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Articles published 11/2024


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Kevin Thompson: ‘At what point do we give the custodians a break?’

Fidelity will default all RIA custody accounts into FCASH at 2.32% and reinvest cash to pocket the spread -- amid some grumbling -- but advisers can still 'manually' move money to higher yields

Nov 28, 2024

The Boston giant says it wants 'to provide consistency' across client accounts and removes bottlenecks to ease the transition, eliciting criticism and sympathy.


Jon Beatty: You have to have scale.

Jon Beatty uses his Schwab IMPACT coming out party to let RIAs know he is anti-disruption, and to expect the RIA industry to decelerate, after 10 crazy years of growth

Nov 27, 2024

Bernie Clark's replacement as RIA custody chief made no promises in conference interviews but praised 'scale' and 'breadth,' which Schwab certainly has in spades.


Kurt MacAlpine: With this transaction, CI has never been better positioned.

CI Financial go-private deal removes Bain Capital's 14.5% PIK chokehold on Corient, CI's Miami-based RIA unit, but at the price of control

Nov 26, 2024

An Abu Dhabi sovereign fund will cash out Corient 'preferred' shares negotiated by Bain, in part on Abu Dhabi's behalf, but only by tossing in the cash-cow Toronto asset manager's parent firm


Stephen Caruso: It’s the second quarter of a basketball game, reaching the latter half.

RIA roll-ups sharpen knives for next $3 trillion RIA sellers after hitting $1.5 trillion, Cerulli says, propelled by new breed of RIAs likely to embrace the category

Nov 23, 2024

RIA serial buyers are projected to hit a collective $4.5 trillion in AUM by 2035 [in 2024 dollars] and become the No.5 'wirehouse' by offering broker-dealer scale and ease with 'better culture, better economics.'


Jason Wenk: It will be a strange few years for TradePMR advisors.

Jason Wenk sees light at the end of the Robinhood/TradePMR merger, but not before a dark tunnel that could see 40% of RIAs bolt

Nov 22, 2024

Robinhood will go through a disruptive, two- to three-year transition to develop a 'road map' before it can think about being a Schwab-killer, the Altruist CEO says in a much-discussed LinkedIn post


Manish Khatta: I have seen a disturbing trend with younger remote employees.

Manish Khatta unapologetically lowers boom on remote-working staff and corrals them in a suburban Washington, D.C., office building to better manage skyrocketing growth

Nov 21, 2024

The TAMP CEO says that selling his company was the only other option to renting a big space, and risking offending staff


Vlad Tenev: 'We’re excited to join forces to build a category-defining advisory platform.'

TradePMR sale to Robinhood sends ripples through the RIA industry both for its potential to rival big custodians and for the discount broker's potential clash with fiduciary culture

Nov 20, 2024

Robinhood must overcome its history of regulatory pitfalls and win the confidence of TradePMR RIAs, or see them exit to other custodians, industry insiders say.


Alison Dooher: We greatly value our long-lasting and ongoing relationship with Envestnet.

A day ahead of IMPACT 2024, Envestnet and Schwab say they will kill off mutual RIA 'pain points' and pledge continued cooperation to co-served RIAs -- even as each edges onto the other's channel turf

Nov 19, 2024

The big San Francisco event begins tomorrow, and co-client RIAs may harbor questions about whether the long Schwab/Envestnet cooperation will continue, as giant leadership changes are scheduled to happen at both


Jeffrey Ptak: Not all stakeholders will agree with our conclusions and decisions.

Morningstar takes sword to grade inflation, likely to slash 40,000 funds' 'medalist' ratings and leaves, for now, the five-star system intact

Nov 16, 2024

The Chicago fund tracker's reforms slam managers who merely hug benchmarks, rewards managers with a 36-month plan to outperform


Eddie Brown: [The] opportunity [is] to bring all of my corporate financial services experience to the indie market.

Pathstone reclaims by poach Schwab’s family office division unit head, Eddie Brown, weeks after the Lovell Minnick ultrahigh-net-worth roll-up snapped up a $50 billion RIA

Nov 14, 2024

Brown's hire is also something of a 'reunion', given his near 15 years at Pathstone, and through family office roles at both Fidelity and Schwab.


John Thiel just became the fifth former wirehouse wealth chief to launch an RIA in the last 13 years.

'Displaced' John Thiel uses RIA and Fidelity-Advyzon back office to get back into game -- a road well traveled by multiple, ex-Merrill Lynch chiefs seeking second acts

Nov 14, 2024

Forget SPACs and board seats, the former head of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management follows the likes of Bob McCann and Sallie Krawcheck into easy-access RIA industry.


David Lau: You're getting a big leap.

DPL gets Envestnet to display its data in performance reports -- to complete Big Three that also includes Orion and Black Diamond, enabling RIAs to show -- and bill for -- annuities like asset funds

Nov 13, 2024

The Louisville, Ky.-based fee-based annuity distributor to 10,000 advisors from more than 3,500 RIA firms only had about 250 advisors that used Envestnet but the data may begin to grow that


Brian Walsh: These aren't out-of-the-box Blackrock model portfolios.

SoFi simultaneously Blackrock-izes robo-advisor and imposes first fee in seven-year history

Nov 12, 2024

The San Francisco digital bank hit $1.3 billion of AUM and will levy 25 basis points as Blackrock gets a role in model portfilos, ETF management -- but SoFi retains final say


Abby Johnson: The financial industry continues to reward efficiency.

Fidelity Investments surges past $15 trillion, on its way to $16 trillion, after its CEO made one big, contrarian bet and two smaller plays that have the giant hopping

Nov 9, 2024

The Boston company grew $800 billion per quarter on average through nine months, and just keeps hiring to 'deepen relationships,' with crypto and digital engagement giving it an edge.


Mike Durbin now holds both CEO titles at company.

Mike Durbin set to take CEO reins at Cetera to further Genstar's bold mission, with $1 trillion looming on the horizon and his eyes on the prize

Nov 7, 2024

Adam Antonaides, 59, is exiting the CEO role as the No. 2 IBD shifts into higher gear to compete with LPL and take on a more RIA future


Adam Birenbaum: 'We try to be humble and try to be calm and collected.'

Clayton, Dubilier & Rice 'likely bumped up multiple by a few turns' on Focus Financial valuation with self-merging binge that's gathering steam with $6.6B AUM GYL deal

Nov 7, 2024

The esteemed New York City PE firm gave Michael Nathanson and Adam Birenbaum great powers to buy, and they are encountering little resistance -- and much unlocked value -- to wholesale restructuring


Runik Mehrotra and Samir Vasavada are taking a third swing at delivering on their promise.

Vise resets -- again -- with more executive firepower and fresh vision focused on RIA M&A and 'wellness,' but analysts say its solutions must stand apart to succeed

Nov 6, 2024

The New York City brat pack -- still loaded with VC cash -- is pivoting, again, but with a pitch that has convinced big hitters to join the firm as advisors and president, respectively.


Vivek Ramaswamy: The moment is now ripe to launch a pro-capitalism wealth management business.

Vivek Ramaswamy $30-million venture launches wealth RIA --- just ahead of the election -- and dumps Columbus, Ohio for 'economic advantages' of Dallas

Nov 5, 2024

Serial entrepreneur and Trump surrogate secured an ADV for Strive Wealth Management as of Oct. 30 and will leave the rust belt.


Anders Jones: When... results are predictable and forecastable, it's able to raise money from cheaper sources.

Facet Wealth (mostly) borrows $35 million after three years of sober cash rationing, but -- after self-curbing growth -- analysts see upsides

Nov 2, 2024

The Baltimore firm has now raised $245 million to get to 55 advisors serving subscriptions and 15,000 clientele, short of 24,000 target set in 2021, but advisor efficiency is up and cash burn down almost to zero.


Rich Steinmeier: [It's] about putting in place a decision-making framework and a control framework.

Rich Steinmeier turns big page on Dan Arnold era at LPL with 'pivot' promise to stop managerial dictating -- not long after LPL removed RIA hurdles to custody at Fidelity, Schwab and other rivals

Nov 1, 2024

LPL shares shoot skyward after the new CEO hints at revamped culture, spikes Wall Street meeting with jocularity and delivers the earnings goods.


James Kostulias: Our expansion in overnight trading demonstrates our overall commitment to keeping our foot on the pedal.

Charles Schwab & Co. is going to 24-hour trading, responsibly, it says, even as Fidelity abstains

Nov 1, 2024

Citing TD Ameritrade 'DNA,' Schwab's head of trading promises to indulge overnight trading to day traders 'in a responsible way' and add to Schwab's average of six million trades a day


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