Articles published 10/2023
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With the swiftness of a lightning strike, Charles Schwab Corp. fires as many as 2,000 employees with no public announcement, affecting legacy Schwab, as well as TD Ameritrade staffers
Cuts sweep up the chain of command to executive, supervisory levels – divisions thought sacrosanct hit and many positions are client-related, but not client-facing, RIABiz learns
October 30, 2023 at 10:44 PM
Shorts: Why Savvy Wealth is calling an $80-million LPL poach a 'monumental' milestone • Vanguard cleans up legal matters, settles two suits, loses third • Groupthink comes to RIA biz as firms, one after another, cut staff
Savvy hopes one will trigger a recruiting rally • Vanguard might just be in a settling mood, ends two long-running suits • At least five major RIA industry players are applying a 5% rule ... to cut staff
October 28, 2023 at 12:06 AM
Bernie Clark chides TD Ameritrade RIAs during Schwab IMPACT for publicly airing merger transition 'negatives,' but RIAs say Schwab was quick to grease squeaky wheels
The Schwab RIA chief told the 2,500 attendees that people with negative experiences should 'tell us before you spin out into another place...' and 'we'll figure it out.'
October 27, 2023 at 2:50 AM
SEC forces Vanguard -- and host of other fund firms -- to impose hefty back-end fees on muni money market fund investors who sell into financial panics, in an effort to bullet-proof 'critical investment'
Vanguard's threatened penalty fee is 200 basis points, an anomaly and symptom of previous failed efforts by the SEC to stem MMF runs after the 2008 financial meldown and 2020 COVID lockdown; will the third time be the charm if Middle East war goes regional?
October 25, 2023 at 2:47 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 CEO calls United Capital debacle 'lesson learned,' amid RIA exodus, and operating losses
David Solomon pushed a big reset button as Goldman Sachs shares reset to 2021 level; pieces were sold in a flurry, and he renounced his disc jockey side-gig.
October 21, 2023 at 1:56 AM
Fidelity just dropped the hammer on screen scrapers to cheers, but some firms, like Plaid, are holdouts and the CFPB may wield the final gavel
The near $12-trillion Boston firm is already weaning Yodlee, FIS, Intuit, Fiserv, and Morningstar off their scraping habit by paying their fees to get cleaned-up, but stripped-back data.
October 19, 2023 at 9:32 AM
Schwab again declines to say which staffers will get pink slips by Christmas to save $500-million in 2024 expenses, and the math remains sketchy
Two months have passed since the Aug. 21, 8k announcement that Schwab expects to let go perhaps a thousand or more of its 32,000-member staff in 2023-- though it assures the layoffs won't be client-facing
October 18, 2023 at 2:28 AM
Schwab CEO tells Wall Street threat of TD Ameritrade RIAs bolting ended months ago, with potential defectors holding fast to avoid repapering headaches
Walt Bettinger says he 'feel(s) exceptionally good' that 'all' RIA defections landed over the summer, and TDA RIAs have since been 'rewarding us with ... loyalty.'
October 17, 2023 at 2:13 AM
BlackRock brass cited 'Aperio' again and again, today, amid analysts' grilling about 'depressed flows' -- it bought the direct-indexing unit in the feverish grab of 2020-2021
CEO Larry Fink and CFO Martin Small used the $39-billion unit, acquired for $1 billion, to show they can both grow organically and explain why they plan a new M&A round to grow inorganically.
October 14, 2023 at 1:18 AM
Allworth gets its man in John Bunch, who takes over as CEO 'with bases loaded and nobody out' but faces a high bar
Co-founders Scott Hanson and Pat McClain of the $18-billion RIA got the former TD Ameritrade retail chief on his way home from a stint in the UK
October 13, 2023 at 2:06 AM
Wells Fargo spins heads and kills fax machines with radical plan to counter wealth management erosion by five-fold building of its IBD network -- even it if means cannibalizing its own advisors
Wealth CEO Barry Sommers tells Bloomberg its 1,600-advisor IDB will exceed 12,000-broker unit in five years, but internal one- to two-year wait-list will complicate effort, recruiters say.
October 11, 2023 at 2:59 AM
Goldman Sachs' sweeping legal effort to crush 'United Capital' advisor exodus may prove largely meaningless -- with little chilling effect on flood of defections
The New York City investment bank is filing FINRA arbitrations with abandon as RIA departures pile up, but the squid may not get much sympathy -- in court or the court of public opinion.
October 10, 2023 at 3:32 AM
Fresh wave of TD Ameritrade RIAs are speaking out 30-days after Schwab Advisor Services merger, complaining about more red tape and problems befalling clients -- stress levels high
Not just social media savvy RIAs, but principals of smaller, classic, all-TDA shops are listing a litany of issues -- the tip of an iceberg, according to small RIA custodians.
October 7, 2023 at 6:13 AM
With the brand-i-cide of 'Riskalyze' still sucking oxygen from the 'Nitrogen' event room, Craig Iskowitz pops the question and Aaron Klein clears the air
The Nitrogen CEO took questions after his Oct. 3 event, and he made clear his new 'love' is for bigger-staffed, less price-shockable advisors; the unspoken benefit is that 'risk numbers' are 'under attack,' adds second analyst
October 6, 2023 at 3:29 AM
Mike Durbin boosts sluggish Cetera, again, this time getting the owner to re-up for the first time since 2018
The El Segundo, Calif., broker-dealer has grown tepidly since 2018 when Genstar stepped in; it added 1,000 brokers but only 700 staff, falling farther behind LPL Financial.
October 5, 2023 at 3:04 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
Michael Kitces' plan for XYPN 'corporate' RIA invites new risks but could revive his 10,000-member network goal -- sometime in the future -- his previous 10-year timetable, notwithstanding
The Virginia RIA guru's decade-old solo-RIA shop has 1,800 members and helps file 1,000 ADVs annually, but now he and partner Alan Moore may pair their unique brand with a more vanilla, steamlined one -- ADV platform -- perhaps the best of two worlds?
