Articles published 3/2026
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Thanks to RIAs (in large part), Schwab CEO Rick Wurster's pay leaped 49%, and may have soared higher -- much higher -- but company stopped considering Fidelity in its calculations, according to SEC disclosure
Mar 31, 2026The Westlake, Texas, company 'will continue to review Fidelity,' and make Abby Johnson et al's pay a data point, but only in the event that Fidelity goes public.
OpenArc quietly updates ADV, issues release, to show $10 billion of former Merrill assets have already landed -- despite BoA wirehouse's use of 'free fees' and other all-out retention tactics, sources say
Mar 28, 2026The former $129-billion Merrill Lynch team has already pulled over about 14,000 accounts and 135 former staff and it's not stopping yet
Schwab Advisor Services bravely offers its chin to SEC on behalf of small RIAs -- so counterintuitive on one level, Michael Kitces wonders if it's a relic of TD Ameritrade merger deal with DOJ
Mar 27, 2026The $5-trillion RIA custodian doubles down by standing up for thousands of legacy TD Ameritrade clients – possibly as part of mandate but surely with risk – as rivals employ cream-skimming strategy to lure lucrative, giant RIAs.
Mike Durbin reunites with his Fidelity/eMoney running mate, Ed O'Brien as No. 2 at Cetera, in part to help 'RIA & Branches' channel take shape
Mar 26, 2026The new Cetera CEO now has a 'major asset' in former Fidelity/eMoney wingman who left the Boston giant in January -- as in-house RIA rollup progresses
Sara Naison-Tarajano becomes fourth (or fifth) Ayco chief in eight years, third in the past year, but this Goldman Sachs partner could succeed -- even if she declines to live in Albany
Mar 25, 2026The Goldman lifer will take her crack from Manhattan at bringing the $28-billion-AUM unit into harmony with the corporate whole, in what experts believe sounds like a push toward Morgan Stanley 's success
Fidelity Investments smashes past 80,000 staff, new report shows, doubling headcount and 'threading needle' on hiring -- as Schwab, Morgan Stanley added barely at all over same six years
Mar 21, 2026The Boston giant hired hungrily at opposite poles -- client-facing service staff and technology staff to cut human labor -- the goal: 'revenue-enabling rather than cost-neutral.'
Goldman Sachs's small investment, its first in GeoWealth, is a big tell about its RIA custody strategy -- igniting GSAM distribution to both differentiate service and lock in profit margins
Mar 20, 2026The New York City vampire squid is investing $42.5 million -- and a board member - to 'lower the drawbridge,' analyst says, by creating model portfolios in tandem with the Chicago TAMP and also creating a means to funnel alts to RIAs.
Altruist, again, has staggering 'AI' news -- 1,600 RIA firms subscribe to 'Hazel,' in one month -- and pipeline suggests 1,500 advisors will join per month for next nine months, CEO says
Mar 18, 2026The LA custodian's Feb. 10 launch torpedoed Schwab and LPL stocks after analysts predicted industry disruption; 'Hazel' is 'real' and a real threat to Schwab and Fidelity, they say.
Wealthfront CEO disgorges his mortgage broker about a month after the 'textbook conflict' came to light; Street shows only tepid interest in stock following move
Mar 17, 2026David Fortunato apparently was handed a 95% stake for fuzzy reasons around obscuring LP and GP names; but selling it back for a dollar -- promptly -- effectively ends the likelihood of SEC trouble, lawyer says
Bill Winterberg is dropping his CFP mark and letting the CFP Board know he finds recent moves outrageous -- in a farewell shot -- as his career shifts away from planning
Mar 14, 2026The veteran technology analyst and financial planner has called time on 18-years as a CFP, because he believes the organization is increasingly focused on self-enrichment.
Wealthfront files to pour $100 million into share buyback to capitalize on post-IPO stock collapse; it didn't help today -- shares spiked down on analysts' downgrades
Mar 13, 2026The Palo Alto robo company has lost about $1 billion in market value after December IPO shares priced at $14 fell to $7.88 today; $100 million would buy about 10% of outstanding shares.
Old rivals Shirl Penney and Joe Duran finally find common ground with investment stakes in a $3.1 billion RIA that puts a 'tiger in the tank' to lure wirehouse breakaways
Mar 12, 2026Cyndeo -- both owned by and housed within Dynasty's St. Pete HQ building -- has the goods to buy lower-PE breakaways but then have the advisors live nationally, Duran explains.
Ross Gerber's deal to sell Joe Duran a minority stake in his $4-billion RIA fell through, but he took Duran's advice to wean his company off LPL -- and gave Altruist the nod as 'primary custodian'
Mar 11, 2026Gerber Kawasaki has $10-billion-by-2031 objective built largely on mass affluent investors who will be funneled to Jason Wenk's startup -- and software -- while dialing back LPL Financial, though not to point of re-papering.
Penny Phillips re-platforms at skyrocketing, $25 billion, six-month startup, Hightower Signature, after $353 billion Hightower mothership acquired her firm in M&A spree
Mar 7, 2026After landing her $5-billion 'Journey' rollup, Hightower CEO Larry Restieri says 'Signature' could hit $50 billion in a year-- a dual play on Hightower's scale advantages and W-2 RIA model
Charles Schwab & Co. halts (amid RIA howls) imposing $5-per-account, trading fee -- for now -- though the custodian only assures hiatus; experts expect 'narrower' fee application as outcome
Mar 6, 2026RIA custodian sets June 1 as target date to activate high-ticket commissions, but faces hard power dynamic from imposing fees asymmetrically on giant RIAs with heft to push back, experts note.
Young superstar of KKR's meteoric rollup, Beacon Pointe, steps out as CEO and settles in as board chair, while rock solid No. 2 Matt Cooper takes over day-to-day duties
Mar 4, 2026Shannon Eusey, 55, took the Newport Beach RIA to $65 billion from $20 billion in less than five years, and her replacement was head of M&A that fueled the run.
Schwab moves giant step closer to taking proprietary private-market investments mainstream, today, by closing Forge deal; experts caution spending $660 million was the easy part
Mar 3, 2026The $11.6 trillion brokerage will now have an exchange to buy shares in Stripe, SpaceX, etc., but they will be commission transactions on limited-transparency, low-liquidity products