RIABiz

News, Vision & Voice for the Advisory Community

RIABiz

People Moves Related to "Why the RIA business starts 2016 without its swagger: 2014 and 2015"


Headline

Publish date


Joe Duran's second RIA act is rocking with eight staff, four co-founders and a conspicuously anti-United Capital concept that will flip RIA stakes 'eventually' as a minority investor

The United Capital founder paradoxically promises to 'passively' buy minority stakes as a backdrop for going hyper-active with quick-strike capability to apply super-consulting and technology to create explosive growth as a prelude to a sale.

November 29, 2023 at 3:23 AM

Joe Duran will co-develop Goldman Sachs unit aimed at outsourcing to non-Goldman RIAs after 'magic' never materialized for direct-to-consumer RIA

The Newport Beach, Calif. RIA legend plans to shift from B2C to B2B to fix Goldman's disconnect with RIAs and play to the strengths for him and the bank

February 8, 2023 at 3:03 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

Addepar hires Advent genius then launches 'Advent Converter' to court the RIAs still on Axys and APX ; PortfolioCenter 'easy button' comes next

The tactic by the Mountain View, Calif. firm and Advent co-founder and code avatar Steve Strand comes a decade after Orion, Black Diamond and Tamarac began feasting on the legacy corpses, but Addepar insists meat remains on the bone.

March 3, 2020 at 5:05 PM

Marc Spilker adds Matt Brinker as chess piece -- and partner -- in what he calls a 'very selective' talent add to build platform-for-RIA platforms outside Wall Street

Merchant Investment Management's executive chairman wants good people good at their job and Brinker likes having a breakaway Goldman partner rather than one captive to the Wall Street giant.

January 15, 2020 at 2:42 AM

Goldman Sachs & Co. appoints Rachel Schnoll to yank off United Capital band-aid that Joe Duran didn't -- making FinLife work with non-UC applications

The New York-based investment bank has the cash and people to do the combinations -- especially Goldman software -- that the roll-up's founder couldn't afford or didn't want to advantage

November 8, 2019 at 4:52 AM

Goldman Sachs closes United Capital deal and Matt Brinker, Joe Duran's wingman, exits with social media swan song on same day

The M&A chief's departure from the Newport Beach, Calif. roll-up may signal that its rolling-up days are over

July 18, 2019 at 6:13 PM

The upper RIA echelon mass-exit is now at 25 execs and counting -- for 25 'reasons' -- but it's hardly a coincidence, analysts say

Burnout and EBITDA weigh on CEO-types as never-ending exits claim Ron Carson, Aaron Klein, Bernie Clark, Rudy Adolf, Bill Crager and Tim Buckley.

June 7, 2024 at 11:17 PM

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

The 46-year-old CEO of Buckingham Wealth's 'long game' approach keeps paying dividends; it comes down to his approach to relationships

May 7, 2024 at 5:04 AM

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

The 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.

May 1, 2024 at 3:02 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

Orion rescinds RTO order after its staff rebels by hijacking company email list, distributing petition and tipping off RIA media

CEO 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

November 23, 2023 at 12:20 AM

Focus Financial makes 'abrupt' CEO call, lets Rudy Adolf go into 'retirement,' with 'no solution in place;' the eighth RIA chief executive unseated since June as VCs move in -- where is the EBITDA?

Clayton, Dubilier & Rice closed on its $7-billion purchase of the roll-up on Aug. 31 -- with no hint that its parting of the ways with legendary 60-year-old founder was in the offing.

October 24, 2023 at 1:19 AM

Goldman Sachs-Creative Planning deal is bleeding defectors -- 16 more last week, report says -- auguring a 'potential disaster,' analysts warn

Dozens of former 'United Capital' advisors are fleeing at once, but Peter Mallouk is still battling to keep them, and Goldman Sachs may play legal hardball, sources say.

October 4, 2023 at 2:16 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

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

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.

July 26, 2023 at 2:34 AM

July 11, 2023 at 2:46 AM

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

Eric 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

May 22, 2023 at 5:13 PM

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

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

Addepar's chairman writes five-alarm warning about how US immigration red tape is putting foreign engineers through hell, creating a 'quiet crisis' for tech companies

Joe Lonsdale uses words like 'egregious' 'crapshoot' and 'rude' in Wall Street Journal article to explain how 'America and its economy are the butt of the joke.'

October 26, 2022 at 1:12 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

Joe Lonsdale is prepping Lonsdale Investment Technologies for launch 13 years after founding Addepar -- with the new business model too cannibalistic for comfort, some say

The Austin, Texas, serial entrepreneur is still executive chair of, and a big stakeholder in, Addepar but may need a fresh start to manifest his hyped vision of creating high bandwidth financial flow between retail investors and vast private markets.

February 23, 2022 at 12:09 AM

Surfing a $15-billion-a-week asset growth meteor, Addepar CEO Eric Poirier hires an owner as president to achieve 'escape velocity' and keep operations from flaming out

Addepar is fast nearing $3 trillion, it says, after a 50% RIA asset spike in 2020. Now an Addepar owner through Valor Equity Partners is stepping in to safeguard or supercharge his investment depending on the point of view.

April 9, 2021 at 11:03 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

How a white senior vice president at an LPL OSJ came to hire a former black minister as recruiter despite the latter's pledge to make it 'uncomfortable' at times

Rob Sandrew hit it off with Keith L. Frasier, willing to speak up on racial and racial justice issues, who also checks all the boxes for attracting talent and assets at a firm that recruited $2 billion last year

August 19, 2020 at 2:18 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

Behind the scenes, Envestnet's board of directors had much to tussle over before finally subtracting the 'interim' from Bill Crager's CEO title

With Jud Bergman gone at a chairman, a power struggle ensued to fill that spot, and the process dragged when taking the company private came under review

April 2, 2020 at 2:34 AM

Jeff Mello is latest to join eMoney's talent exodus but CEO Ed O'Brien says it's healthy renewal at a firm that added several hundred people since Fidelity bought it

The ex-Goldman Sachs director of strategy and planning at eMoney joins a growing list of departures exacerbated, sources say, by Fidelity putting a wobbly performance reporting software project -- and staff -- on its plate

February 28, 2020 at 11:09 PM

How Edelman Financial Engines spin-off deal became a RetireOne engine that's heating up the RIA annuity game again

The fee-based annuities marketplace of Aria Retirement Solutions adds Edelman's broker-dealer, 6,000 clients, 'hundreds of millions' in client assets and an old hand

November 20, 2019 at 10:19 PM

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

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

August 8, 2019 at 6:32 PM

John Bunch is out at Financial Engines Advisors after merger integration 80% complete; 'big reveal,' relaunch planned in coming months

The No. 2 man at the $181-billion RIA built a uniform client experience, but now has a chance to be CEO of VC-backed firm based in his hometown

July 11, 2019 at 4:26 AM

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

His days of playing defense done, Jeff Concepcion pinches pennies then poaches a Fidelity and Schwab veteran to execute grab for next $6 billion of AUA at Stratos

Lou Camacho will pursue goal of $600 million a quarter in new assets on behalf of OSJ that wants much more inorganic growth

October 5, 2018 at 7:40 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

RIABiz Directory

The Industry Sourcebook for RIAs

   |    LISTING

Add Your Listing

RIABiz Directory sponsored by:

Directory Sponsor Logo

White Paper Postings


Common Tags


Recent Articles


Popular Writers


RIABiz logo

RIABiz

About Us

Directory

Archives

Connect

RIABiz, Mill Valley, California
Copyright © 2009-2024 RIABiz Inc. All rights reserved.