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Articles published 3/2018


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Larry Shumbre: Riskalyze doesn't work for any advisor who knows the basics of risk.

Totum's bid to beat Riskalyze, including its own 1 to 99 risk number, gets reward -- acceptance by Black Diamond and CircleBlack

Mar 30, 2018

CEO Larry Shumbres says financial advice industry is in for a shock, as thousands-strong uptick in users shows Totum Risk is the real deal



Cara Reisman: We want to meet as many needs as possible while still being easy to use.

Betterment reboots its RIA business big-time with new chief, ACATS for ETFs and the ability to fold existing holdings into robo portfolios

Mar 29, 2018

Cara Reisman absorbs duties of Tom Kimberley -- then gets to work making the New York robo-custodian more like classic RIA custodians




Eric Clarke: Brian [Hamburger] is right. If you don't have a culture of compliance, it's going to be difficult.

After Orion user conference, CEO Eric Clarke greenlights new software layer -- spearheaded by his general counsel

Mar 27, 2018

RIAs told horror stories to the Omaha software firm in Phoenix about SEC compliance -- encouraged by presentation by NorthStar's Kylee Beach -- and it fell on receptive ears this time



Aaron Schumm: With the technology there's so much to do.

Vestwell jets ahead and adds pilots on the fly to keep startup on course

Mar 26, 2018

Founder Aaron Schumm is dealing with the dilemma/windfall of business coming over the transom ahead of projections



John Davis III

At Alex. Brown, one manager moves up and another out in wake of Van Law's RayJay exit

Mar 26, 2018

At Alex. Brown, one manager moves up and another out in wake of Van Law's RayJay exit


Bill Van Law: I am looking forward to time with my family before pursuing the next chapter in my life and career.

Bill Van Law's exit from Raymond James was preceded by 'administrative leave' and HR investigation, sources say

Mar 23, 2018

The head of the RIA unit succeeded in growing RIA assets to $25 billion but never was accepted as 'RIA native' by RIAs or the industry


Mike Durbin: I've never seen us more strategically anxious.

Mike Durbin says Fidelity Institutional has heightened 'strategic anxiety' softened by its best asset growth ever

Mar 23, 2018

His $2.6-trillion unit's 2017 asset growth includes big adds from AssetMark, Sepio, Carson Group and Principal Securities


Bill Van Law

Bill Van Law is suddenly out the door at Raymond James

Mar 22, 2018

The decision came after a planeload of St. Petersburg associates and their families -- and some of their pets -- were deployed to the firm's Memphis office



Drew Sievers: [FIS support] is not just a huge moat in the banking business, it's a veritable ocean.

Trizic CEO raises $10M, poaches ex-FolioDynamix COO and luxuriates in 'ocean' of FIS 14,000-bank insider advantage

Mar 21, 2018

Drew Sievers vows that firm's five-year plan will make his bank clients massive competitors to Wealthfront and Betterment


Abby Johnson is meeting high expectations, reporting solid growth for 2017 with positive investment flows for the asset management division.

Fidelity Investments makes unlikely turnaround as active equity manager but is it taking on too much risk?

Mar 20, 2018

With Abby Johnson in charge, Fidelity is swinging for more fences, beating peers, continuing to see asset outflows and thinking long-term


Bob Miller's firm seeks a 'recapitalization, refinancing, sale, merger or other capital transaction.'

Seeking loan of $2 million, PCR discloses $12-million payment due in 2020 -- putting 'sale' on the table, offering memorandum shows

Mar 19, 2018

Private Client Resources, founded in 2000 projects it will break even next year but declines to say how it'll pay back mounting pile of loans


Tom McGirr: If the market goes down 300 points and we get flooded with calls, we can have an in-depth discussion about risk tolerance.

Fidelity's bet on ultra-compliance with the DOL rule pays off big as 401(k) assets jump stunning $280 billion in 2017

Mar 16, 2018

The Boston giant also added staggering 1.6 million plan participants but here comes DOL rule's BICE and the need to come extra clean on all those in-house funds


Lori Hardwick: We get three to four calls a week of people wanting to invest.

How Lori Hardwick's startup -- funded to the gills -- may co-opt the advisor desktop by creating an overarching open architecture

Mar 15, 2018

The co-founder's AI Labs is a portal-of-portals software that means to create -- and just may -- a virtual mono-custodian, mono-software platform



Bob Miller: In 2015 90% of our revenue came from reporting ... In 2018 that will be less than 50 % so it's a major shift.

What exactly to make of PCR 'doubling' assets to $250B in an eye-blink amid Addepar's inescapable presence

Mar 13, 2018

CEO Bob Miller pivoted to safer 'aggregation' ground where margins are slimmer but competition may be lighter



Greg Fleming is setting the bar high.

Recruiters salivate as Greg Fleming completes marriage to Rockefeller & Co. to fill 'HighTower' void but now begins the wait for a business model

Mar 9, 2018

The Morgan Stanley ex-head sees 500% assets growth to $100 billion AUA by 2023 as critics see old branding, old money, old technology and old recruiting challenges






Jacqueline Ko Matthews: They ended up being commoditized in their attempt to disrupt.

No sooner does hedge fund take big Wealthfront stake than the robo pivots toward becoming one

Mar 7, 2018

Tiger Global brought $75 million of cash in January but the New York hedge fund's baggage of higher fees, hard-to-grasp fees, PhD investing may have been quickly transferred, too



Lori Hardwick: Can Riskalyze play well with the home office? Not just allowing them to be on the shelf but really getting that home office to work with them.

What Aaron Klein's board pick of Lori Hardwick tells about Riskalyze's next big hurdle

Mar 6, 2018

The Envestnet fourth partner and ex-COO at Pershing plans to make sure the fast-rising Sacremento-area robo-plus finds and makes the right enterprise deals with broker-dealers


Stan Smith: There's no retirement channel for spreading 401(k)s to non-U.S. midsized companies.

Fidelity exec joins 401(k) robo he formerly serviced with hyper-micro mindset

Mar 5, 2018

Stan Smith becomes CEO of SaveDaily, which has been around since 1999, way under the radar


Eric Clarke: If we didn't do anything, our RIAs would have gone to Addepar or PCR and it would have given them a chance to cross-sell.

Orion gets serious about Addepar's threat to its biggest clients

Mar 5, 2018

CEO Eric Clarke cobbles together a dozen providers, plus DTCC, into a workable reporting system for alternative investments that cuts labor, improves appearance


Adam Birenbaum: We haven't scratched the surface.

Buckingham becomes KKR-fueled, check-listed M&A 'machine' that now feeds on BAM TAMP clients

Mar 2, 2018

The Focus Financial-owned DFA RIA faces hazards of going '100 miles per hour' but Buckingham CEO Adam Birenbaum has no fear


Jason Roberts: What blew my mind is it’s one thing to evaluate your policies when you need to adopt them in the future, but it’s another thing to bake them into your manual.

How Scottrade's 'pain'-seeking sales tactics and 'cut-and-paste' lawyering allegedly led to breaching a DOL rule

Mar 1, 2018

Massachusetts securities cops seized on DOL rule clause still under delay and seeded effects for brokerage business that are pervasive and lasting


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