Articles published 6/2020
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In a deal wired by a 'Tony,' Orion leaps to the top TAMP tier, with $42 billion and $1 trillion-plus of RIA portfolios, which may make it more lethal to rivals
At the urging of Genstar's Tony Salewski, the Omaha organization will pay an estimated $600 million for Brinker. In the process, Orion becomes a 1,000-employee firm-- one notch below No. 3 AssetMark on the TAMP list
June 30, 2020 at 2:24 AM
Dimensional Fund Advisors finally launches ETFs, but as a 'defensive' measure as outflows mount, Morningstar says
The Austin, Texas, manager of $508 billion enters the exchange-traded fund market after advisor input reached critical decibel levels but also after its former CEO's ETF startup surpassed $1.5 billion in nine months
June 27, 2020 at 2:35 AM
How an RIA's tweets pointed out the obvious--the lack of diversity in the mostly white RIA industry-- and opened the door to a dialogue on creating more minority opportunity
Patrick Ortman, a solo RIA who grew up among Black siblings, set out to congratulate RIA firms with diverse staffs, but a simple search found just the opposite.
June 25, 2020 at 1:51 AM
Suitcases of cash for RIA M&A deals are one COVID-19 victim, as RIA buyers leverage economic uncertainty to force more risk on sellers
Sellers are still getting paid at familiar sales prices, but some of the bad old days of 'earn-outs' are back, which delays the time when they can stop worrying about firm cash flow
June 24, 2020 at 2:05 AM
Fidelity Investments intends to 'hard close' two institutional money market funds to curb exposure to COVID-19's high-volatility market
Each fund is of the prime institutional money market that comprises up to 7% of the $4.6 trillion US money market fund industry, but use has dwindled from $1.1 trillion in 2011 to today's $356 billion.
June 23, 2020 at 1:35 AM
With the action at Motif, Folio and Parametric as exhibits, RIAs may be on the verge of buying investments more like Spotify music, less like CDs
Schwab and Goldman Sachs made direct-indexing purchases and Parametric wildly raked in direct-indexing assets. Added to zero commissions, an ESG revolution and better software, RIAs may be able to cheaply and effectively become smart-beta indexers
June 22, 2020 at 8:01 PM
'Firing on all cylinders,' Fisher Investments forms East Coast hub with 600 desks after it adds another $10 billion of AUM, leaving last year's social media firestorm in the dust
The Camas, Wash. giant is now bi-coastal and growing like crazy with a Tampa, Fla. hub as both performance and asset gathering shift into high gear and the company works to get past last year's PR setback.
June 19, 2020 at 2:49 AM
PagnatoKarp learns going it alone has its limits, jumps into the arms of another serial buyer, Cresset, after declaring its independence from HighTower only four years ago
Cresset makes largest acquisition yet with $2.5 billion PagnatoKarp, lifting its assets to $9.5 billion, nearly triple just two years ago.
June 17, 2020 at 8:25 PM
Shirl Penney lands UBS team as Dynasty Financial tower-mate in a sign the breakaway movement remains explosive, despite turning to 'quiet launches' during the COVID-19 pandemic
New deals reflect branches/centralized decision-making as albatrosses in virtual world; Northern Florida is case in point -- sheltering at home is not the local practice.
June 17, 2020 at 2:29 AM
Addepar extends business model from software maker to player in the investments business -- a secretive project 10 years in the making
The Mountain View, Calif., firm registers a broker-dealer then rolls out 'Marketplace' to virtually meld five big semi-manual platforms into one smoother, more digital NTF platform of alts -- and charge a hefty toll.
June 16, 2020 at 1:46 AM
A last lion of the Ned Johnson era, Gerry McGraw, vacates the Fidelity CFO spot for Maggie Serravalli, and makes evident Abby Johnson's 'phenomenal' women strategy
McGraw was credited with steely leadership during the 2008-2009 financial crisis but also bridged the management revamp toward a big bet on what women can do better in the next decade.
June 12, 2020 at 3:52 AM
Once COVID-19 storm subsides, clients will destructively divorce in droves, say RIA splitsville specialists; but steps taken now can lessen the damage
A glut of divorce cases can draw heavily on advisor bandwidth and decimate assets, according to experts, but proactive transparency can help
June 11, 2020 at 1:43 AM
'Fraud' lawsuit slams Plaid on eve of historic $5.3-billion payday; some experts say it's a 'fishing expedition,' but plaintiff's lawyers say, 'This is no shakedown' -- Second suit follows in July
It's been six months since Visa agreed to a wild valuation for the seven year-old Yodlee competitor that caused wealth fintechs to retain investment bankers left and right. Now Plaid faces two class action suits
June 10, 2020 at 12:40 AM
How SmartAsset is purging the stupid factor from robo-to-RIA referrals so it can triple prices, quadruple its closing rate and satisfy its VCs' biological clocks
The Manhattan-based startup brings in 65 million monthly visitors to its freebie website but only a trickle of it as AUM because the digital hand-off to the human advisor all too often gets fumbled
June 8, 2020 at 11:18 PM
Odds spike to 100% Schwab and TD Ameritrade close merger, cinch added $9 billion in synergies, Morningstar analyst says, after DOJ dismisses anti-trust concerns and Schwab shareholders vote 'yes' hours later
Deemed a non-monopolistic duo, TD Ameritrade and Schwab shares soar, closing timetable moves up and Schwab dilutes its own stock with float of 300 million shares
June 5, 2020 at 2:17 AM
New 'anti-regulatory' DOL Fiduciary Rule figures to keep $10-trillion IRA market under the IRS, allow some conflicted advice; does Rule's revival from dead presage Joe Biden presidency?
The rush to enact rewritten DOL Fiduciary Rule is a 'mystery' given Wall Street's presumed preference for defaulting to status quo; has presidential polling adverse to Donald Trump restored a sense of urgency?
June 4, 2020 at 2:28 AM
When Interactive Brokers sweetened its RIA custody offering in 2019, it worked -- so now it's investing in more sugar
The Greenwich, Conn. custodian now has 25,000 funds on its supermarket, new simplified trading software and a heightened sense of urgency as Wall Street scoops up competitors
June 3, 2020 at 4:43 PM
The odds are now 75% that Charles Schwab Corp. swallows TD Ameritrade Holding, says Morningstar, a probability Wall Street math and internal memos seem to support
With Thursday set for TD and Schwab virtual shareholder votes, August is circled on the calendar for a 'Schwabitrade' close, memos suggest, with the TD brand sticking around for ... quite a while
