Articles published 3/2019
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Sallie Krawcheck raises fresh $33 million but only after her 'get-your-hand-off-my-leg' venture becomes Schwab RIA with classic fees and minimums and a warrants-for-AUM program
Ellevest has only $283 million of AUM but now Melinda Gates is an investor and big clients will get warrants kicked back to them for bringing in AUM
March 30, 2019 at 5:49 PM
Schwab hopes to blend into the subscription world of Netflix, Amazon and Apple by dumping asset-based fees and wooing millennials with Intelligent Portfolios for $30 a month
Ex-Betterment exec Cynthia Loh wins 'love' by making digital advice a $30 monthly ding regardless of assets citing its 'approachability'
March 29, 2019 at 1:02 AM
HiddenLevers' Raj Udeshi takes victory lap after nabbing Focus Financial account: 'We dropped a bomb in BlackRock's backyard;' But it's just a battle not the war, analysts say
The founder's analytics software firm had to beat out Aladdin but the reward is a doubling of assets and $1-million-plus contract
March 27, 2019 at 9:41 PM
Josh Brown launches by-and-for RIA event, Wealth/Stack, in Arizona but with pay-to-speak slots for sponsors
With partner Barry Ritholtz, he frontlines a technology-leaning gathering in Scottsdale but Inside ETFs owns/runs the event and vendors will gain their customary influence
March 26, 2019 at 12:02 AM
Oisin's Bits: Vanguard aborts banking effort, because it was more fixated on beating BoA than being itself, an analyst says; SEI is killing it in the Mercer/Russell realm by competing with a retrofitted TAMP-thingy
The $5.3-billion Malvern, Pa. monster finds its investors want it to stick to investing, not checking accounts and the Oaks, Pa. TAMP leader gets upmarket with no-conflict pitch and product fit and
March 22, 2019 at 11:22 PM
With IPO clock at 10-years and ticking, Personal Capital makes two big, out-of-character moves to go upmarket and downmarket
With $9 billion in assets, the Redwood City-based national RIA hired the ex-Virgin America CMO Porter Gale to make one brand investors associates with both the freebie tools and the full-priced financial advice its advisors provide mostly from call centers
March 22, 2019 at 7:55 PM
As Bob Oros-led HighTower reboots, it bags an ex-Goldman RIA, hires two, makes a CMO imminent, and clarifies mission
The new CEO will need to somehow weave together the debris of the first roll-up run and the new one to the satisfaction of RIAs and the hundreds of people already inside the HighTower umbrella
March 20, 2019 at 11:32 PM
Fidelity's 2016 'secret' fee fix for 'broken' 401(k) business model may spark fresh state and federal 401(k) crackdown on heels of investor civil suits
The DOL, William Galvin and a class action hang over the Boston 401(k) king's 15-basis-point fee, but experts think Fidelity -- its squirrel-y disclosure aside-- can fight the charges
March 18, 2019 at 9:28 PM
It took years to woo Bob Curtis to sell MoneyGuidePro but what Envestnet gets for its patience seem plenty worth it -- for both
The Fidelity-eMoney combination was a big success but a Yodlee-MGP pairing could turn the tide in the battle for the advisor desktop. Just don't call it 'competition'
March 16, 2019 at 2:04 AM
A perfect storm of factors -- including 'code' and 'annuities' -- made Jud Bergman pay Bob Curtis $500 million for MoneyGuidePro, plus $30 million to keep the MGP crew around a few more years
MoneyGuidePro's growth rate is declining, it's only '5% accretive' and Envestnet is already fully integrated, but unless the price got paid, the broader network was out in the cold
March 15, 2019 at 12:55 AM
BNY Mellon's new CEO is an RIA fan, and Pershing Advisor Solutions made a big personnel move to reflect it
Charles Scharf loosened the Pershing purse strings for Mark Tibergien who created 'head of platforms' position for Christina Townsend
March 12, 2019 at 10:14 PM
After $2-billion asking price for Ascensus gets no bites, Genstar and Aquiline opt to sell 25% stake to juice roll-up kitty
Atlas Merchant Capital and GIC are the new financiers but the capital raise suggests inorganic growth is still Plan A
March 11, 2019 at 6:39 PM
Rudy Adolf's Buckingham meal ticket looks golden after the $35-billion RIA/TAMP absorbs Dan Goldie's $1 billion Loring Ward book and margins leap from 25 basis points to more like 70
The New York-based roll-up's gain is offshoot of Loring Ward deal where Goldie is the biggest client but was too big to buy until Focus capital could be tapped
March 9, 2019 at 3:28 AM
Bank of America's purge of 'Lynch' and 'U.S. Trust' neuters storied brands, but the revamped training of raw recruits under a new name is where the real eradication of broker culture is going down
The Charlotte, N.C. banking bruiser is reeling in the mega-producer model, perhaps paving the way for a more monumental shift in compensation toward a U.S> Trust, salary-and-bonus structure
March 8, 2019 at 6:05 PM
Schwab PortfolioCenter sale to Envestnet signals open season on 2,300 RIAs in the deal; Orion bags six; 'Why didn't Tamarac call me?' some ask
Whether you are Bridge, BlackDiamond, FinFolio or Morningstar, you are not sitting out this once-in-a-generation orphaning by a legacy giant of portfolio accounting software
March 7, 2019 at 1:59 AM
Famously and fiercely solo James Osborne somewhat sheepishly doubles headcount at Bason to two after the fatigue of saying 'no' wore on him
For seven years,RIA, flat-fee evangelist and blogger in Greenwood, Colo. doggedly stayed solo and got to $200 million but now he has McKenzie Ebbesen; and she shares his discomfort with 1% fees.
March 5, 2019 at 9:17 PM
Raymond James finally names new RIA chief and, yes, he is a Schwab veteran
The St. Petersburg, Fla. broker-dealer parted ways with Bill Van Law -- a Merrill Lynch veteran -- a year ago; now it has a real RIA veteran in Greg Bruce
March 4, 2019 at 11:54 PM
Headed by a newly hired HighTower gun, Third Seven roll-up nears $1B mark after adding the $140 million of Schwab exec-turned-RIA's practice without writing a check
Tracy Ann Miller sees succession nirvana and a favorable equity swap that make up for lost autonomy as she finds common ground with Amit Dogra
March 2, 2019 at 12:39 AM
A 'perp walk' is still preferred but oddly unified SEC and FINRA signal that wild west days are over for robo-advisors and blockchain coins
The two regulators are working in "unison" to find a way to balance the regulation of 'digital assets' while ensuring firms' have the scope to innovate
March 1, 2019 at 11:42 PM
A near $16B TAMP grows in Tampa (no pun intended), as Dynasty Financial Partners taps local talent for first poach--21-year RayJay veteran Angela Gingras
New on the Tampa/St. Pete scene, Dynasty CEO, Shirl Penney is pushing the 50% of $32-billion in assets that generate strong revenues
