People Moves Related to "Dimensional Fund Advisors to launch 13 target date funds but can its RIA 'cult' deliver success?"
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DFA undergoes a sea change -- literally -- with a fancy yacht soirée, cigars and champagne as it attempts to sail away from its mutual fund image into the world of ETFs
Having just about staunched net outflows with its embrace of ETFs, DFA is embarking on a cultural shift as it tries to figure out how to sell more, even though it's less unique than it used to be.
March 13, 2024 at 1:46 AM
Mike Alfred scores headhunt coup by hiring brother, Ryan -- and, oh yeah, he raised $6 million
The co-founder and CEO of Digital Assets Data not only got his ace sibling but co-founder Kurt Fenstermacher, ex-Bridgewater, took over as COO changing the trajectory of the startup
April 30, 2019 at 5:25 PM
Marty Bicknell buys a second M&A shop 10 years after the first • Advisor360 repeopling includes new people officer, and seven other major hires • By women, for women corporate RIA nets 10th partner
Mariner CEO is again reversing the predatory script • Some 53% of Advisor360's 15-strong senior management joined the firm in the last 12 months • LGBTQIA+-friendly corporate RIA grows AUM to $283 million, after three new partners join.
September 5, 2024 at 3:31 AM
Salim Ramji, who BlackRock may have shunned for Larry Fink's job in January, is named Vanguard CEO -- now he has to reassure investors he believes in the Vanguard way, even as an ex-Wall Street wolf
The Malvern, Pa., firm is hiring an executive with impeccable credentials and proven ambition as lawyer, McKinsey partner and power executive on Wall Street
May 15, 2024 at 12:48 AM
During CEO Tim Buckley's waning months, Vanguard is imposing fees that may affect its older investors, while hand-off to Ascensus of certain IRA and 401(k) products also comes with some sticker shock
The Malvern, Pa., giant transferred SEP IRA and 401(k) assets to its recordkeeper, which immediately imposed new fees, while Vanguard's new pricing schedule includes a commission to phone in Vanguard fund sales or purchases
May 2, 2024 at 1:27 AM
Breen Blitz: Mercer seals Vanguard OCIO buy • Goldman[Sachs] & Cohen split • PIMCO joins ETF shift • AdvisorEngine-Schwab bond grows • Ellevest milestone • Lonsdale nets new chief • Fidelity leaks data & staff move • Collation wins RIAs • Justin Wisz returns as investor • LPL nets CMO & Tifin a CEO
OCIO sale to Mercer may be Buckley's last act • Goldman's retail lead departs • PIMCO latest to convert mutual funds • Software firm upgrades Schwab data • Krawcheck preaches wisdom of naps • Fidelity hit by data snafu, but D&I on track • New Lonsdale tech shop imminent • Vestorly founder now funding start-ups • Eight month wait for CMO ends at LPL.
March 21, 2024 at 4:41 AM
Fidelity lays off 700 -- not for costs or [bad] performance -- but to shift headcount and hire more client-facing and tech staff, touching off 'panic posting' on job board
The $12.6 trillion Boston investments eyes 2,000 new hires to speak directly to clients or develop more tech products, but lack of clarity jars some staffers
March 12, 2024 at 1:08 AM
Biz Briefs: Vanguard's tax-loss harvest yields a caveat• Vermont green with envy ... of red states? • CFP Board spends $12 million on bungee metaphor • BlackRock isn't neutral on Credit Suisse • Women are the Goliath of 'David' in UK finance
Tax-loss harvest gains may have some home assembly required, says Jeff DeMaso • Adrian Johnstone is now in the driving seat at Practifi • CFP Board spending just topped $150 million • and Vermont shares some Texas thinking on ESG investing.
March 25, 2023 at 1:32 AM
Biz Briefs: Fidelity says humans beat robots, even for Gen Z • Joe Lonsdale's Opto starts signing RIA test-drivers • Vanguard launches oddly delayed fund • Wealthbox hires, and Dynasty buys
Fidelity wins Delta Airlines business with sweetener • Opto pairs-up with Riskalyze and Merchant • Moonfare raises $15 million • CAIS bucks real estate trend • Vanguard launches "curious[ly]" delayed fund • WealthBox, Dynasty, and others buy and hire.
March 8, 2023 at 3:28 AM
Biz Briefs: Schwab puts checks for $52 million in mail to robo-RIA customers allegedly misled about cash allocations • BlackRock blacklisted (again) • iShares beats NZAM-exiter Vanguard • Fidelity makes first acquisition in eight years • CFP board realizes Moms don't like CFPs
BlackRock gets Kentucky coal in stocking, and Vanguard keeps skating; iShares inches above -- by 2.8% -- Vanguard's annual net new ETF asset haul; Fidelity takes "natural next step" for stock plan business; new CFP chair outlines plans and the DOJ is set to become a major Robinhood shareholder..
January 13, 2023 at 3:01 AM
RIA Quick Takes: Orion deepens DFA embrace by using it as portfolio manager-inside-ETF ~ Hardship withdrawals surge at Vanguard and Fidelity ~ Schwab hires 400 ~ Fidelity flips six funds into ETFs ~ Kitces makes list before Christmas ~ Amit Dogra has $1 billion of good news from his new Portland gig
Americans are struggling, though jobs are plentiful; Larry Fink's ESG zeal costs BlackRock another client, just as the Vatican issues ESG guidance; UBS says we didn't like you anyway to mass affluent and Michael Kitces and Craig Iskowitz join forces.
December 3, 2022 at 3:16 AM
RIA recap: Bernie Clark promises to 'be there' for coming TDA-Schwab system snafus; Fidelity gets custody win; Vanguard dishes out big tax bill to investors
Schwab RIA chief petitions for 'patience' for coming merger inconveniences but 'repapering' is no culprit; Carrie Pomerantz gets Schwab board seat; Addepar wins $65 billion AUM contract.
November 3, 2022 at 1:59 AM
Fidelity Investments' plan to hire 12,000 by October hit wall of macro-headwinds; no problem, it landed at 15,000; Schwab keeps hiring, too
The Boston giant's people grab could be derailed by indigestion -- the inability to assimilate staff -- an analyst says; but it has yet to materialize so the hiring spree rolls on.
October 29, 2022 at 12:02 AM
With no-holds-barred perks, Fidelity Investments hit bullseye on its 'monstrous,' single-quarter, 9,000-employee hiring spree and keeps recruiting on overdrive
The $11-trillion-plus giant will also likely achieve its overarching task to net 7,000 employees but growth means the hiring machine needs to keep churning.
January 11, 2022 at 2:04 AM
Abby Johnson hires Canadian whiz and possible successor to head up, monetize and automate Fidelity retail to close early digital deficits with Schwab, Robinhood and Vanguard-- and maybe win institutionally embedded 401(k) millionaires
With the $11.2 -trillion Boston giant hiring 9,000 by year end after opening 5 million new retail accounts in six months, Joanna Rotenberg will be asked to rationalize, unify, digitize and monetize low- or no-revenue millennial accounts.
September 21, 2021 at 2:38 AM
Fidelity Investments pulls out stops on perks to raise headcount by 7,000 -- by hiring 9,000 -- to shrug off labor shortages, escalating wages and call center attrition
The 53,000-employee Boston firm is offering Google-type benefits and Merrill Lynch-style training--no financial experience necessary-- to reach 60,000 staffers by Christmas to meet crushing demand for service and still advance mega-projects like crypto and youth accounts
September 4, 2021 at 12:57 AM
Fidelity Investments is paying 2,000 employees to hasten their corporate exits, including high-profile RIA overseer, Sanjiv Mirchandani, as part of its shift to a digital future
The Boston giant offered voluntary buyout packages and the 4% of staff who accepted will leave by June 30 to give other staff room to grow careers and make room for hires.
June 24, 2021 at 5:39 PM
Fidelity Investments is set to make 4,000 new hires at the same time senior staff may accept buyouts, an arbitrage to match talent with digital needs
The Boston giant is now advertising approximately 2,500 'client-facing' roles, in addition to the 5,150 it filled last year. It will also bump its technology headcount by 10% and hire 1,000 new financial planners.
April 20, 2021 at 9:06 PM
Oisín's Bits: Betterment now a robo roll-up with Canadian IPO as catalyst • Insurers risk regulation for COVID-19 coverage delays • Vanguard shifts Asia focus to China's vast mom-pop retail market
Betterment rolls up a robo • The CFA warns insurers over COVID-19 life polices • Vanguard names Chinese fund head to pursue $6 trillion market.
March 5, 2021 at 1:16 AM
Karin Risi, who built $170-billion Vanguard Personal Advisor Services, takes new role and Matt Benchener is taking her spot as head of US retail for the $6.3 trillion manager
Risi now heads planning and still directly reports to CEO Tim Buckley and her 34 year-old understudy, Benchener gets her job at year's end.
December 4, 2020 at 2:56 AM
After adding an ex-iShares product chief to call the shots and -- oye -- lowering fees, Dimensional Fund Advisors humbly and belatedly charges into ETFs and should score $5 billion in two years, an analyst says
DFA nabbed Nicole Hunter's BlackRock ETF playbook and committed to ETF-level fees to show the industry it plans to play to win assets -- even if some come from within.
November 12, 2020 at 4:43 AM
Fidelity Investments applies its proven Peter Jubber to its unproven bitcoin unit and its launch of Fidelity Digital Funds signals it's all in on blockchain currency
By launching Fidelity Digital Funds under an 18-year seasoned exec, the Boston giant is signalling no let-up by putting something scarcer than capital into the crypto-pot -- its seasoned talent
September 9, 2020 at 2:20 AM
Avantis Investors rakes in another top-tier PIMCO talent who can do a very un-asset managerial task --talk to RIAs directly
Ex-DFA co-CEO Eduardo Repetto gets Hozef Arif to fill another key seat at the 60-person suite in Little Tokyo (LA) after he checks all the boxes
July 25, 2020 at 1:20 AM
A last lion of the Ned Johnson era, Gerry McGraw, vacates the Fidelity CFO spot for Maggie Serravalli, and makes evident Abby Johnson's 'phenomenal' women strategy
McGraw was credited with steely leadership during the 2008-2009 financial crisis but also bridged the management revamp toward a big bet on what women can do better in the next decade.
June 12, 2020 at 3:52 AM
Mark Tibergien sets up Ben Harrison to challenge Schwabitrade with a $150 million cut to Pershing's minimum and millions more to develop Veo-busting technology
The CEO suite hand-off in Jersey City pulls a trigger on a plan to bypass Fidelity's and eventually Schwab's custody units by luring disaffected RIAs.
March 11, 2020 at 7:58 AM
Headhunters rejoice after Fidelity axes invincible (but expensive) executive bonus program to more narrowly focus rewards on productivity and execution
Watchers of the Boston-based firm presume CEO Abby Johnson's play connects to revenue hits from 'zero' programs but also a strategic rethinking of how to unify the company silos and motivate managers with a more merit-based system
