RIABiz

News, Vision & Voice for the Advisory Community

RIABiz

People Moves Related to "All eyes turn to Fidelity to see if it cracks in all out price war over trading commissions, but for now Abby Johnson is stubbornly refusing to buckle -- bolstered by RIA reassurances"


Headline

Publish date


Robinhood gets 'brilliant' upper manager -- and a spare CEO -- by nabbing TD Ameritrade's ex-thinkorswim top exec, hopefully to throw a lifesaver to Robinhood's sinking stock

Jan 6, 2022

The Menlo Park, Calif., firm nabbed Steve Quirk as first-ever chief brokerage officer to 'bridge the gap between academia and reality.'


RIAs beta-test Denali, Orion's 'future' • Altruist AI goes upscale • Fidelity revenues soar; weeds out ETF flops • Envestnet nets new CTO • DPL, Robinhood hit milestones • Schwab now inside Advyzon software • Wisz & Fava back start-up • eMoney launches mass affluent 'Plan B' • Trump biz adds betting

Oct 30, 2025

Fidelity is in sweet spot, doing it all • Orion is testing its new cornerstone tool, but it won't reveal pricing until 2026 • AUM milestones hit • Advyzon lands Schwab deal • RIA big-hitters back start-up • eMoney is plotting downmarket growth • Trump follows Robinhood's lead • Joe Lonsdale wants pardon policy changed.


A canary in the coal mine, Amy Richardson left Charles Schwab & Co. for an RIA -- before the 2,000 layoffs -- now a robust job market is saving the Schwab diaspora, she says

Dec 20, 2023

The former Schwab director wants former colleagues to know life exists after Schwab and good job opportunities are plentiful in the financial services sector.


Oisín's snippets: Charles Schwab brand goes up on Omaha's TD Ameritrade stadium, home of college baseball world series • Interactive Brokers lands an RIA custody insider, Charlie Latimer, to climb the custodian ladder

Dec 27, 2021

The TDA brand lives on until the techies figure out how to make two systems into one, but change is in the air in Omaha, while Interactive Brokers gets a leg up in the custody business with a new hire.


Fidelity Investments is paying 2,000 employees to hasten their corporate exits, including high-profile RIA overseer, Sanjiv Mirchandani, as part of its shift to a digital future

Jun 24, 2021

The Boston giant offered voluntary buyout packages and the 4% of staff who accepted will leave by June 30 to give other staff room to grow careers and make room for hires.


Goldman Sachs nabs TD Ameritrade's Darla Sipolt for RIA custody; Kate Healy, Jim Dario and Peter Dorsey are among 1,000 staffers cut by Schwab post TD merger

Oct 27, 2020

Included in the wholesale reduction of the Omaha, Neb.-based broker's redundant talent, about 40% of TD Ameritrade's marketing staff also got word today they have no future with their San Francisco-based owner


Mark Tibergien sets up Ben Harrison to challenge Schwabitrade with a $150 million cut to Pershing's minimum and millions more to develop Veo-busting technology

Mar 11, 2020

The CEO suite hand-off in Jersey City pulls a trigger on a plan to bypass Fidelity's and eventually Schwab's custody units by luring disaffected RIAs.


Tim Hockey leaves baffled analysts (and everyone else) probing for answers to explain abrupt departure plan as TD Ameritrade CEO; It's about... nothing!

Aug 8, 2019

Discount brokers are facing myriad issues as trading fees continue sliding to zero, causing TD's board to seek a more RIA friendly CEO


Walt Bettinger axes current and former Schwab retail chiefs, Terri Kallsen and Andy Gill; funnels responsibilities to Jonathan Craig, for now

Jul 24, 2019

The Schwab CEO is 'restructuring,' which includes cutting the Chairman's Club program that sent 200 top performers to Hawaii on a free junket


TD Ameritrade's board suddenly pushes out Tim Hockey after his big misread of RIAs; Tom Bradley name-dropped as successor

Jul 23, 2019

The CEO broke the TD promise never to compete with RIAs, took it back and got sent packing


Bain Capital plays talent card to replace Envestnet's take-private CFO Josh Warren • Vanguard nabs new exec to figure out alts, it seems • Robinhood opens football bets, then sues • Advisor CRM's 'AI' catch-up • SEC delays Trump ETF date • ETFs explode in number

Aug 27, 2025

After 11 years at Nuveen, Bill Stout is Vanguard's alts man of the moment • Betting a 'no-brainer' for Robinhood exec. • Bain Capital protegé is new Envestnet CFO • CRM shop adds AI to keep up with CRM Joneses • SEC prevaricates over controversial Trump ETF • 640 ETFs launched in 2025.


Schwab's Rick Wurster is green with praise • SmartAsset called out for 'profanity' over Ass mascot • Morningstar Office closure will cost millions

May 6, 2025

Robinhood's betting business is growing fast with $20 million of annual revenue already • Zoe nets $30 million in Series B raise• Roll-up buys RIA for YouTube chops • CFP Board hikes fees • Two senators could create new $5.3 trillion retirement prize.


RIABlitz: Vanguard technology • Pontera rebounds • Ex-HiddenLever's exec success • BlackRock rocked • Vivek's crypto • WF dunks SF? • Betterment dry option• Vestwell poached

Jan 11, 2025

The RIA firehose of news is rife with tactical moves to shore up voids, play catchup and react to a new concept of political tailwinds


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.


Another A-list RIA Schwabbie lands on his feet -- this time at DeVoe & Co. -- after TD Ameritrade merger displacement of 2,000-plus

May 10, 2024

Tony Parkin takes the reins as president of the San Francisco M&A shop and reunites with ex-Schwab boss who left 14 years ago


Ex-PR chief of Schwab Advisor Services reappears at StreetCred while Schwab loses a corporate PR head and gains a new one to 'protect the brand' after a rough 2023

Apr 20, 2024

Rob Farmer joins Jimmy Moock, Emma Smith, Will Ruben and Jason Lahita at StreetCred; Andrew Wyse, an ex-Pepsi PR honcho, joins Schwab after Joe Carberry departure in January.


In 'forced-evolution,' Robinhood subtracts a co-founder and pivots to credit cards to create captive sales that dried up after its phone-app trading platform and zero-commission novelty act imploded

Mar 29, 2024

Co-founder Baiju Bhatt exits management, but Deepak Rao is just getting started as CEO Vlad Tenev goes all in on making Robinhood a credit card company.


Schwab 2,000-layoff aftershocks roil the industry as it's revealed top tech talent -- led by widely regarded veteran Kartik Srinivasan -- were axed, raising questions about future of Schwab innovation

Nov 3, 2023

Behind every layoff a human story as pink slip to an 'unbelievable talent' epitomizes company's determination to cut $500 million in expenses.


Charles Schwab Corp. discloses imminent, sweeping 'TD Ameritrade' layoffs, indirectly revealed in new SEC filing that reports it will expense severance mostly in 2023 to gain 'incremental' $500 million synergy in 2024 and beyond

Aug 22, 2023

The Westlake, Texas, firm had not previously disclosed the cost of terminations -- people and offices -- or that so many of the farewells will happen by Dec. 30


Biz Briefs: AdvicePay waives key hiring requirement to land its next CEO • ESG firms may get OK in Oklahoma • eMoney adds new chiefs • CFP Board names new chair-elect • Robinhood cuts more staff

Jul 26, 2023

Alan Moore replaces himself with another guy with two respectable titles • eMoney promotes two • Moisand's third in line now known • Robinhood sacks 173 in year-to-date.


Biz Briefs: The sorry scene at my local First Republic branch • Schwab launches new (smaller) lay-off round • Schwab hoovers pennies passing FINRA fee to clients • Gensler pleas for funds • Fidelity owner's private equity pres. retires • an Orion-Envestnet staff switcheroo • LPL dumps FutureAdvisor

Apr 29, 2023

Range Rovers screeched in and drivers joined a grim queue to get their cash, and cookie • The Schwab-TDA deal cull count now stands at roughly 3.5% of its staff • FMR's hockey star president has stepped down • SEC chief wants more enforcers • An Envestnet executive proves joining a rival is good business • LPL now has an in-house robot.


Biz Briefs: Vanguard's tax-loss harvest yields a caveat• Vermont green with envy ... of red states? • CFP Board spends $12 million on bungee metaphor • BlackRock isn't neutral on Credit Suisse • Women are the Goliath of 'David' in UK finance

Mar 25, 2023

Tax-loss harvest gains may have some home assembly required, says Jeff DeMaso • Adrian Johnstone is now in the driving seat at Practifi • CFP Board spending just topped $150 million • and Vermont shares some Texas thinking on ESG investing.


Another RIA whisperer, Julian Lopez, has left Schwab Advisor Services after 24 years to join LPL, which he sees as more advisor-focused and 'entrepreneurial'

Feb 23, 2023

The Houston executive, like Kelly Smith in Chicago, was considered a key service talent for RIAs though Lopez says his circumstances differ.


Biz Briefs: Schwab puts checks for $52 million in mail to robo-RIA customers allegedly misled about cash allocations • BlackRock blacklisted (again) • iShares beats NZAM-exiter Vanguard • Fidelity makes first acquisition in eight years • CFP board realizes Moms don't like CFPs

Jan 13, 2023

BlackRock gets Kentucky coal in stocking, and Vanguard keeps skating; iShares inches above -- by 2.8% -- Vanguard's annual net new ETF asset haul; Fidelity takes "natural next step" for stock plan business; new CFP chair outlines plans and the DOJ is set to become a major Robinhood shareholder..


Apex nabs Jon Patullo from 'Schwabitrade' to 'raise the bar' and make his new firm's RIA system as 'frictionless' as the old one

Oct 11, 2022

The loved and admired TD Ameritrade software chief will bring his playbook -- and possibly Schwab's -- to Apex, which continues to try putting a winning front-end on its old Penson backend, a source says


Robinhood shares spike 25% after CEO Vlad Tenev finally goes back on the attack against Acorns, Fidelity, and Schwabitrade by adding their tricks and features to its quiver

Mar 29, 2022

Semi-commoditized by giants and upstarts alike, the Menlo Park, Calif. firm is extending trading hours and doing its own Acorns-style round-up debit card to show it's in the fight.


Fidelity Investments pulls out stops on perks to raise headcount by 7,000 -- by hiring 9,000 -- to shrug off labor shortages, escalating wages and call center attrition

Sep 4, 2021

The 53,000-employee Boston firm is offering Google-type benefits and Merrill Lynch-style training--no financial experience necessary-- to reach 60,000 staffers by Christmas to meet crushing demand for service and still advance mega-projects like crypto and youth accounts


Charles Schwab prunes another 200 or so staff but assures Wall Street analysts the Jenga piece of TD Ameritrade RIA services is still part of the puzzle post-merger

Feb 11, 2021

The Westlake, Tex., broker deemed John Tovar 'best talent,' hence a keeper, and ex-TD staffers affirm Schwab's good instincts.


Fidelity Investments loses Kathleen Murphy who largely caught up Fido to Schwab (near $4T) on the retail side by reversing net promoter scores

Jan 23, 2021

The 'no whining allowed' leader of the Boston giant's retail business, who oversaw $2 trillion in net new assets, was ready to exit but hung in through a year dominated by COVID-19 challenges


Skip Schweiss exit from TD Ameritrade means the RIA custody business lost its most visible corporate-paid advocate -- for the moment

Aug 5, 2020

TD's now ex-managing director of advisor advocacy is set to become the FPA president, but most peers agree the 58-year-old is poised to 'write his ticket' with another custodian or national RIA


Envestnet nabs Dani Fava to cross-pollinate semi-autonomous units and reap 'financial wellness' as the end product

Jul 23, 2020

The Chicago outsourcer has a massive, partially disconnected arsenal of products that CEO Bill Crager is rationalizing into 'wellness' with yet another new unit.


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

Jun 12, 2020

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.


Headhunters rejoice after Fidelity axes invincible (but expensive) executive bonus program to more narrowly focus rewards on productivity and execution

Jan 13, 2020

Watchers of the Boston-based firm presume CEO Abby Johnson's play connects to revenue hits from 'zero' programs but also a strategic rethinking of how to unify the company silos and motivate managers with a more merit-based system


Head of Schwab Private Client is apparent casualty as Charles Schwab slices $100 million in expenses by pink-slipping 600 staff in face of interest rate 'time bomb'

Sep 18, 2019

Schwab executive Chris Thom let go by Schwab as part of its efforts to reduce its workforce by 3% this week, a source says to get ahead of an expected Fed rate cut that will slash revenues.


RIABiz Directory

The Industry Sourcebook for RIAs

   |    LISTING


RIABiz Directory
sponsored by

Directory Sponsor Logo