People Moves Related to "The odd and open courtship between the SEC and robo-advisors plays out again -- this time at an SEC-hosted webcast panel in Washington, D.C."
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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
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
Biz Briefs: AdvicePay waives key hiring requirement to land its next CEO • ESG firms may get OK in Oklahoma • eMoney adds new chiefs • CFP Board names new chair-elect • Robinhood cuts more staff
Alan Moore replaces himself with another guy with two respectable titles • eMoney promotes two • Moisand's third in line now known • Robinhood sacks 173 in year-to-date.
July 26, 2023 at 2:34 AM
Edelman Financial Engines new CEO will face challenges after AUM plummets $50 billion (since start of 2022) and DOL throws wrench in its business model, complicating efforts to convert robo-advised 401(k) assets to an 'Edelman' RIA
CEO Jay Shah must chart a new course after the 2018 merger of the radio superstar RIA and the 401(k) robo-advisor fails to yield invisioned growth.
July 11, 2023 at 2:46 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
Charles 'Chuck Schwab' called James Gorman to protest a two-broker poach, kicking off a hydra-headed legal battle, costing Morgan Stanley millions, so far
The Schwab founder and chairman invoked Charles Schwab Corp.'s zero-tolerance policy against Wall Street -- or RIA -- poaching of talent and AUM from Schwab branches.
March 9, 2023 at 1:23 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
Why FINRA's late appearance into smoothie-throwing broker James Iannazzo's life might be rough
It's been about 11 months since Merrill Lynch fired him, and the CFP Board stripped him of the CFP mark; attracting the SRO's attention means more woes.
December 29, 2022 at 1:05 AM
Biz Briefs: SEC cracks down anew on RIA reverse churning ~ Envestnet borrows $350 million to buy its own stock ~ Fidelity is creating a crypto waiting list while exec questions crypto ecosystem
Fed up SEC is ready to take on all nonsense at once; stock shocks, Orwell's new name game; Fidelity hosts a line dance
November 18, 2022 at 2:56 AM
Dimensional Fund Advisors, long the flagship of factor investing, struggles to chart a course as a nimble rival and big foot competitors cut into its market--and exploit its slow move to ETFs
Vanguard, BlackRock and Avantis rattle a complacent Dimensional Fund Advisors with fee cuts and ETF roll outs based on 'smart beta.'
August 9, 2022 at 1:57 AM
Wealthfront cedes to four years of investors clamoring for crypto by taking on expensive third-party vendor that Betterment rules out
The Redwood City, Calif., robo-advisor turned a hard 'no' into a soft 'yes' by dealing with Grayscale and its 200 basis-point-plus fees, which its robo rival in NYC -- also without a crypto path -- finds ludicrous.
August 14, 2021 at 2:20 AM
Vanguard Group shows up as 'alpha' disciple with two new fixed-income fund launches as it surpasses PIMCO's $2 trillion with ex-Goldman Sachs partner now calling the shots
The $8 trillion Malvern, Pa. manager owns beta investing, but RIAs are demanding higher income -- hence market timing and cherry picking -- from their fixed-income allocation.
August 10, 2021 at 11:46 PM
Second Betterment exec departs as new CEO Sarah Levy orients to her first month on the job and is confronted by personnel matters
Chief operating officer Dustin Lucien is the latest to leave the New York City robo-advisor, one of at least eight positions open as it prepares a push across multiple business lines to ignite growth.
January 19, 2021 at 6:32 PM
Wealthfront's unlikely tapping of Sheila Bair and Tom Curry signals likely push to gain a bank charter, analysts say
The Redwood City robo-advisor's addition of two renowned former chief banking regulators brings legitimacy and guidance that could lead to a margin-fattening bank charter and help solve the robo-advisor's problem of high client acquisition costs.
December 31, 2020 at 4:37 AM
Jon Stein ousts himself as Betterment CEO and taps Sarah Levy, who joins an exclusive club of top women executives, with a mission -- an IPO
The co-founder of the New York robo-advisor headhunted the ex-Viacom brass through Harvard professors on the down low to ostensibly scale operations.
December 8, 2020 at 5:27 PM
Oisín's Bits: Wealthfront drops old mission statement, declares war on institutions and emphasizes banking future • Seeking Utah charter, Edward Jones may become largest bank in US by branch count • After Advent chief leaves, Black Diamond head steps up
Andy Rachleff cans the old 'democratizing' mission statement at his robo; The 14,200 one-man Ed Jones branches may become branch banks; Steve Leivent consolidates power at SS&C.
July 3, 2020 at 1:12 AM
With IPO clock at 10-years and ticking, Personal Capital makes two big, out-of-character moves to go upmarket and downmarket
With $9 billion in assets, the Redwood City-based national RIA hired the ex-Virgin America CMO Porter Gale to make one brand investors associates with both the freebie tools and the full-priced financial advice its advisors provide mostly from call centers
