients to taking a good look at Janus
Oct 1, 2014Like all matters related to advice, advisors are determined to be decisive and articulate to clients
Dan Seivert drops M&A data bombshell at his Dealmakers Summit to gasps
Oct 1, 2014At his LA event, Dan Seivert revealed the thousands, yes, thousands of RIA deals going down this year despite limited activity from roll-ups
How Janus CEO Richard Weil's Bill Gross hire completes the PIMCO-ization of the Denver equity shop
Oct 1, 2014The Denver-based fund company now has its chairman, CEO and star manager seats filled by PIMCO alums