Articles published 9/2023
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Orion Advisor Solutions calls 6% staff reduction a 'final action,' after ballooning headcount 40-plus percent since 2020 by gorging on Brinker, Redtail and five other companies
The Omaha, Neb., administrator of $3.6 trillion will cut 'duplicative' back office jobs to reduce staff to 1,320 from about 1,400.
September 30, 2023 at 2:31 AM
Farther's hot week includes Goldman Sachs poach and $31-million VC raise after in-house RIAs added input that made '100%' difference in buildout mapping
The New York City RIA startup -- with $53 million in backing and $700 million of AUM -- appears poised to surpass $1 billion in AUM; San Diego team and new capital will go to engineering proactive growth rather than simply taking tasks off an advisor's plate
September 29, 2023 at 1:44 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
Vivek Ramaswamy sells anti-ESG to RIAs to nab quick $1 billion of AUM, but it's all 'Kabuki theater,' analyst says, to steer proxy votes hard right -- profitably
Strive Asset Management ETFs are plain vanilla indexes but vote proxies as per Ramaswamy's right-of-Trump Republican presidential platform.
September 26, 2023 at 2:03 AM
Future Proof 2023 weathered a rare LA rainstorm and a shower of 'skepticism,' but grew by two hotels, 109 sponsors, 1,200 attendees and 16,000 micro-meetings -- and it's only the beginning
The hard-to-pigeonhole 'wealth' super event in Los Angeles evolved and is still on track for 10,000 attendees in 2025; a Future Proof branded event in the Colorado Rockies is set for March.
September 23, 2023 at 2:34 AM
Peter Mallouk told heads at Goldman Sachs' 'United Capital' today on group Zoom that he'll name new president within 14 days -- and whether 'United Capital' brand survives within 20 days
The Creative Planning CEO talked 'next steps' after vast majority of teams sign on that include a companywide summit within 30 days
September 22, 2023 at 2:59 AM
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
Some TD Ameritrade RIAs are voicing misgivings -- faint compared to the loud attaboys -- about life at Schwab post-conversion, mostly centered on losing Veo system; an advisor says 'it's like 'going back in time 10 years'
The TDA conversion itself 'overdelivered' for 'seamlessness and communication,' but severed relationship with beloved Veo system left some RIAs with postpartum feelings about Veo that could increase as the dust settles, insiders say
September 18, 2023 at 10:46 PM
Charles Schwab Corp. CFO proclaims TD Ameritrade RIA conversion a 'tremendous success,' but Wall Street dour after he also disclosed TDA-'originated' $20-billion-plus assets flowed out in August
Peter Crawford points out the $1.3-trillion in converted RIA custody assets equals 100% of all TDA assets in October 2019 and that the RIA accounts were 40% more than all of retail's transition in May
September 16, 2023 at 3:09 AM
'Spunky' SMArtX finessed its way to $31.5 billion and began a 'freemium' future, but its new CEO is hedging his bets by hiring a TAMP salesman with a track record that glitters like his own
Just 22 days after swapping the SMArtX presidency for the CEO spot, Jonathan Pincus got David Pologe to help sign on new RIAs and brokers and their client assets.
September 15, 2023 at 2:13 AM
Aaron Schumm unveils expanded Vestwell vision -- and M&A plan -- and hires Danya Dumbrill to detail it as a 'strategy' to 'lead the savings industry' -- a leap from the 'grueling affair' of recordkeeping micro 401(k) plans
The Vestwell CEO hired the ex-Goldman Sachs executive as 'chief strategy officer' but with a budget and mandate to start buying up and stitching together 'savings' companies.
September 14, 2023 at 2:59 AM
Peter Mallouk has now signed on 30 Goldman Sachs advisory offices, he says, by improvising a fourth option after advisers gave the side-eye to three others
The Creative Planning CEO says he is developing 'United Capital 2.0' on the fly to combat distrust and his Zoom ofensive is netting results
September 12, 2023 at 9:27 PM
Michael Durbin wastes no time building $1.2-billion bridge back to Fidelity from Cetera by taking private IBD to get past Pershing exclusivity and expand 'addressable market'
Poached from Fidelity to serve as Cetera CEO -- to seek inorganic growth with Genstar cash -- Durbin is buying the old H.D. Vest-Blucora tax-preparer IBD for $1.2 billion, after it went for about $600 million in 2015 and got overhauls
September 11, 2023 at 10:14 PM
Orion names 'left-brained' Natalie Wolfsen as CEO to replace Eric Clarke, and AssetMark, which synchronized its announcement, hires Michael Kim as her replacement
Orion Chairman Charles Goldman again lures his protege to self-replace, while Michael Kim was 'integral to AssetMark’s record financial performance over the past several years'
September 8, 2023 at 11:58 PM
Seven 'RIA' chief executives are stepping aside for CEO 'operators' as PE backers get 'trigger' happy in adverse market; here are their stories
Whether it's Edelman Financial Engines, SMArtX, Allworth or InvestCloud, the re-CEO-ing process follows a fat 2020 capital raise and thinner results in stormy financial markets.
September 7, 2023 at 9:46 PM
Amid 401(k) headwinds and assets stalled at $170 billion, Randy Long offloads CEO duties 'to fully focus on strategy' -- new blueprint and business model needed, experts say
In the wake of the '90s-era 401(k) bonanza, new CEO John Longley is tapped to devise a 40-year plan to counter boomers, who are rolling over and spending down 401(k) balances.
September 7, 2023 at 2:18 AM
Schwab's high-wire, low-glitch TD Ameritrade RIA custody transition commenced with an improbable hire -- Tom Bradley Jr. -- sources say the two are not coincidental
Schwab Advisor Services was able to 'herd the cats,' who chose TD Ameritrade, often to avoid Schwab; it's used judicious planning, patience, tech savvy but also good communications and an inimitable Tom Bradley-brand of RIA politics.
September 6, 2023 at 12:28 AM
Schwab's agonizingly long, methodical process to absorb near 8,000 TD Ameritrade RIA custody accounts into its own system is odds-on to yield a sweet result over Labor Day
Schwab Advisor Services still faces the stiff challenge of cultural assimilation but would-be detractors (like trade publications and even competitors) see little possibility it'll bungle Labor Day's switchover and its worst-case scenario on RIA attrition of 5% seems like a 'major win'
