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Articles published 5/2022


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David Fox: We're hiring out of school ... molding them into our vision of the perfect planner.

Goldman Sachs turns big page on United Capital with big changes for Joe Duran and FinLife, giving its home-grown executive money, mandate and HR muscle to create national RIA

The New York investment bank's radio silence on its staggering $750-million RIA purchase in 2019 comes to an end with the beginning of the David Fox era.

May 27, 2022 at 1:01 AM

Samir Vasavada: 'We want to nail the product and then think about growth.'

Vise pivots its unicorn toward the mass affluent market and signs revenue-sharing deal with Paul Hatch's startup, but analysts still wonder why it's so un-freemium

The New York City startup struggled to find the right strategy, but its moonshot ambitions are intact; the ex-Smith Barney chief is a believer -- though its pricing overshoots the mark, some observers still say.

May 26, 2022 at 1:28 AM

David DeVoe: We’re in a state of distress.

David DeVoe brings M&A elite to Las Vegas, but dealmaking took a back seat to RIA people crisis and the 13X-valuation elephant in the room

The self-disciplined M&A crowd discussed pre-deal sausage-making, which left little room for managerial hot-dogging.

May 24, 2022 at 8:29 PM

Jessie Proudman: We’re building the right product for long-term investors as opposed to traders.

Betterment reveals that it now owns Seattle crypto firm and that it will be a 'centerpiece,' yet the deal timing means it could be a 'big blunder,' Morningstar analyst says

The New York City robo-advisor closed Makara deal in March, skipped any PR, and will Betterment-ize it for Summer launch; never mind the collapse of the token market

May 24, 2022 at 2:33 AM

Scott Curtis says the new RIA channel has edge because classic RIAs are 'time-consuming'

Raymond James introduces channel No. 4, a user-friendly RIA model after its three current channels -- IBD, RIA and captive -- make negligible net recruiting advances

After modest gains in headcount, the St. Petersburg, Fla. broker dealer is adding a plug-and-play corporate RIA channel for advisors who don't want the headache of overhead.

May 20, 2022 at 3:33 AM

Vinay Nair: It's 'an approach we call 'embedded investments.''

TIFIN raised $109 million at unicorn-like valuation to deliver 'single largest data platform for the world of wealth and investments' -- would deliver 'embedded' products through super apps in micro-capsules

The Colo. firm just sold 14% of its conglomerate based on an eye-popping valuation to keep up with rising cash burn and appetite to buy, buy, buy...

May 18, 2022 at 12:26 AM

Amy Lash: Like our clients, we think about performance over the longer-term.

Vanguard may be shorting much vaunted 'owners' of its low-cost index funds as it upshifts to more Wall Street-style exec-comp to thwart competitors and chase high-net-worth investors

Shareholder profits at the Malvern, Pa. company are being undercut by undisclosed millions in executive and staff pay raises as the company seeks to shore up its eroding value proposition.

May 15, 2022 at 7:15 PM

Rudy Adolf: We certainly avoided so many of the -- I think I called them 'drunken sailor transactions'.

As Focus Financial shares languish, Rudy Adolf plans $200 million buyback and rebuffs questions he's overpaying for RIAs--because he avoids 'drunken sailor transactions'

The New York City rollup buys at private prices then sells at public valuations, but now the CEO's buying at public share prices in some 'privately negotiated transactions' hoping for a bounce

May 13, 2022 at 2:31 AM

Chip Roame: Wow, that is a crazy lot of people!

Fidelity's strategy to own the financial advice business by owning 'a crazy lot of people' is heading for 28,000 hires in two years

Hiring 16,600 people last year just whetted the $11-trillion Boston company's appetite to make 12,000 more hires in a play to be a category killer in finance.

May 12, 2022 at 3:14 AM

Kurt Brown: [An OCIO] is technically a TAMP but a lot more hands on.

Orion enters booming OCIO market with $6-billion AUM startup purchase, based on very firsthand knowledge

The Omaha, Neb., software and investments firm is buying Utah-based TownSquare to move upmarket to $2-trillion outsourced chief investment officer services

May 11, 2022 at 1:23 AM

Tom Giachetti: This is how you protect your brand.

Tom Giachetti warns at Gladstone event in Philly about 'one bad exam,' as dealmakers get SEC reality check amid reset M&A aspirations

The M&A event restarts after COVID-19 hiatus and stormy financial markets--where rates are up and AUM is down--don't deter attendees.

May 9, 2022 at 7:48 PM

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is speaking up for consumers, but some experts wonder if she really knows what investors want.

Elizabeth Warren taken to task by experts for 'misplaced,' 'misinformed' and ultimately toothless letter to Fidelity's Abby Johnson, criticizing firm's new Bitcoin-inclusive 401(k) menus

Fidelity CEO and Massachusetts Senator -- both powerful in their own realms -- are on a collision course amid the uncertainty surrounding cryptocurrency.

May 7, 2022 at 2:54 AM

Bill Crager: If there was ever anything that we felt we needed to convey [or] announce, we would, of course, do that.

Envestnet go-private sale odds plummet after Bill Crager's answer to analyst's question over the possibility; stock craters, cutting chances of it happening to one-in-four, analyst says

Investors responded to the Envestnet CEO's remarks -- and analyst takes - of yesterday's earnings call by sending company shares down sharply, while president Stuart DePina's future role remains murky.

May 6, 2022 at 7:24 PM

Joel Bruckenstein says T3 did not ease out of its COVID cold storage. The 2022 event was the largest in its 16 years.

Joel Bruckenstein delivers full-bore Texas T3 to record attendance, complete with news reports from Orion, Morningstar and others that were fortuitously timed

The RIA software guru got 1,000 people to Denton where data was the hot topic, and robo and crypto got short shrift.

May 5, 2022 at 3:05 AM

Dan Needham: We seek out companies like SMArtX that are breaking through the boundaries of traditional technology.

Morningstar buys a $30-million stake in SMArtX, gets two board seats -- and a puzzle piece to launch direct indexing later this year -- in the bargain

The Chicago money manager of $251 billion previously said it was supplanting InvestCloud's APL with a SMArtX rental; now it's purchasing a piece of the success it'll help assure

May 4, 2022 at 2:54 AM

Nimesh Patel: 'We don't want to have to become an Orion. That's a big lift.'

Orion Advisor Solutions moves to let RIAs eat real-time 'cake' rather than API 'recipes' with help from Amazon's AWS and a determined Carson Group

The Omaha, Neb., software and investments firm is already doing a pilot with Ron Carson's $20-billion RIA and will make the data leapfrog across its clientele

May 3, 2022 at 3:07 AM

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