Articles published 6/2024
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Betterment whistleblowers net $2.5 million • Wealthfront's big pivot leads to profits • Altruist launches tax service • CMOs in at Ascensus, Wealthspire & Joe Duran's Rise • Savvy bags four advisors as Mariner sues it for poaching • Jim Dickson launches RIA stake buyer
Betterment is also bending to RIA needs • Wealthfront is in the black, thanks to cash • Altruist reveals where it makes its money • Rise, Wealthspire and Ascensus each add two executives • Compound hits $2 billion of AUM • CAIS slashes alts prices • BlackRock ups private debt sales to RIAs, through GeoWealth.
June 29, 2024 at 3:00 AM
DFA reaches out to small RIAs as it's set to enter the TAMP business by including 1,500 third-party funds starting July 7
Dimensional Fund Advisors has traditionally targeted big RIAs and TAMPs but growth rate and margins have shrunk and this in-house TAMP play could help address both
June 28, 2024 at 4:28 AM
Ten years into a pilot, State Street finally joins BlackRock and promises an annuity baked into 401(k) funds as post-80 longevity insurance
State Street is still working on finishing touches but is building on its momentum after leaping from seventh to third in retirement asset management
June 27, 2024 at 1:25 AM
SMArtX issues its own press release one day after Morningstar's ominous news about AssetMark deal -- that could yank $12 billion from SMArtX back to APL
The West Palm Beach, Fla., TAMP had the Chicago company as a white knight customer and VC backer but the vendor relationship might be in peril, analysts say
June 26, 2024 at 12:45 AM
Morningstar's sale of TAMP's $12-billion book-of-business to AssetMark ends two-year run that fell short on growth; whether RIAs stick or flee will determine fate of deal
Morningstar nets a cash windfall, a better distribution deal, and it reduces conflicts with its clients, but SMArtX is the likely loser, which will no longer administer Morningstar's TAMP assets.
June 24, 2024 at 11:48 PM
Sheryl Garrett, a financial planning pioneer, sells her planning network, after tragedy and soul-searching; members buying her out will preserve her legacy and open firm to managers
Members are broadening the business model, with her blessing; Garrett will attend annual conferences and focus on raising fruits and vegetables on her Arkansas farm
June 21, 2024 at 3:46 AM
Vanguard warns its phone-reliant investors of 'termination' -- without warning or explanation -- under new contract, effective July 1
Investors who 'excessively rely' on telephone calls may first face longer hold times and pay fees for overburdening call centers after the $9-trillion manager amended its brokerage compact with new terms
June 19, 2024 at 1:53 PM
Ken Fisher scores a scorching multiple from just announced private equity stake in Fisher Investments -- perhaps precisely because he kept private equity in its place
The founder, owner and chair of the $275-billion AUM firm continues a trend where top owner-operator RIA players are still in control.
June 18, 2024 at 12:25 AM
Ken Fisher will reap staggering sum for small stake in deal that values Fisher Investments near $13 billion -- after denying nearly the same deal in January
The $275-billion Plano, Texas, RIA is selling an estimated 20% stake for $2.5 billion, and Fisher says outsiders can do 'never-yet-done solutions' for the firm.
June 16, 2024 at 10:42 PM
Schwab hits $1.2 trillion in managed funds and projects $2 trillion in about five years by 'distributing' Schwab funds to Schwab investors -- but will it squeeze out third-party asset managers?
The $9.2 trillion, Westlake, Texas, giant told Bloomberg that it'll grow its $1.2 trillion base as much as 20% over the next five to seven years -- countering the wirehouse trend of establishing distance between distribution and investment management channels.
June 14, 2024 at 11:32 PM
Addepar's strategy balloons AUA $1 trillion in past year, near half of it from RIAs but its greenfield opportunity is still big
The software maker oversees more than 25% of all RIA assets, but for only about 2.7% of RIAs -- a gap its hip, young CEO -- now RIA software's senior statesman -- believes he can fix.
June 14, 2024 at 3:12 AM
Hearsay is cashing out for $125 million after spending 15 years and $51 million of VC money trying to automate RIA sales but falling short on 'actually connecting' with investors
The buyer, Yext, likes aspects of the San Francisco startup and believes it can apply a quick-fix with AI -- and will reward Hearsay investors with $95 million, if it produces earnings bump.
June 13, 2024 at 1:51 AM
Wells Fargo is 'actively' preparing RIA custody unit, it says, to help explain startling CEO remarks about fearless 'cannibalization' of full-service brokerage
The reemerging San Francisco super bank will be the first wirehouse-owner to court RIAs openly, though Merrill Lynch's Broadcort and Bear Stearns once operated similar businesses in the shadows.
June 11, 2024 at 1:36 AM
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
Altruist is CTO-less, for now, quasi-intentionally, it says • Ex-rival exec hired to jumpstart cross-selling Orion products to enterprise clients • BlackRock tops Grayscale • Facet outsources estate plans • Advyzon profits off Goldman exodus • Dan Wiener's RIA has new CEO • CFP count tops 100k
Shiralker out at Altruist • Orion gives Trevor Noble his cause • Bitcoin has a new fund king • Software maker benefits from Goldman custody exec. churn • Carson Group denies lawsuit • Merge of Wiener's old shop complete • 100,000th CFP named.
June 7, 2024 at 1:44 AM
Focus triggers Moody's by fighting debt with debt • Fidelity's new ETF fees work magic • Schwab opens Milwaukee 'flagship' • RIAs may lose billions to 'widowgedden,' says Krawcheck
Focus leverage ratio rose again; Moody's dings • Fidelity shores-up ETF marketplace revenues • Schwab backs brick-and-mortar • Krawcheck claim puts $53 trillion in question
June 5, 2024 at 2:21 AM
Oklahoma bid to blacklist BlackRock bombs in a big way, and the oil state may set back anti-ESG investing efforts in 19 other states
The state's pension board disregarded the Republican-dominated government by extending BlackRock's contract to manage $7.3 billion of its retirement assets -- BlackRock still scaled back its ESG stance.
June 3, 2024 at 7:09 PM
Bernie Clark's parting remarks -- webcast and media -- center on Schwab's outsized symbiosis with national W-2 RIAs; he declines to 'name names' of ones he doesn't love but names some he does
The exit-bound Schwab RIA chief, never one to offend, says his company's net new assets depend on the aggregators 2-to-1 over RIA startups, but some are choosing a counterproductive path
