People Moves Related to "Merger and breakaway experts convene near Princeton at old Merrill Lynch lair"
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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, 2020The 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.
Orion headhunts Yi-Ching Wu from AssetMark -- its second attempt in 14 months to fill a crucial role -- 'to put a phone book onto a postage stamp' and weave together its tech and investment businesses
May 14, 2026Orion has $185 billion, but its AssetMark derived leadership team may be eyeing the $5-trillion in wealthtech assets it administers for RIAs.
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, 2025Fidelity 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.
Advyzon's new financial planning software runs headlong into a 'saturated market,' but CEO Hailin Li says two key hires will lead 'go-to-market' strategy
Oct 16, 2025MoneyGuidePro veterans Kevin Hughes and Tony Leal have joined the firm as it shoots for a share of 2,300 advisors leaving Morningstar Office in early 2026.
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, 2024Adam 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
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, 2024Tony Parkin takes the reins as president of the San Francisco M&A shop and reunites with ex-Schwab boss who left 14 years ago
Adam Birenbaum's calls 'Colony' deal -- to create $100-billion super-RIA -- a 'mandate,' but it's also likely a 'prelude' to larger strategic objective, M&A expert says
May 7, 2024The 46-year-old CEO of Buckingham Wealth's 'long game' approach keeps paying dividends; it comes down to his approach to relationships
Michael Nathanson's new post as Focus CEO could create an 'apparent conflict' with his duties at Colony Group, which is snapping up billions in Focus RIA assets -- but 'partners' now have one of theirs in the power seat
May 1, 2024The CEO of Colony, the $22-billion Boston RIA, is buying $10.4-billion GW & Wade from Focus, making him buyer and seller, as he takes the reins as first permanent Focus CEO since Rudy Adolf.
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, 2023The former Schwab director wants former colleagues to know life exists after Schwab and good job opportunities are plentiful in the financial services sector.
Orion rescinds RTO order after its staff rebels by hijacking company email list, distributing petition and tipping off RIA media
Nov 23, 2023CEO Natalie Wolfsen suffers first setback and rescinds a return-to-office (RTO) policy after week of protest to work on a more collaborative agreement on a post-COVID new normal
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, 2023Behind 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, 2023The 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
A week after he became chairman of Eric Clarke's board, Charles Goldman is heading the search to replace Clarke as Orion CEO-- at Eric's direction
May 22, 2023Eric Clarke founded Orion in 1999 and built it to a $3.6 trillion AUA juggernaut, but he believes both he and the company are ready for a big change
Cetera hiring Mike Durbin as CEO -- overseeing its existing 'CEO' -- completes Genstar's stellar HR week after it put Charles Goldman atop Orion's board -- with 'exponential' growth in mind for the 'middle market' companies
May 18, 2023The Los Angeles broker-dealer nabbed the Fidelity legend to take its $118-billion AUM and 8,000 advisors higher, just as Orion -- also majority owned by Genstar -- makes a similar move.
Pershing restores Ben Harrison as sole heir to Mark Tibergien -- for now -- but solo tenure may be temporary, with other top talent in the wings
Jan 19, 2023Co-Head Maura Creekmore's departure leaves Harrison at the top by default, but the company is mum on future hiring and how much RIA autonomy gets sacrificed in name of 'convergence.'
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, 2022The 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
With RIA valuations ticking down and successions ticking up, Focus Financial deep sixes 'drunken sailor' pause, forgoes buyback plan and adds a CEO
Aug 13, 2022CEO Rudy Adolf sees a 'softening' in multiples after a couple of frothy years when CI Financial dominated headlines and big RIA deals
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, 2022The Menlo Park, Calif., firm nabbed Steve Quirk as first-ever chief brokerage officer to 'bridge the gap between academia and reality.'
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, 2021The 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.
Looking past Covid-19 pandemic, Louisiana RIA buys $1-million building after hitting $1 billion in AUM and hiring the town's mayor
Dec 17, 2020Summit Financial Wealth Advisors was sold to Focus Financial in 2014, growing its assets by $400 million since then but keeping staffing about the same
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, 2020Included 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
Skip Schweiss exit from TD Ameritrade means the RIA custody business lost its most visible corporate-paid advocate -- for the moment
Aug 5, 2020TD'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, 2020The Chicago outsourcer has a massive, partially disconnected arsenal of products that CEO Bill Crager is rationalizing into 'wellness' with yet another new unit.
Behind the scenes, Ben Harrison's rise to replace Mark Tibergien at Pershing was more shock and awe than a symphonic succession
Mar 13, 2020Harrison's appointment was baked in the cake -- or not -- and Tibergien departed with Swiss-watch precision in Moss Adams-style--or not.
A 20-year Merrill Lynch veteran got Sanctuary Wealth to $10 billion in AUA in 15 months with no outside capital and no time in bed: 'Nobody's slept since April'
Aug 15, 2019Jim Dickson also recruited HighTower talent, Amit Dogra, to bring the old HighTower brokerage model and execute it as HighTower veers toward buying RIAs
Walt Bettinger axes current and former Schwab retail chiefs, Terri Kallsen and Andy Gill; funnels responsibilities to Jonathan Craig, for now
Jul 24, 2019The 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, 2019The CEO broke the TD promise never to compete with RIAs, took it back and got sent packing
What to make of Pershing CEO Lisa Dolly's surprise exit and the sped-up entry of 35-year Pershing veteran Jim Crowley
May 9, 2019When Dolly and Lori Hardwick were promoted, bing, bing, in 2016, Pershing experienced a lift but here comes 'charismatic' and 'RIA-familiar' Jim Crowley
New-look Hightower hires Abby Salameh and takes a 'Hurley-style' stake in a $4.8 billion DFA RIA
May 3, 2019The Chicago roll-up gets a chief marketing officer who gets RIAs as it becomes part-Dynasty, part- Fiduciary Network in adopting a very 2019 deal structure for LourdMurray
Bob Oros starts his CEO life at HighTower Advisors with a town hall meeting and clear authority
Jan 8, 2019The former Fidelity RIA chief now runs his formerly largest RIA client, from Chicago, and with Elliot Weissbluth as chairman, 'inorganic' asset and 'evangelist'