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Articles published 11/2012


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Amy Danforth: We thought there would be a pause after the election, but ... it's only intensified.

In big surprise, Fidelity and Schwab rake in charitable assets -- early, often and unremittingly in 2012

Some alchemy of tax-hike fears and consumer confidence has warmed the Grinches' hearts

November 30, 2012 at 5:05 AM

Ed Friedman: The new proposal will curtail the “serial” movers from jumping ship every few years strictly for the check.

Will FINRA knock out the 'serial movers' and boost the RIA option in the bargain?

A rule looked at for decades may finally gain traction

November 30, 2012 at 4:58 AM

Jay Bruce: It was obvious to me this was life-changing money.

NFL Players Association raises the bar for financial advisors as more RIAs suit up to tackle the bottom lines of underserved sports stars

Attention advisors hoping to become -- or remain -- NFLPA-certified: You need to get your bona fides in by this Friday

November 29, 2012 at 6:21 AM

Joe Duran: We really think our next wave of growth will be to open offices around the country with our retail brand.

United Capital's Joe Duran throttles back on deals as he opens an RIA version of Hamburger University

Stephanie Bogan will lead the training center that aims to create corporate 'mini-me's' around the country

November 28, 2012 at 4:44 AM

Sallie Krawcheck: I did recognize that we had ... breached our clients' trust, regardless of what the small print said.

Krawcheck reveals: What I learned when I got fired (the first time)

The veteran of more than one bum's rush tells what really sealed her fate at Smith Barney

November 28, 2012 at 4:04 AM

Andy Rachleff: Mark Zuckerberg should not use us.

Looking more like Windhaven after a revamp, Wealthfront names a noted academic CIO and boosts its assets 15-fold

Andy Rachleff's new strategy omits RIAs-as-managers in favor of a centralized ETF-manager approach with Burton Malkiel calling the big shots

November 27, 2012 at 6:45 AM

Elisse Walter wants a "harmonized" fiduciary standard and is set to serve as the agency's leader until late in 2013

Obama makes 'really unfortunate' appointment of Elisse Walter as new SEC chairman

The former FINRA, CFTC and SEC exec will replace Mary Schapiro next month as RIA leaders brace for a new round of regulatory battles

November 26, 2012 at 9:33 PM

Mike Paulus: We're not just a Black Diamond replacement for RIAs.

Addepar hits $50 billion of assets and turns its eyes to Advent-Black Diamond's plump RIA market

With close to $12 million in revenue, a hotshot tech startup is looking to move into second phase of development: Attracting RIAs despite naysayers

November 26, 2012 at 5:42 PM

Joel Bruckenstein: As things turned out, some better pure technology opportunities came along.

Joel Bruckenstein and Bob Veres part ways to do their own conferences

Veres sees a glut of conferences but has a passion to change that with a new-concept event

November 26, 2012 at 5:41 PM

Bob Veres: 'Everyone feels screwed,' one advisor wrote.

The top 10 deepest fears -- and highest hopes -- of RIA practitioners

A decade of flatlining investment results has advisors worried about clients' faith in the very fabric of the markets

November 26, 2012 at 5:34 PM

Dwight Mathis: By the time they graduate after 43 months it'll put clear blue sky between us and our competition.

Merrill Lynch makes bold moves to train new recruits for an RIA-centric future

The rethought training program suits up new advisors -- many of them career changers -- for independence as well as for the wirehouse path

November 21, 2012 at 4:35 PM

Eric Henderson: Now is the time for financial advisors to pick up the phone to invite their clients to have a critical discussion about their portfolio.

Advisors need to deliver a reality check to clients about 2013 tax changes barreling down the pike

The changes , especially for the wealthy, are many but so are the ways to react

November 21, 2012 at 6:24 AM

Schwab IMPACT is one place where the marketers and consumers clamor for each other.

An advertiser's-eye view of Schwab IMPACT: Who's doing what right?

Sponsors that use an outgoing approach get tremendous client inflow

November 20, 2012 at 4:12 PM

Manisha Thakor: The purpose of money is to bring serenity, calm and joy to your life

One Santa Fe woman's female-centric approach to advice is attracting clients to her iconoclastic RIA

Manisha Thakor was drafted into her venture by three wealthy women who liked none of the existing alternatives

November 20, 2012 at 4:46 AM

Jack Waymire: Non-discretionary advisory assets have high retention rates because advisors have lower levels of accountability.

Which type of AUM is worth more to a buyer?

Assets farmed out to money managers are generally more valuable than purely discretionary assets under management

November 19, 2012 at 5:14 AM

Michelle Draper: Bringing in other custodians to RIA Stands for You is still on the table.

Schwab is set to connect RIAs outside its referral network to HNW investors through its 'Got-milk'-style campaign

RIA Stands for You will use things like digital New Yorker ads, messaging and candid videos with RIAs is funneling down to phone calls from virgin prospects

November 19, 2012 at 5:12 AM

Jerry Foster: If there are two doctors in Iowa talking about investments our name would most likely come up.

Schwab names a $1.1 billion RIA in Iowa as 'best,' but the story behind the Zero Alpha firm's growth is better

Foster Group mined one of the few reliably wealthy groups in the corn belt -- doctors -- and uses unconventional employee benefits like European-length vacations

November 16, 2012 at 4:27 AM

The IMPACT production team went all-out to craft a dramatic backdrop for Bernie Clark's opening remarks.

The 2012 Schwab IMPACT conference comes off with a theatrical flair

Bernie Clark all but donned top hat and tails for a dramatic presentation of upcoming initiatives, and a last-minute celeb subbed for a famed basketball coach

November 15, 2012 at 8:49 PM

Bernie Clark: It's highly unlikely you'll see a five-year program. We'll continue to morph.

Schwab is creating an RIA MBA-equivalent to grease the skids of internal succession -- and internships to build an RIA worker-bee talent grab pile

One area of weakness for RIAs is finding the resources, time and expertise to train people, and Schwab is addressing the need

November 15, 2012 at 5:34 AM

Charles Schwab: A person like me will have to write a larger check.

Why Chuck Schwab is fine with boosted taxes -- and even Dodd Frank -- and believes RIAs should be, too

Schwab's chairman also gives an interesting window into his view of alternative investments

November 15, 2012 at 4:59 AM

Liz Ann Sonders: A lot of people think analysts are in la-la land.

Liz Ann Sonders: Markets may have to tank before lawmakers step back from the fiscal cliff

Speaking at IMPACT, Schwab's chief strategist also weighs in on the net effect of long-term low interest rates and the looming cliff after the looming cliff: The debt ceiling

November 14, 2012 at 5:24 PM

Jake Tomes is looking to LPL to take his firm from 70% transactional to fee-based across the board.

LPL adds a $1-billion firm with a family-office mindset and CPA rep base to its growing list of OSJs

Level Four Group is leaving Lincoln Financial Securities with a view toward growth

November 14, 2012 at 5:24 PM

Neesha Hathi: We think we can bite this off.

Schwab bids to become the 'Zagat' of RIA technology and to nix ink signatures from RIA life

Neesha Hathi presents the dueling intiatives as next steps in her custodian's march toward serving 7,000 advisory firms

November 14, 2012 at 5:23 PM

Adam Birenbaum: What better place for them than with their current partner?

Buckingham Asset Management creates a structure with Focus Financial that enables it to roll-up the 120 RIAs that entrust it with $13 billion of DFA TAMP assets

With this co-creation of a de facto ISO-9000 for succession plans, smaller RIAs may have more options and metrics on the back end

November 13, 2012 at 7:07 AM

Matt Cooper: I was aggressively criticized by the CEO of what I called a roll-up for describing his firm as a private-equity-backed consolidator/roll-up.

A roll-up exec talks about owning a roll-up and calls out his fellow entrepreneurs to focus on genuine distinctions

There are private-equity backed consolidators and RIA aggregators, and subspecies of each of those, but we can call them all roll-ups

November 13, 2012 at 4:32 AM

Andrew Salesky will step up to oversee Schwab's ground game.

Schwab hits the nine-franchise mark as it seeks one new, first-rate chief to head it up

New franchises are hitting asset goals and five more franchises are in the hopper for launch

November 12, 2012 at 9:46 PM

Ellen Turf: I do feel like I've done everything I could do.

NAPFA's Ellen Turf hands in her resignation -- in part on the advice of her financial planner

On the heels of the l'affaire Rhoades the nonprofit mounts a search to replace its longtime leader when she steps down next year

November 12, 2012 at 9:45 PM

From the classroom seat students try to make sense of financial advising from speeches like Sallie Krawcheck's

Sallie Krawcheck clues in green advisors about choosing that all-important first gig

Avoid jobs that lack training programs, mentors, a planning bent and a long-term horizon, the former Merrill brokerage chief counsels fresh-to-market hopefuls

November 12, 2012 at 5:55 PM

Sallie Krawcheck: It feels a lot better during times of turmoil to close your door and work things through. This only adds to an organization’s stress level.

Column: Advisors should be 'heroically available' during a crisis

Avoid the temptation to fall into efficient-fixer mode; let'em see you sweat -- but not tremble.

November 12, 2012 at 7:23 AM

Rob Isbitts: Don't ignore solid investment process and strategy in the name of 'waiting to see' which parts of Cliff are allowed to occur on Jan. 1

Fiscal Cliff is ready for his close-up -- whether we are or not

The end is nigh! Or not. Either way, here's how to prepare your clients to traverse that uncharted country beyond Jan. 1

November 12, 2012 at 7:17 AM

David Loeper: We're not a litigious firm.

MoneyGuidePro back on a roll after the "blip" of being sued by Wealthcare, PIEtech's CEO says as settlement is signed

David Loeper says he's "extraordinarily pleased" but Bob Curtis echoes that sentiment and says his company's work with UBS is stronger than ever

November 9, 2012 at 5:56 PM

Keith McWilliams: It feels like we're going full circle back to where Scudder was.

Former U.S. Trust CEO leads his RIA to the $4.5 billion mark -- and gains a Left Coast presence -- acquiring $645 million Mt. Eden

Evercore Wealth Management is buying a firm that was on the prowl to gain scale through a purchase, then went the other way

November 9, 2012 at 3:17 AM

Mark Sear says that referring clients to outside lenders was not working well for his firm.

First Republic pays a staggering sum for Luminous Capital, sources say, and shifts the breakaway and M&A games in the bargain

Recruiters are getting renewed interest from big wirehouse teams and the $125 million deal shows that breakaway brokers can realize big enterprise value in short order

November 8, 2012 at 4:53 AM

Mindy Diamond says the Luminous deal shows that the potential payday of selling an RIA far exceeds the transition packages paid by wirehouses and other firms.

How the Luminous deal is rocking the recruiting world -- and may set the stage for more fireworks

The former Merrill stars effected an outsized cash deal with First Republic, proving that independence can have monetary rewards to match the psychic ones

November 8, 2012 at 4:39 AM

John Waldron: We know that LPL is putting things in place so that it can focus on the ultrahigh-net worth market, but we wanted to be with partners who already have those services in place.

$1.2 billion RIA breaks it off with LPL as new beaux Fidelity and Pershing vie ardently for favor

Seeking support for its superrich clients, Waldron Wealth lets the big IBD down easy, retaining its subsidiary, Fortigent

November 7, 2012 at 7:40 AM

Eddie Wong: It's been quite an adventure with FinFolio -- a good one.

Braving setbacks, FinFolio wins a $1.6 billion RIA and dark-horses its way on to the software track

Index Fund Advisors carefully vetted Tamarac, Orion and Black Diamond for a year but gambled on the newer, smaller vendor -- with the veteran quarterback, Matt Abar

November 6, 2012 at 5:56 PM

Jeff Chiappetta: Several years ago, there was more demand to trade in foreign exchanges.

Schwab gins up trading in foreign currencies but not for RIAs

The San Francisco-based broker now has trading in local currencies at 12 foreign equity markets but advisors cite higher priorities elsewhere

November 6, 2012 at 4:17 AM

David Hou helped lead the biggest-ever Merrill breakaway and now he's part of a long-term deal with First Republic Bank.

A $5.5 billion LA-based RIA is getting purchased by First Republic Bank

Luminous Capital has gone from a 2008 Merrill Lynch breakaway to a big bank puzzle piece in 2012

November 5, 2012 at 7:04 AM

Kevin Keller: Alan Goldfarb’s description of the alleged violation ... is not correct.

CFP Board shoots down Goldfarb's description of his alleged violation

The former chairman claims he's being hanged on a semantic technicality, but CEO Kevin Keller repudiates the claim

November 5, 2012 at 4:58 AM

Schwab creates visual sugar to make the technical medicine go down with a mobile iPad app.

Seeing mobile devices win niches in immobile offices, Schwab brings its RIA data to an iPad app

The notion of a boardroom in every Starbucks is out -- now the mobility of mobile devices is just a walk down the hall

November 5, 2012 at 4:56 AM

Scott Collins: Some of these large firms found the holes and exploited them.

LPL reaches hard-won agreement to rein in bonuses to big advisors that had proved to be overly generous

OSJs were riding high on incentive systems designed more for solo practices

November 2, 2012 at 4:54 AM

Sallie Krawcheck writes:  I have woken up earlier than my husband almost every day since we have been married.

Sallie Krawcheck talks tough -- and with disarming openness -- online about the glass ceiling and lip gloss

With 45,517 followers on LinkedIn alone the ex-wirehouse exec is using a first-person voice to reinvent herself and expand her sphere of influence, observers say

November 2, 2012 at 4:30 AM

Veritable LP will find plenty of wealth in San Francisco and no clear path to winning it.

$10-billion Philly-area RIA dips a toe in Bay Area waters causing ripples among local firms

Moving into San Francisco almost on the QT, AMG-owned Veritable confirms its first national foray -- but declines to disclose its address

November 1, 2012 at 6:09 PM

Howard Edelstein: Sometimes, the CEO needs a little help.

BondDesk Group chairman takes on CEO role and shifts focus to wealth management and capital markets

The reshuffle, which brings aboard an ex-MSSB vice chairman, is no prelude to a sale new chief Howard Edelstein insists

November 1, 2012 at 6:00 PM

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