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Articles published 7/2014


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Dan Sontag: I met with Rudy Adolf several times ... and I was suitably impressed.

Dan Sontag surfaces as new cog in Focus Financial machine for taking down wirehouse advisors

After laying low for five years, the passed-over Merrill heir apparent will help advise Chis Dupuy in budding 'Connections' program

July 31, 2014 at 6:17 PM

Ray Lucia Jr.: We have a profound respect for my father ... his regulatory challenges are his and his alone.

Derek Bruton joins forces with Ray Lucia Jr. in San Diego to execute national RIA hybrid plan

The ex-LPL exec saw no issue at all joining the eponymous son of the radio host barred by the SEC

July 31, 2014 at 2:08 PM

Jeffrey Fratarcangeli is the dream FiNet recruit -- big assets from a big rival.

The perplexing case of Wells Fargo's non-wirehouse advisors: A blueprint for Merrill, UBS and Morgan or a cheap lesson in what not to do

The good news is that FiNet is the fastest growing channel at Wells Fargo; the bad news is that its brand and compliance can be hindrances

July 29, 2014 at 9:14 PM

Fred Tomczyk: Some of our peers will catch up with that ... probably all of them will redesign their technology to make sure they meet that competitive advantage that we've had.

How TD Ameritrade's patient, patient bet on RIAs is finally paying off

CEO Fred Tomczyk is talking advisor software like he might have previously discussed trade volume as RIA assets, and prospects, soar

July 28, 2014 at 9:22 PM

Bernie Clark: We're going to rewrite the whole portfolio management tool.

Bernie Clark promises Schwab is getting there on its PortfolioCenter rewrite but competitors say the clock is ticking

Rivals cite lingering challenges for the ubiquitous software but its custody platform tie-in is a difference-maker, Joel Bruckenstein says

July 25, 2014 at 11:36 PM

Walter Bettinger: We are fast at work.

What's up with Schwab getting into the robo-style online advice business and is Windhaven the linchpin?

Walt Bettinger's options for building using existing ETF portfolio capabilities or buying one of the many robos in existence point to a no-lose move

July 25, 2014 at 11:15 PM

Marilyn Mohrman-Gillis: Quite frankly, what we're spending is less than half a percent of all financial services' expenditures.

How the CFP Board is getting its $40 million's worth from its advertising campaign and how it isn't

Unaided recognition of CFP certification jumps about 90% in three years ...assets stemming from that, not so much

July 24, 2014 at 9:55 PM

Richard Hough: The company had a plan of going public from day one.

How a classic $16.2 billion RIA pulled off an IPO after a few speedbumps and why the decision is looking good

Shares of Silvercrest Asset Management are up about 40% and Wall Street analysts are proferring praise

July 24, 2014 at 4:44 PM

Rich Gill is bringing his analytical and personal skills to AMG's effort to replicate its asset mangement success on the RIA side.

Why AMG's poach of Rich Gill could be the missing ingredient for its V-8 roll-up engine

Loaded with cash, experience and $11.5 billion of market cap, the North Shore asset manager just downloaded the RIA roll-up app in hiring the Focus Financial veteran

July 22, 2014 at 6:48 PM

Karen White: We're winning customers from Advent, Black Diamond every quarter.

Addepar has two new 'grown-up' leaders but the same mantra: double down, triple down then quadruple down on engineering

The almost unfathomable Silicon Valley investment being poured into creating wealth management software a catch-up move after decades of falling behind

July 21, 2014 at 7:59 PM

Spencer Bachus: The important thing is to have a better system to stop potential fraud.

Spencer Bachus's amazing turnabout from RIA villain to white knight and the miserable state of Dodd Frank's advancement of fiduciary care

Once presumed to be in FINRA's back pocket, the Alabama congressman co-sponsors H.R. 1627 -- a huge boon to SEC oversight of RIAs

July 21, 2014 at 3:40 AM

Walter Bettinger: With the right full-service model for serving today’s investors, we are driving sustained momentum in our business.

8 takeaways from Schwab's earnings report and commentary including: We are 'full-service', dammit

The San Francisco-based company is upping its rhetoric relating to its bid to bring higher-level investment counsel to high net worth investors

July 18, 2014 at 7:49 PM

Skip Schweiss in front of the Nevada Falls: The plan was to go out in waves .... We almost needed an algorithm to figure it all out.

How a band of advisor-execs scaled 5,000 sunless feet to the summit of the Half Dome -- and the lessons the exploit yields for growing RIAs

Advisors donned headlamps, assuming considerable risk effecting the nighttime ascent in Yosemite -- including an encounter with a mama bear

July 18, 2014 at 3:05 PM

Jim Herbert: The answer is yes, a little bit.

The hornet's nest that a $25.9-billion AUM RIA owner stepped on and how much it cost

Ex-Merrill Lynch-owned First Republic and buyer of Luminous Capital underestimated the burdens of Dodd-Frank -- and the tolerance of Wall Street analysts

July 17, 2014 at 6:21 PM

Clayton G. Deutsch: If you know Peter Raimondi, you know we're not going to sit on cruise control.

As Boston Private and Banyan Partners merge, the Big Three roll-ups become the Big Four

Banyan's Peter Raimondi will lead the combined entity that could morph into a fearsome acquirer

July 17, 2014 at 4:23 AM

Kevin Corbett: For me, it was picking my favorite client and spending more time with them.

In two-part deal, Fidelity sacrifices a top talent to its top RIA client then fills the gap with an impressive hire from Schwab

Mariner's Marty Bicknell nabs Kevin Corbett and Fidelity's Bob Oros in turn snaps up Catherine Davies

July 16, 2014 at 6:22 PM

John Michel: We started all over again. We're not building the same product.

BloombergBlack rematerializes as CircleBlack minus Bloomberg

John Michel salvaged the lessons learned and momentum of a venture that was on a roll when its plug got pulled

July 15, 2014 at 5:19 PM

Karin Risi: To the extent there's conflict, it's always been there.

How exactly Vanguard Group -- with a dash of robo and lots of mojo -- went from a virtual unknown in wealth management to posing a threat to Merrill Lynch

The fund giant has 250 CFPs on staff for VPAS in Malvern, Charlotte and Scottsdale and virtually no minimum or maximum client size

July 14, 2014 at 12:00 AM

Bob McCann: To be the world’s greatest wealth management firm, I believe you need a strong investment bank.

The 13 most telling quotes from UBS's Bob McCann in his Washington Post interview

The ex-Merrill brokerage chief's comments walk the RIA-wirehouse line

July 11, 2014 at 3:09 AM

Shirl Penney: The whole idea is to make it engaging and for the most pressing questions to be asked.

Shirl Penney will grill three of his big vendors on stage in Vegas: Mike Durbin, Mark Tibergien and Bernie Clark

At the MarketCounsel event, the Dynasty Financial chief promises not to toss softballs at the RIA custody heads, saying he knows their strengths and weaknesses

July 10, 2014 at 11:42 PM

Joseph Saldana: It's like sitting at your house and watching a storm blowing in from the horizon — you don't really know how bad it is until it's upon you.

An ex-Lehman exec with a 2008 crash sideline seat becomes Mr. Inside for the TAMP, roll-up and RIA where Michael Kitces is Mr. Outside

Pinnacle has hit $1.3 billion of AUM and is pushing forward aggressively with hires, strategic plans and offering 'office hours' with the planning research head dubbed 'stump the Kitces'

July 10, 2014 at 5:22 AM

Bill Chetney: I went to Mark Casady and Robert Moore and said: This is my natural habitat. I'd like to lead but from this format.

Bill Chetney is back to compete with LPL (among others) and Mark Casady is very much on board

His new $40-billion OSJ start-up will use the LPL hybrid platform and get a hand from the broker-dealer in procuring a right-to-recruit agreement and software

July 9, 2014 at 3:21 AM

Helena Jonassen: It was an enormously difficult decision for me to leave U. S. Trust.

Helena Jonassen bids farewell to US Trust after 18 years to rejoin breakaway colleagues at Evercore

The senior trust and fiduciary officer at the BoA subsidary is starting a new life at Evercore

July 8, 2014 at 6:27 PM

Ron Cordes: My advisor said, no, that's beyond the fiduciary role of my portfolio, so we really can't pursue it.

How Ron Cordes is putting RIA, UBS, billions of dollars and the Congo into the same impact-investing conversation

The AssetMark co-founder has a charity and for-profit and competes and engages in co-opetition with UBS, Schwab, Fidelity and Vanguards

July 8, 2014 at 3:50 PM

Talking to Chuck is likely going to cost you a few thousand more.

Schwab Private Client edges its fee closer to the classic RIA standard

Schwab Private Client jacked its price 20% and its minimum fee jumps 60%

July 4, 2014 at 12:56 AM

Bill Crager: We will leverage our core competency of converting large books of business.

After years of working to stand on its own two feet, Placemark staggers into the arms of Envestnet

The future looked nova-bright in 2006 when Smith Barney labelled the Dallas-based advisor, but since then the UMA specialist has fallen short of expectations

July 3, 2014 at 3:24 PM

Tim Clark: Half of my new business has been from engaging firms that didn't previously have an advisor -- they literally had nothing.

With plan sponsors 'running blind' on 401k plans, an RIA jumps from $12 billion to $32 billion of AUA and adds a former J.P. Morgan chief

Lockton Retirement Services locks in on 'small' businesses that have no DOL-assuaging fiduciary overseeing DC assets before they walk through the door

July 2, 2014 at 5:50 PM

Wayne Bloom:  We're really a great big RIA.

What's up with J.D. Power naming Commonwealth top IBD for the fourth straight year

One trick, Wayne Bloom says, is that he relentlessly squeezes feedback out of his 1,600 advisors

July 2, 2014 at 12:32 AM

David Bach: The No. 1 question I get asked: 'Who's a good financial advisor that I can hire?' I have not had anywhere to send these people.

Ric Edelman takes on an advisor-evangelist clone in David Bach -- but says mitigating key-man risk is a very secondary purpose of the hire

The two media maestros will modify their approach to being fishers of advisors rather than fishers of assets

July 1, 2014 at 7:09 PM

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