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RIABiz

Articles published 9/2010


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Mark Matley with Paul Salisbury:  [Mormons] tend to be frugal in spending, conservative in investing, not wanting to get into the deal of the day.

Advisor spotlight: Mormon duo use SEI, a radio show and their faith to succeed as RIAs

Once a firm of registered reps, RIA expands to serve mass affluent in Boise and Salt Lake City

September 30, 2010 at 5:50 AM

Mike Byrnes: Too often advisors give more than they get...ask for a healthy two-way relationship.

In their own words: How 10 top advisors formed creative alliances to drive big asset growth

Real estate brokers, forensic accountants, career consultants and clergymen can all make lucrative allies

September 30, 2010 at 5:50 AM

Catherine Golladay: People are more likely to engage in professional help if it is provided in a personalized one-on-one setting

What Schwab's new 401(k) study tells about the demand for financial advisors to manage retirement assets

Automated advice is making a bigger dent but the personal touch is favored by a wide margin

September 29, 2010 at 4:13 AM

Mike Stier: I wasn’t crazy about having big banks for customers and we were getting unsolicited inquiries from RIAs.

Little-known Adhesion's big RIA wins less surprising when underlying pedigree is considered

Companies as diverse as First Union, Vestmark, Schwab, Goldman Sachs, [now] Accenture and Sciens Capital have fingerprints on this fast-riser

September 28, 2010 at 4:20 AM

Melanie Senter Lubin: Maryland's securities chief says state regulators are pressing the SEC to offer guidance to advisors.

It's looking official: Advisors switching to state oversight to face many more audits

State securities regulators, SEC issue first solid answers on some commonly asked questions for 4,000 advisors in limbo

September 28, 2010 at 3:58 AM

Dick Smith: SEI’s gone through a lot of iterations and they made special considerations for us. Yet, still, you’re constrained by the standardization they employ.

Unravelling why a big, loyal SEI advisor moved its assets to Schwab

In automating wealth management, Dick Smith chose Adhesion and needed custody

September 27, 2010 at 11:49 AM

Daylian Cain: Disclosure is like a sugar pill. If it somehow relaxes us, than it does real harm.

What we all feared: 'Better' disclosure yields worse results, according to Yale professor's study

At an exclusive think-tank style conference on the Potomac, industry leaders heard the psychology behind investors' rosy view of the world.

September 27, 2010 at 5:18 AM

Mike Durbin: We’ve very comfortable with the move but as you might imagine, advisors have reacted negatively.

Fidelity will soon charge a big fee to small advisors

Boston-based custodian is on service crusade and economics need to work

September 24, 2010 at 3:52 AM

Marc Thomas: The former Schwab investment consultant joined the Protocol to lay the groundwork for recruiting to his startup RIA.

Broker Protocol growth slowing; is the list reaching critical mass?

Fewer wirehouse brokers are fleeing for their own firms, but recruitment-minded RIAs are still joining the list

September 24, 2010 at 3:50 AM

Michael Lee: If our systems are playing well with the custodian, we don’t want to fix what’s not broken.

Fidelity Institutional and Black Diamond tie the knot through WealthCentral

The companies promise 'bi-directional' integration

September 23, 2010 at 12:44 PM

Compliance expert Cathy Vasilev says many of her clients are beginning to worry about whether they will be able to register with the states by the July 21 deadline.
September 23, 2010 at 6:12 AM

Tom Lydon, editor of ETFTrends: Advisors starting to invest in ETFs trust Vanguard and likely already have a relationship with the firm.

Coming from behind, Vanguard is gobbling up ETF market share

iShares slip and a new, three-way fight for an expanding pie develops

September 22, 2010 at 4:03 AM

Peter Hess: With 3300 users, Axys is here to stay...that said, the Axys clients I’ve spoken with at the Conference are really excited about APX.

Advent founder urges advisors to steer away from 'disruptive' course of switching systems

DiMarco cautions that a firm's ROI can be imperiled during the intense process

September 22, 2010 at 4:01 AM

Tom Bradley: Harmonization scares me.

How Tom Bradley had a bad sleep but led a good conference for TD Ameritrade

Medium-sized event in San Francisco hosts feisty RIAs

September 21, 2010 at 4:34 AM

Fred Tomczyk: Whenever there’s uncertainty, it breeds opportunity. That’s where I think the next wave is.

Fred Tomczyk: Upcoming regulatory uncertainty could spark 'next wave' of wirehouse breakaways

Wirehouses may buy and sell parts to protect their golden egg-laying investment banking franchises

September 21, 2010 at 4:34 AM

Les Abromovitz: Some advisers designate one particular person who is responsible for addressing questions pertaining to seniors.

When it comes to senior investors, regulators are breathing down your shoulder

A Colorado advisor who oversold hedge funds may pay a price

September 21, 2010 at 3:26 AM

Joe Duran: We’ll be a $100-million revenue RIA in two to three years.

One of a new breed of roll-ups taking center stage, United Capital is churning out deals again

After a broken engagement slowed its progress, the company is on a buying spree

September 20, 2010 at 5:06 AM

Jason Jennings: LPL stood out for its hands-off approach and technology platform similar to that at Merrill Lynch

Breakaway story: A new Merrill Lynch breakaway team finds clients among a cadre of fellow entrepreneurs

The buy-local movement helps independent advisors, say experts -- if they are smart enough to market

September 20, 2010 at 5:04 AM

Mike Williams: We’ve been completely rewriting our reporting capability to get it up to this day and age.

Schwab PortfolioCenter may be poised to shed its utilitarian image

Long a favorite for the small RIA, its spiffier reports and early admission in Schwab's grand technology plan give it a bigger future

September 17, 2010 at 3:15 AM

David Canter: We’re hearing from clients weekly – large firms considering acquiring other large firms. That’s different from last year and 2008.

Fidelity steps up M&A efforts as RIAs step up the pressure for answers

Deal-related consulting fits a core strategic objective -- RIA growth

September 17, 2010 at 3:06 AM

Columnist Frank Pizzichillo on the decision points that finally led a brokerage team to make the break.

The Leading Indicator: The story of an intern, a broker and what might be the longest breakaway sales cycle ever

Merrilll Lynch's odd ducks are the independent world's $400 million AUM swans

September 16, 2010 at 3:30 AM

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader John Boehner

Signed, sealed, delivered: Fiduciary advocates hope SEC takes their new survey for gospel

In pressure cooker of Washington, D.C., nothing looks certain, especially after Tea Party wins

September 16, 2010 at 2:21 AM

Matthew Judge: Breakaway brokers don't want to explain to brokers why they can't have the same separate account managers.

TD Ameritrade paves the way for breakaway books of business to transfer intact

PlaceMark deal modifies unified managed account platform so advisors can plug in their former wrap managers

September 15, 2010 at 6:00 AM

ReFlow will get recharged if it can land some good sources of capital.

ReFlow seeks a new president with a knack for raising capital

Expert at tiding over mutual funds with spare cash, San Francisco financier needs its own angels for bigger growth

September 14, 2010 at 3:52 AM

Mary Callahan Erdoes got to hand a $1.7 million check to Kim Clijsters after her US Open victory and got a hug -- and lots of publicity -- in return.

Financial service companies serve up big sponsorships at the US Open

Annuity producers, online brokers and JPMorgan pay up to get attention of affluent tennis fans

September 14, 2010 at 3:48 AM

Jack Gardner:  The Global Dividend Index's return was 12.25% higher than the S&P 500 Index's.

A global dividend strategy may be golden

Retirees outside the U.S. may be in a particularly good position to capitalize

September 14, 2010 at 3:47 AM

Mike Lane: It’s really been our choice. We choose 14% of the advisors who contact us.

Dimensional Fund Advisors still has low RIA acceptance rate and stunning growth

The Santa Monica-based fund company is certain as ever of its mission -- and even more successful

September 13, 2010 at 4:43 AM

The CFP Board of Standards is co-sponsoring a conference to bring top academics, industry thinkers in front of regulators. Kevin Keller, CEO, says advocacy groups can't afford to take a break now.

How a surprising array of advisor groups aims to catch the SEC's ear

A conference of experts from academia, industry will examine how the fiduciary standard could work in a brokerage business

September 13, 2010 at 4:42 AM

Jefferson National's Laurence Greenberg: It’s something that we’ve wanted to do for a long time

With tax deferral at a rising premium, DFA forms a deal with an annuity company focused on RIAs

Jefferson National calls the deal with Dimensional Fund Advisors a 'home run'

September 13, 2010 at 4:42 AM

Robert Glovsky: Advisors should be realistic about whether their clients’ can meet their goals.
September 10, 2010 at 4:18 AM

Brent Burns, Stephen Huxley: Since 1927, the probability of rates rising sufficiently fast enough for the [wait-in-cash] decision to be break-even is 11.1%.

The cost of waiting for interest rates to rise

The unforeseen pitfalls of “staying short” with your client’s fixed income allocation

September 10, 2010 at 4:13 AM

Matt Robinson will help RIABiz cover news and regulatory issues.

RIABiz's new staff member

Matt Robinson joins for a semester after stint at Bloomberg Businessweek

September 10, 2010 at 4:04 AM

Rob Kantor: Merrill Lynch came after us, saying we stole everything. We knew they would, but ... that was a little overwhelming.

Breakaway story: How Merrill Lynch breakaways built a firm that's adding advisors, and assets at $2-$5 million a month

XML's team turned down two buyout offers and faced down a lawsuit to build a top firm near the nation's capitol

September 9, 2010 at 4:33 AM

Venture capitalist Skip Besthoff: You can't just get a bunch of engineers and throw them at the problem... That gave me confidence as an investor.

ByAllAccounts scores another round of venture capital by dominating niche

The account aggregation company impressed new VC firm with high growth and sunny prospects

September 9, 2010 at 4:33 AM

Bill Crager has a tiger by the tail, according to a new Morgan Stanley report

Morgan Stanley report: Big deals will propel Envestnet's growth much faster than investors realize

Envestnet has already wired deals that will add $8 billion of assets in the fourth quarter alone, according to the report

September 8, 2010 at 5:13 AM

Peter Mangan: We were interested in them longer than they were interested in us.

As Black Diamond deal starts to click, small custodian gets another hot partner

Shareholders Service Group gives its 700 RIAs access to Envestnet's services

September 8, 2010 at 5:09 AM

Tobias Moskowitz: The introduction of investable, low-cost momentum funds that are based on transparent momentum indexes represents a pivotal development in momentum’s emergence as an accepted investment strategy.

A style for all markets: momentum investing

How individual investors and RIAs can tap into a time-tested strategy supported by almost two decades of academic research

September 8, 2010 at 5:08 AM

Peter Giza: We’ve been desperate to not pigeonhole RIAs into a situation where they cannot afford us or can’t use us.

RedBlack's Peter Giza gives RIABiz a look under the hood of its Rebalance Express software

New Hampshire-based software maker competes with a lower price and an easy-to-use interface

September 7, 2010 at 4:55 AM

Charles "Chip" Roame's high-caliber attendees and the longevity of the Tiburon CEO Summit are making it a new standard of smaller event.

Two upcoming elite industry summits promise elbow rubbing and brainstorming par excellence

Brian Hamburger is gaining momentum with his MarketCounsel events in the wake of Chip Roame's long-term success

September 7, 2010 at 4:51 AM

In an attention-grabbing column, advisors Mark Stys (pictured) and Harald Malmgren explain why the next flash crash is inevitable and how individual investors are bound to get hurt.

What RIAs need to know about systemic risks in the wake of the flash crash

Value investing is a casualty of about systemic risk related to high-frequency trading

September 3, 2010 at 2:18 PM

Jeff Bechtel is joining two former Putnam Lovell colleagues in a new venture

Jefferies & Co. deletes the Putnam Lovell brand but three former bankers are betting on an M&A resurgence in wealth management

The investment banking brand was preeminent until it got purchased and the M&A market tanked

September 3, 2010 at 2:18 PM

Les Abromovitz: Your narrative should use the active voice. Words must be definitive and concrete. As always, you should be looking for language that unsophisticated investors can understand.

Now, the SEC wants you to be a writer, too?

ADV Part 2 form calls for clear language, and detailed descriptions even of the people working for you

September 2, 2010 at 4:32 AM

Three months in the making, our new email system launches today.
September 2, 2010 at 4:31 AM

John Meunier: Evidence that the great migration among advisors is over is the fact that, on average, advisors’ satisfaction with their firm is up 15% over last year, with the biggest uptick noted among the national wirehouse representatives.

Finding greater advisor satisfaction at the wirehouses, Cogent study concludes the breakaway surge is over

For the first time in history, the majority of advisory compensation comes from fees; plus 9 other findings from one of the year's most ambitious surveys

September 1, 2010 at 4:09 AM

Ben Valore-Caplan: While I would like to think that stock market growth during those nearly 30 years was primarily due to productivity gains, I think that much of the growth was due to the massive increase in our country’s leverage.

Can we handle the truth? The 30-year golden era for the S&P 500 may have been a period of decent growth juiced by leverage

How debt played a role in the stock market's rise and why we are not yet delveraging

September 1, 2010 at 4:05 AM

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