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Articles published 7/2013


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Jim Lauder: Saying the growth in target date funds is 'largely attributable to ignorance' is another slap.

Jim Lauder rebuts RIABiz article on the failure of target date funds

By 2020, an estimated 70% of all assets in defined contribution plans could be in target date funds -- and that's a good thing, according to the author

July 31, 2013 at 5:48 AM

Downtown Omaha is the fount of the RIA business with its critical mass of competent, cheerful people who can smile and work at an affordable rate.

How Omaha is emerging as the RIA business' center of gravity

With no mountains to block your views or salt air to rust your car, you can get down to business with no distractions and low expenses

July 30, 2013 at 5:42 AM

Ron Rhoades: Only we, as professionals, if armed with a history of its practical application, will be able to call upon Congress to implement a true fiduciary standard and the formation of a professional regulatory organization.

What the 8 pillars of a FINRA-replacing entity for RIA oversight look like and how personal accountability is key

First and foremost, the PRO would have as it members individuals (not firms) who are qualified to become members of the profession

July 28, 2013 at 4:11 PM

John Michel penned the letter to clients of BloombergBlack alerting them that his company -- for now -- is withdrawing from the investment advisory business.

Bloomberg warns that BloombergBlack is shutting down

The move toward a 'very quick death' shocks virtually everyone as the New York data giant alludes to its plans to offer financial advice down the road

July 25, 2013 at 10:29 PM

Brad Sullivan: I have a four-year-old son. I would not put my son at risk if I didn't think this move was worth it.

Why a young Morgan Stanley team moved to Beverly Hills Wealth Management -- with a child in mind

The breakaway movement continues to revive fueled by mid-sized firms like Sullivan Wealth Management despite a bull market

July 25, 2013 at 7:31 PM

RIABiz has put its hub in a quiet place, Mill Valley, conducive to thinking.

RIABiz turns four -- and readership grows another 39%

Our Mill Valley-Indiana-New York-Berkeley-Toronto-based website continues to grow by concentrating on substance and by eliminating toxic distractions

July 25, 2013 at 4:13 AM

Jon Patullo: This isn't endorsing the [software] firm.

How TD Ameritrade is playing the logo game to spur 4,000 of its wavering RIAs to adopt its third-party hook-ups

'Veo Integrated' is a clunky name for smooth hand-offs of data from custodian to vendor to RIA -- and back

July 24, 2013 at 5:09 AM

Bill Van Law: We saw advisors who ... left for an RIA model, and that was disturbing. That reinforced that the strategy wasn't going to work going forward unless we created something more competitive.

After 'disturbing' RIA losses at Raymond James, Bill Van Law is going on offense -- starting with hires of veteran LPL and Fidelity execs

The big Florida custodian and broker is finally holding itself accountable to a stiff target -- doubling to $16 billion in two years -- as it buys up expensive talent while cutting prices

July 23, 2013 at 1:03 PM

Robert Boslego: There is no guarantee that stocks will recover from a major loss within the time frame the retirement money is needed. [An investor] may literally die waiting for his or her portfolio to recover.

Why target date funds fail in the one area they're supposed to succeed -- downside protection

SEC recommendations about the inherent risk of target date funds are more controversial than their author's realize, says a veteran risk assessor

July 22, 2013 at 3:40 AM

Ray Lucia: I'm pretty depressed that the government has such disdain for successful people and will stop at nothing to destroy them.

Why RIAs need to pay heed to a ruling that put a media star and advisor out of business -- and out $300,000

A judge ruled that Ray Lucia lacked the back-up to justify his hypothetical back-tests as the SEC pins a bull's eye on the strategy

July 19, 2013 at 4:00 AM

Ian Ayres has stirred up a serious hornet's nest from New Haven.

401(k) industry flummoxed over Yale professor's 6,000 'threatening' letters to plan sponsors

The eclectic academic says he'll go public targeting alleged 'high-cost plans' as sponsors flood phone lines of advisors and recordkeepers and Brightscope is drawn into the fray

July 18, 2013 at 5:01 PM

Jim Pavia is the latest in a swath of new hires intended to bolster the content of CNBC's business news network's digital presence.

Jim Pavia departs InvestmentNews and gets picked up by CNBC as part of its high-dollar hiring spree aimed at attracting advisors to its consumer-based website

The print-to-online maelstrom in trade media is hitting storm force; AdvisorOne changes its name to ThinkAdvisor

July 18, 2013 at 2:19 AM

Ron Rhoades: Shouldn't the phrase: 'member, FINRA' be viewed like the warnings on cigarette packages -- i.e., as a consumer warning sign?

FINRA's scandalous litany of failures and its efforts to redefine the true fiduciary standard out of existence

Our one-man think tank continues his scathing indictment of the SRO's disingenuous and downright fraudulent practices

July 17, 2013 at 3:10 AM

Rudy Adolf: The partners and management gave up their majority ownership. It is not an issue whatsoever.

Partners at Focus Financial check their egos at the door to secure $216 million of hard cash

Polaris, Summit and CEO Rudy Adolf sell a portion of their stake in the big aggregator to Centerbridge Capital Partners -- and it puts them in a minority position for the first time

July 16, 2013 at 1:49 AM

Jeff Spears: People have the mantra that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. There are no pain points.

How two deals struck last week show midsize RIAs reigniting the M&A and breakaway movements

The stakes are high for an ex-Morgan Stanley team that bolted with years to go on retention bonuses and a Virginia RIA is hitching its expansion plans to United Capital's star

July 15, 2013 at 4:15 PM

Rob Isbitts: It was amazing to see how far this field has come. And yet, I wonder if it's already gone the way of too many advisory industry trends: Overkill!

Top 10 alternatives to alternative investments for RIAs: 2013 edition

Our alts maven gives his thumbs-up and thumbs-down on products and strategies and offers ways to cultivate a taste for off-the-menu offerings in clients

July 15, 2013 at 4:15 PM

The lobby at 315 Summer St. is airy, high-ceilinged, adorned by bright modern art and nobody engaged in conversations qualified in my mind as a dour New Englander.

My day of visiting the Fidelity campus in Boston and what vision and vibe I experienced

There's a Silicon Valley feel of natural light, spread-out buildings and sleeve-rolling that contrast with previous visits

July 12, 2013 at 1:39 AM

Cara Williams: We do really want to be relevant in the retail space.

Mercer finally makes its 25,000 investment strategies available to RIAs with HighTower as its first big client

Once institutional-only, the New York giant sees greener pastures on the lower (retail) alps of the investment business

July 11, 2013 at 2:40 AM

Mike Durbin: Our attitude is the world is an absolutely enormous place so the overlaps don't bother us at all.

Fidelity reorganizes its advisor business and extrudes a custody unit aimed at outsourcers, roll-ups and TAMPs

The move is the biggest effort yet to wield the combined capacities of National Financial Services and Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services as a single Fidelity weapon

July 10, 2013 at 1:09 PM

Ron Rhoades: Brokers continue to operate with a free hand -- unburdened by the duty of nearly every other person in the U.S.

The story of FINRA's implacable drift from its founding ideals to a pallid 'no-lying baseline'

In Part 2 of a four-part series, our one-man think tank narrates the back story of today's fiduciary standoff, getting to the root of the 'insidious conflicts' that made the terms 'broker' and 'trustee' oxymoronic

July 9, 2013 at 4:04 AM

Maria Elena Lagomasino: The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

One special GenSpring spin-away (the old chief's new venture) is thriving as a $1.6-billion RIA and using a retrofitted stock broker's trick

Miami's Mel Lagomasino, former CEO of J.P. Morgan Private Bank, (and GenSpring) will be a family office that eschews asset-based fees, discretionary assets, commissions and even -- going forward -- its international emphasis

July 7, 2013 at 9:38 PM

Brian Hamburger: If investment advisors and brokers are family ... then don't punish the advisor because his cousin misbehaves.

Top RIA lawyer explains to the SEC why 'harmony' is a harsh misnomer and why the price of its false spin is paid by investors

MarketCounsel chief pleads for the regulator to draw a bright line between 'patently disparate and distinct' sales and advice models or risk a watered-down fiduciary standard

July 5, 2013 at 10:51 PM

Scott MacKillop, Frank Trotter and Alex Potts on the high-risk, 18-hour rim-to-river-to-rim hike

RIA leaders venture to Grand Canyon to get beneath Earth's surface -- and their own

Business bound these execs and advisors on a self-inflicted adventure, but their bonds were tested on a deeper level

July 3, 2013 at 9:45 PM

Karl Thunemann: Tibergien stops me and says, 'I want to be very emphatic about this. There is nothing wrong with a solo practitioner. Nothing at all.'

Investor Karl interviews Mark Tibergien -- guru, author, chief -- who tells why solo practices are far from extinct

The gospel of RIA says these days that big and complex is The Way, but the Pershing Advisor Solutions chief proves an unexpected champion of the mom-and-pop advisory shop

July 3, 2013 at 4:31 AM

Adam Birenbaum: We can't compete against Morgan Stanley from an advertising budget.

Focus Financial gets a long-sought $400 million DFA RIA in Dallas -- with Adam Birenbaum's firm as the final added ingredient

Rudy Adolf's roll-up-like team used crerativity and persistence to get Jim Whiddon out for coffee; Matt Brinker at United Capital also closed a small deal but projects bigger revenue will come aboard soon

July 2, 2013 at 5:30 AM

Bill Wostoupal: It is highly unlikely the IBD is going to help them put a private-labeled app in the Droid and App stores.

What Securities America and NorthStar Financial are up to with the creation of Arbor Point

The Cornhusker State companies found common ground in building a home for the burgeoning 'Goldilocks' category of not-too-RIA, not-too-IBD advisor

July 1, 2013 at 6:09 AM

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