Articles published 7/2018
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The very millennial reason Shirl Penney snagged Merrill Lynch's 34 year-old Ayco-killer and his $1B team and why Focus Financial lost out
The Dynasty CEO meshed on Michael Henley's 30-year business plan, which included building equity over decades and a big succession plan
July 31, 2018 at 11:27 PM
Focus Financial IPO pays off for KKR and Stone Point, after all, by hitting price mark, plus an investor 'pop.' Now, on to the less glamorous task of paying down debt
Roll-up's day-one shares opened at $35, traded briskly and closed with a tidy 13.79% gain from the $33 base
July 28, 2018 at 2:51 AM
'Oversubscribed' Focus Financial lowers asking price as IPO-eve share demand wanes, raising prospect of a $100 million offering haircut
After push for $39 falters, the New York-based roll-up targets a $33 share price, which trims nearly $100 million off the take, but is far from shabby
July 26, 2018 at 2:46 AM
LPL issues urgent warning to RIAs: The SEC wolf blew down its home-office door and is combing through records for evidence of mutual fund share class misuse
Andy Kalbaugh emailed a letter to LPL advisors that file their own ADVs as a sort of fair-warning heads up
July 25, 2018 at 10:37 PM
Focus Financial conscripts Fidelity to bombard RIA principal/prospective clients with IPO solicitations while one research shop waves a yellow flag
RIAs can buy Focus shares at 'first-tick' price from the Boston-based giant through tomorrow as part of a 'directed' program that may also encourage RIAs to sell to Focus down the road
July 24, 2018 at 1:53 AM
In another go-go sign, Focus Financial moves up IPO trade date to as early as Monday
After New York roll-up CEO Rudy Adolf completes bang-up road show that emboldened share-price leap, time is of the essence
July 20, 2018 at 9:58 PM
Brooke's Bits: Financial Engines begins private life today; Yahoo!'s Wells Fargo take-down may misunderstand branded wealth managers
Three big brands come together under Hellman & Friedman tutelage and Yahoo! trashes model portfolio use at elite Wells unit, but may be unaware of norms
July 20, 2018 at 3:38 AM
Wild role swaps at InVest 2018 as Schwab recasts its engineers into micro teams and Acorns founder talks macro corporate partnerships
The giants like Fidelity, BlackRock and Envestnet come to get down with the innovators and the startups strut like giants
July 17, 2018 at 10:23 PM
Focus Financial IPO is on at $39 per share as KKR pushes giant share premium, with an eye on raking off an extra $532 million
The New York-based roll-up's CEO Rudy Adolf wraps up his road show fraught with perils for slapping a higher -- much higher price -- on shares
July 16, 2018 at 8:35 PM
A $2.7 billion RIA makes Allison Felix, 40, its president. She started as an executive assistant out of college.
CEO Steve Cassaday also sold her a minority stake in the firm and paid for half of an MBA as part of her grooming
July 13, 2018 at 7:49 PM
Betterment turns to ex Mint and Schwab marketing exec Donna Wells to 'hack' back copycat robos and make its brand a household name
No longer the disruptive New York upstart, the $14 billion AUM robo is outgunned by institutional heavy-hitters -- a dynamic Donna Wells knows
July 12, 2018 at 6:12 PM
Quick hits: Broadridge broadens to UHNW market with sneaky-success Statpro; Kitces calls out fintech's innovation drought; SS&C's Eric Rocks talks growth where Tamarac and Orion are scarcer
Big companies lurch toward big, green markets even as old one turn brown and begin to decay
July 10, 2018 at 4:46 PM
Taking the helm from famous founder, Jay Shah gets Personal Capital out of Vanguard's shadow with new shape, new deals and a 70% leap in assets
Still $93 billion-plus in arrears to Vanguard's $100 billion RIA, the new virtual-RIA CEO is making strides in the kinds of startup details that a venture capitalist can love
July 6, 2018 at 8:20 PM
Vanguard Group Makes Big Move on RIA Custody by Ending Commissions on 1,700 ETFs in Bid to Become Walmart of Financial Services
The Malvern, Pa.-based giant 'face slaps' Charles Schwab & Co. by undercutting it on ETF distribution fees the way Schwab did to it on ETF management fees
July 4, 2018 at 2:51 AM
The Derek Bruton effect gets louder as two ex-LPL talents join Chalice on the heels of winning slice of account of $12 billion RIA from Raymond James
After just three months in-situ as the president of Chalice Wealth Partners,, the ex-LPL RIA overseer gets Christopher Giles as chief information officer and Stephanie Holly after 'defining' win
July 2, 2018 at 7:55 PM
Why Financial Engines undid its IPO, and what it says about the succession-phobia still paralyzing the RIA business
DeVoe & Co.'s annual event in San Francisco featured RIA-merger rock stars-- Mercer, CAPTRUST and Financial Engines -- whose comments revealed not a note of gloat