Articles published 4/2024
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Things just keep getting better for new AssetMark CEO Michael Kim, whose company will now go private so he can 'untangle spaghetti' without public scrutiny
Known for sales accountability, the Fidelity veteran waited in the wings for decades and now GCTR has swooped in with cash, belief and a rewinding of the clock so he can evolve and grow AssetMark
April 27, 2024 at 1:40 AM
Burt White is busy re-staffing Carson Wealth with trusted non-Carson executives but the new CEO is caught in classic Catch-22 as villain and white knight in alleged sex assault suit
The case raises questions about the perils of how RIAs deal with sexually charged allegations in the financial services workplace.
April 26, 2024 at 2:50 AM
FDIC bid to strip BlackRock and Vanguard of superpower 'has legs' and reckoning may start with curbs on self-certification of passive index funds
The bank deposit insurer could make the $17-trillion ETF power bloc lose the ability to self-certify as 'passive' funds because their sheer scale could make them an active menace to the banking regulator, at least in this political climate.
April 25, 2024 at 1:29 AM
Apex eliminates Jon Patullo's position in move that baffles analysts but may clear the way for Mike Kerins to take on the 'Astra' challenge
One of the better-trusted and respected TD Ameritrade RIA executives helped make 'Astra' a legit Veo 2.0 contender, before his position was eliminated -- perhaps related to AdvisorArch acquisition
April 24, 2024 at 1:52 AM
The RIA services of Vanguard, Schwab and Fidelity -- for two big reasons -- are cutting into RIA (and wirehouse) market share, Cerulli says
The Big Three, with $30 trillion of AUA, are cross-selling like crazy and have figured out a call center business model that the mass affluent finds appealing.
April 23, 2024 at 2:29 AM
Ex-PR chief of Schwab Advisor Services reappears at StreetCred while Schwab loses a corporate PR head and gains a new one to 'protect the brand' after a rough 2023
Rob Farmer joins Jimmy Moock, Emma Smith, Will Ruben and Jason Lahita at StreetCred; Andrew Wyse, an ex-Pepsi PR honcho, joins Schwab after Joe Carberry departure in January.
April 20, 2024 at 2:54 AM
With technology still its Achilles heel, Vanguard makes Charlotte, N.C., a 'hub' for software engineers, purchasing 700,000-square-foot campus to house 2,400 with 'room to grow'
The $117 million purchase in exurbia may finally resolve one of Vanguard's biggest shortfalls -- lagging tech from the boombox and cassette tape era.
April 19, 2024 at 2:01 AM
Charles Schwab Corp. headcount is down 4,000 from its June 30 peak, nearly double the expected 'reductions,' though the company has hundreds of job openings, many with 'wealth' in the titles
The $9-trillion financial firm disclosed an updated total of 32,600 staff, which is a hair above the 2021 first quarter total, but down 9.4% from 12 months ago.
April 18, 2024 at 3:48 AM
Envestnet's shares soar on Reuters report about 'receiving interest' for takeover, the latest in a line of reported attempts
The Berwyn, Pa., firm, dogged by activist investors and minority shareholder, BlackRock, is getting more active.
April 16, 2024 at 7:22 PM
A buoyant Schwab CEO Walter Bettinger declares 'darkest' days past for Schwab as in-house RIA asset quarterly inflows surge 60%, but analyst's 'free-cash' question raises his ire
The Charles Schwab Corp. results boomed and shares spiked as legacy TD Ameritrade branch brokers deliver on driving brokerage assets into fee-based Schwab RIA products; net new assets supassed $100 billion
April 16, 2024 at 1:38 AM
BlackRock invokes Envestnet's fresh promise in pushing iShares by model portfolios on earnings call where merciless analysts pepper its execs with questions about sub-5% organic asset growth
Assets soared to $10.5 trillion and earnings per share beat their bogey, but the New York City money manager just keeps sinking because growth relies too much on market gains.
April 13, 2024 at 2:06 AM
James Gorman pivoted to 'wealth management' to save Morgan Stanley after the 2008 financial crisis, but now feds are looking into the unit's rapid growth to $6T in AUA, amid allegations of lax oversight and money laundering
Gorman bailed on the firm, Jan. 1, leaving successor Ted Pick to pick up the pieces; Wall Street wasted no time dumping the stock after a WSJ report that a Federal Reserve probe had metasticized to other agencies
April 12, 2024 at 1:47 AM
Low profile RIAs keep draining market share from non-RIA national brands -- Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, UBS -- but big names still have a marketing edge, new Cerulli report says
The largest Cerulli study sub-group, 39% of individuals, want 'large national' brands -- even with RIAs set to gain four percentage points of market share on wirehouses by 2027
April 11, 2024 at 4:27 AM
Ron Carson is out as Carson Wealth CEO three years after Bain buys a big stake and subdued asset growth persists; Ron Carson pivots life toward leading a 'movement'
The majority owner of the $35-billion RIA remains chairman but will shift focus to 'humanitarian' concerns
April 10, 2024 at 2:54 AM
RIAs assailed Altruist and put Jason Wenk on defense over a new fee schedule, but-- four days later -- Wenk went back on offense, promising to better even unchallenged fees
Multiple RIAs expressed outrage over "X" before the Altruist CEO superseded his critics and committed to having the lowest price mutual fund platform in the market.
April 9, 2024 at 9:02 PM
An Abbot Downing breakaway, but not exactly, Callan Family Office hits $5 billion of AUM after just two years using a creative 'Callan' brand deal and a partnership model
In the wake Wells Fargo's 'Abbot Downing' brand kill-off, Jack Ginter struck a platinum brand deal of his own, took his UHNW act to an RIA, and scored explosive 'organic' growth
April 9, 2024 at 2:00 AM
XY Planning Network founders mark 10th birthday of their Montana-based RIA-making machine with hard growth numbers and not-so-soft chiding of robo-advisors, CFP limitations and doubters of their downmarket business model
Alan Moore and Michael Kitces put their money where their mouths were and plan to expand their not-a-CFP XYPN Academy training to stamp out 'Imposter Syndrome.'
April 6, 2024 at 2:02 AM
Olivia Eisinger convinced Apex to hire dozens of her fellow ex-TDA staff to 'reimagine' VEO and the service and now it's an RIA custody deliverable with a Big-Four-or-bust mandate -- and some analyst doubts
Now head of RIA custody leading loyal people like George Tamer, she re-platooned, Eisinger doesn't plan to compete much with Altruist because Apex plans to go straight after bigger RIAs, not startups -- perhaps with foot-in-the-door beginnings to prove itself.
April 5, 2024 at 1:48 AM
Stephen Chen completes $20 million raise; RIAs have found a niche use for his consumer-facing software -- never mind all those subscribers and enterprises
The founder of NewRetirement.com has a DIY approach that RIAs and enterprises are attracted to because consumers do much of the work
April 3, 2024 at 2:43 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.
