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People Moves Related to "Part I: Is the era of the monolithic RIA custodian coming to an end?"


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Shirl Penney hands over 'front end of the house' to Andrew Marsh as Dynasty reboots -- post-$100-million raise, post-IPO withdrawal and post-Schwab partnering

The Dynasty CEO is handing over sales, custody relations, breakaways and M&A sales to the un-retired Canadian -- and wildly promoting from within.

September 21, 2023 at 1:53 AM

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

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

January 23, 2021 at 2:02 AM

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

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

July 23, 2020 at 1:42 AM

Fidelity Institutional looks like a big TAMP after Mike Durbin removes last internal walls between products and advisors after 'meteoric' 2019 leap; two Fido RIA sales legends depart amid the shift

Rich Policastro and Tom Valverde are out after Fidelity Custody & Clearing assets leap to $2.6 trillion AUA, restructuring gets the credit -- and so restructuring gets extended.

March 13, 2020 at 10:36 PM

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

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.

March 11, 2020 at 7:58 AM

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

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

July 23, 2019 at 4:30 AM

Christa Carone, an ex-Fidelity and Xerox marketing whiz, steps onto a slippery slope at LPL with a daunting task -- to consolidate a NASCAR size brand portfolio... or not?

With no CMO since August, the chief marketing officer will play catch up for a company still hungry to buy more branded B2B and B2C players.

April 2, 2024 at 1:28 AM

Dani Fava is out at Envestnet -- to capitalize on AI revolution at a new firm, she hints

The ex-TD Ameritrade talent was hired by CEO Bill Crager in 2020 to harmonize acquisitions -- not least MoneyGuidePro and Yodlee that the company still grapples with

March 20, 2024 at 1:25 AM

Envestnet shares popped -- up 8% today -- after Wall Street filtered out bad news and staked its bet on confidence in a new team

The Berwyn, Pa., firm sugar-coated nothing but ended up with a sweet stock price result as analysts see good outweighing bad.

February 24, 2024 at 3:33 AM

Bill Crager is dropping CEO role after multiple shoes dropped; the company insists it was his 'decision' but vision, Yodlee future uncertain

The co-founder of the $5.3-trillion AUA outsourcer of software and investments was pressed to take the job under the most adverse circumstances, then second-guessed by stakeholders as he managed the cards he was dealt.

January 9, 2024 at 4:09 AM

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

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

December 20, 2023 at 1:52 AM

Joanna Rotenberg is departing Fidelity Investments after only two years, writing that she traveled 20,000 miles and successfully split her retail division into wealth and brokerage units

At her hire, analysts were adamant the head of Fidelity retail had 'big shoes to fill' to replace legendary Kathleen Murphy and her task of 'digitiizing' retail was no small ask

December 16, 2023 at 2:22 AM

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

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

November 3, 2023 at 3:49 AM

Bill Crager makes critical hire of 'step back from the numbers,' Joshua Warren, replacing 'brother' Pete D'Arrigo at CFO; Warren had a big role at BlackRock -- Envestnet's biggest stakeholder

The Envestnet CEO gets 'very, very impressive' 43 year-old BlackRock exec; the New York asset manager happens to be Envestnet's largest stakeholder.

September 27, 2023 at 2:48 AM

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

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

August 22, 2023 at 12:46 AM

After 13 years in the Shirl shadow, Ed Swenson gets a mandate to grow a $20-billion corporate RIA as old AIG IBD unit, Advisor Group, reorganizes and seeks new brand identity

The Dynasty veteran is key man in Jamie Price effort to take Advsior Group and finally streamline and up-RIA it for a new era.

June 6, 2023 at 1:46 AM

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

The 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.

May 18, 2023 at 1:46 AM

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

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.

April 29, 2023 at 1:36 AM

Fidelity will hire 4,000 staff in first half -- a staggering number but a tapering off from 'unprecedented' rate in 2021-2022 that catapulted it to 68,000 employees

The $10.3 trillion giant explains its hiring -- in a layoff environment -- as an RIA-like goal, namely having the human bandwidth to develop 'lifetime' relationships with its 40 million investors

February 17, 2023 at 2:49 AM

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

Co-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.'

January 19, 2023 at 3:31 AM

Bill Crager shuffles the deck on management team created just seven months ago: Tony Leal is out of 'Big Three' inner circle, replaced by Morgan Stanley vet Rose Palazzo

The RIA software 'trailblazer' and co-founder of MoneyGuidePro has been working on departure for a year; will transition to a 'consultant,' company says

January 7, 2023 at 1:50 AM

November 18, 2022 at 2:56 AM

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

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

October 11, 2022 at 12:40 AM

With RIA valuations ticking down and successions ticking up, Focus Financial deep sixes 'drunken sailor' pause, forgoes buyback plan and adds a CEO

CEO Rudy Adolf sees a 'softening' in multiples after a couple of frothy years when CI Financial dominated headlines and big RIA deals

August 13, 2022 at 12:39 AM

Envestnet just named an ESG head to meld 'wellness,' 'The Intelligent Financial Life' and 'sustainable investing' into a single nirvana -- that starts outside of the product realm

Ron Ransom earned CEO Bill Crager's trust as chief business development officer and now will define how Envestnet conducts itself as a global citizen and vendor of wellness.

July 27, 2022 at 2:27 AM

Dynasty Financial hires 'real deal' TD Ameritrade RIA sales talent who left after Schwab deal; he'll again mine for RIAs on Florida's Gold Coast--first big news since IPO disclosed

The St. Peterburg, Fla., technology outsourcer made its 10th Florida hire since start of year but first one on the state's Southeastern Coast

February 17, 2022 at 2:50 AM

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

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

January 6, 2022 at 10:33 PM

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

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.

December 27, 2021 at 9:58 PM

Envestnet and Edmond Walters end odd couple 'Apprise' relationship with buyout, but leave open the door to jointly pursue RIA-to-entrepreneur dashboard... later

The MoneyGuidePro owner and eMoney founder execute clean break with Apprise IP rebranded as 'Wealth Studio.' Walters off to the races with a startup and vague promise to collaborate later.

April 6, 2021 at 12:50 AM

Elliot S. Weissbluth, Hightower Advisors mastermind, cashes out and vacates chairman role as Pershing's ex-CEO Lisa Dolly takes a board seat

The Chicago rollup's founder got paid better by doing the second-stage exit and the new cast on the Board also includes Bob Oros ascending to chair and Darrell Horn of Green Square Wealth Management joining

February 19, 2021 at 8:58 PM

Looking past Covid-19 pandemic, Louisiana RIA buys $1-million building after hitting $1 billion in AUM and hiring the town's mayor

Summit Financial Wealth Advisors was sold to Focus Financial in 2014, growing its assets by $400 million since then but keeping staffing about the same

December 17, 2020 at 3:02 AM

Envestnet turns to former FIS executive -- and replaces a CTO -- to help shape up the firm's disparate offerings into a unified whole around the concept of 'wellness'

The Chicago outsourcer gets Donna Peeples to harmonize products and marketing to move beyond the 'TAMP' label as Orion contends for market share with Brinker added.

November 10, 2020 at 2:45 AM

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

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

October 27, 2020 at 1:20 AM

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

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

August 5, 2020 at 9:33 PM

Behind the scenes, Ben Harrison's rise to replace Mark Tibergien at Pershing was more shock and awe than a symphonic succession

Harrison's appointment was baked in the cake -- or not -- and Tibergien departed with Swiss-watch precision in Moss Adams-style--or not.

March 13, 2020 at 7:22 AM

Executive shake-up and staff hiring binge change Dynasty Financial Partners' talent mix, with Todd Thomson, Scott Welch, Ed Friedman and 12 women as headliners

The St. Petersburg-based producer of 'synthetic RIA scale' will continue to aggressively hire and adjust its talent ranks as it readies for next growth push.

September 24, 2019 at 2:02 AM

After recruitment of minorities and women gets CEO-level attention at Raymond James, a program gets a dynamic leader

With ratios stuck in the teens, CEO Paul Reilly gives chief marketing officer at subsidiary Carillon Tower Advisers, Renee Baker, her shot at mission impossible -- getting Advisor Inclusion Networks to live up to its Orwellian name

August 24, 2019 at 4:25 AM

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'

Jim Dickson also recruited HighTower talent, Amit Dogra, to bring the old HighTower brokerage model and execute it as HighTower veers toward buying RIAs

August 15, 2019 at 7:58 PM

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

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

July 24, 2019 at 12:53 AM

Last year's RIA chief departs Raymond James after ship sails without her at helm of RIA unit, leaving her anchored to COO role

Maria Daley took the reins after Bill Van Law's unexpected departure, but Greg Bruce came on in March to lead RIA Unit, a job she held on interim basis

June 6, 2019 at 2:16 AM

What to make of Pershing CEO Lisa Dolly's surprise exit and the sped-up entry of 35-year Pershing veteran Jim Crowley

When Dolly and Lori Hardwick were promoted, bing, bing, in 2016, Pershing experienced a lift but here comes 'charismatic' and 'RIA-familiar' Jim Crowley

May 9, 2019 at 2:18 AM

New-look Hightower hires Abby Salameh and takes a 'Hurley-style' stake in a $4.8 billion DFA RIA

The 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

May 3, 2019 at 7:11 PM

As Bob Oros-led HighTower reboots, it bags an ex-Goldman RIA, hires two, makes a CMO imminent, and clarifies mission

The new CEO will need to somehow weave together the debris of the first roll-up run and the new one to the satisfaction of RIAs and the hundreds of people already inside the HighTower umbrella

March 20, 2019 at 11:32 PM

Raymond James finally names new RIA chief and, yes, he is a Schwab veteran

The St. Petersburg, Fla. broker-dealer parted ways with Bill Van Law -- a Merrill Lynch veteran -- a year ago; now it has a real RIA veteran in Greg Bruce

March 4, 2019 at 11:54 PM

Bob Oros starts his CEO life at HighTower Advisors with a town hall meeting and clear authority

The former Fidelity RIA chief now runs his formerly largest RIA client, from Chicago, and with Elliot Weissbluth as chairman, 'inorganic' asset and 'evangelist'

January 8, 2019 at 3:09 AM


Capital Group miraculously recovered after deep 2008 dive but RIA help may get No. 2 American Funds through the next downturn under new CEO

Matthew O’Connor takes the CEO helm of the giant LA-based active manager from Kevin Clifford with conviction not to jam the rudder hard but to be open to new markets

November 2, 2018 at 9:26 PM

HighTower gets a new CEO, to be revealed later, as Elliot Weissbluth moves upstairs

Elliot Weissbluth's move upstairs ends an era, as Thomas H. Lee's reign begins in earnest, and Mark Cabezas comes in as M&A head.

September 13, 2018 at 2:21 PM

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