Articles published 6/2018
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Jodi Perry takes over as head of independent advisors at Raymond James in giant reshuffle that still leaves Van Law's RIA position vacant
Jun 28, 2018The former Southeast director is now in the position vacated by Scott Curtis as he ascends the ladder -- and oversees Perry
A Machiavellian Merrill Lynch took the lead on the DOL rule and marketed its fiduciary piety; now it's wrapping its flip-flop in the same pious intent
Jun 28, 2018The fiduciary play by BoA's wirehouse got accolades but failed to help Merrill where it always matters most -- recruiting, retention and revenues. It still may be doing the right thing for consumers when reverse churning gets considered.
Calm, thoughtful demeanor led Commonwealth Financial Network to make a 10-year LPL exec its new president and COO; IPO anyone?
Jun 27, 2018Since being poached in 2015, Trap Kloman quickly earned Wayne Bloom's trust and current president, Rich Hunter, is ready to step back
Dynasty Financial 2.0 takes big RIAs and applies 'McKinsey' tenets to extrude grand growth -- a leap from midwifing brokers to RIA status then nursing them to health
Jun 26, 2018CEO Shirl Penney will use white glove around an iron fist of change in higher-priced, more customized consulting service-- presuming that the market materializes on cue
As era ends, Bill Morrissey steps down to make way for younger exec who leaves job as UBS's digital guru
Jun 25, 2018Nobody sold more advisors to join a broker-dealer than Morrissey but the post-Mark Casady game has changed, making Rick Steinmeier's hire timely for LPL CEO Dan Arnold
A year after Acorns gets outed, Betterment faces its juvenile past with 2018 FINRA settlement over 2014 infraction
Jun 22, 2018The $14B robo's ADV will remain clean but it'll live -- like Acorns before it -- with a BrokerCheck violation based on how it managed cash when it was a $608-million firm with a smaller compliance staff
What exactly is it about SmartAsset's Zillow-for-RIAs play that converted Focus Financial from funding seeker to a VC backer of $28-million round?
Jun 21, 2018The Manhattan-based startup uses Yahoo!, CNN and other mega-sites to generate 45-million monthly visitors then sells leads to RIAs at $190 per high net worth lead
As Brinker Capital embraces RIA future, it ends two-year period of being an outsourced CIO with no named CIO
Jun 20, 2018After the hasty exit of Bill Miller in 2016, the $22B TAMP downplayed insurance brokerage assets, played up RIAs and incubated Jeff Raupp as chief investment officer instead of seeking a ringer
'Capacity constrained' SigFig suddenly raises unsought $50 million after major VC steps forward
Jun 19, 2018General Atlantic's funding largess comes after $67 million carried the San Francisco robo its first 11 years
One year on, John Copeland's roll-up growth is slow but expectations remain steadfast for big snowball
Jun 18, 2018The founder of Wealth Partners Capital Group sweet-talked AMG into spinning off WPCG to go after plentiful smaller sellers but courtships can't be rushed
Why Eric Clarke is pressing to give Orion's 1,500 RIAs first crack at BlackRock's Aladdin -- including two that already have feeds
Jun 15, 2018The Orion Advisor Services CEO is working with a $5-trillion AUM asset manager but it boils down to his personal relationship with BlackRock's Brad Stanger
Mike Sha's robo-advisor faced tough choices until two wirehouses offered unique partnerships -- and maybe a new business model to boot
Jun 14, 2018Sure, the SigFig's founder plays by some of UBS's rules in taking its financial backing and giant systems account but beyond that, the freedom to cavort with Wall Street rivals is pretty unlimited.
Joe Duran bets two heads are better than one with Kara Murphy and Bob Landry on board to lead United Capital's investment strategy
Jun 13, 2018The United Capital CEO goes from zero to two investment officers to handle mounting task of managing $22B of AUM and a projected $10B of FinLife assets
The old trick of new math Pershing used to make its RIA assets in custody soar from $200 billion to $615 billion in one year
Jun 12, 2018Citing 'evolution,' the other Jersey City, N.J.-based custodian redefined 'RIA' to leapfrog itself over TD Ameritrade and into the rear view of Fidelity
Pershing CEO Lisa Dolly flaunts size and software at INSITE 2018
Jun 11, 2018The new leadership continues to push RIAs to see the custodian as less niche but more nimble
Reformed Broker RIA makes hire to turn his $825-million-AUM firm into a blog incubator with a not-unneeded feminine touch
Jun 8, 2018Ritholtz Wealth's Josh Brown hires estimable Blair duQuesnay, a reformed UBS broker who brings her own online presence
Two transplanted San Diegans -- one a little bit country, the other rock 'n' roll -- join Dowling & Yahnke
Jun 7, 2018Two transplanted San Diegans -- one a little bit country, the other rock 'n' roll -- join Dowling & Yahnke
How Vanguard, BlackRock and State Street -- which manage RIA trillions of AUM for a pittance -- may artfully make the bill come due by beating active managers at their own game
Jun 6, 2018The ETF giants' latest mutual fund-killing trick is free management of ETF portfolios -- perhaps the seeds of a massive freemium model
Bernie Clark gets an A-level exec to help him futurize Schwab's RIA platform
Jun 6, 2018After Lightyear's Advisor Group nabbed Ed Obuchowski, Schwab went big in replacing him with Andrew Salesky
After tasting the 'nightmare' of FINRA confines, Roger Hewins buys back his $1.8B RIA from Midwestern CPAs -- with the new freedom worth leaving $3B of AUM behind
Jun 4, 2018The $4.8-billion RIA mega-marriage of Hewins Financial and Wipfli in 2012 took 13 years to complete. The split in 2018 was more like lightning after brokerage regulators bellied up to the bar
BlackRock poaches a DFA big to head its efforts to get RIAs to use iShares and connect more to BlackRock itself
Jun 2, 2018The $6T New York manager gets Michael Lane to instill community building, Dimensional Fund Advisors-style, but it won't get him to leave Austin
Purchase of RIA in a Box with reclaimed Barnaby Grist as overseer shows ambition of New York buyer to create compliance 'robo-advisor'
Jun 1, 2018Fresh off big AssetMark score, Aquiline's money talks, saying RIAs must spend big to comply but would like to spend smaller