RIABiz

News, Vision & Voice for the Advisory Community

RIABiz

Brooke Southall

A native Mainer, Brooke founded RIABiz 13 years ago because he wanted to write for an editor demanding articles get past syrupy quotation, satanic jargon and the Wall Street framing of how financial advice gets sold. He spends his days now in California writing, editing and coaching writers. He lives on a houseboat, works in an office and juggles calls across the five time zones and four countries his small team works. He's out to prove an economic major can make a living as a journalist and that articles need not be a loss leader if they are written well and geared to an intelligent readership.

Articles written by Brooke Southall


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Joe Duran: I've never had in seven prior fundings something go so smoothly.

Charlesbank bets bank on Joe Duran -- 'very risky' by private equity standards -- but the 'Rise' model, capital amid scarcity and a 'Joe' factor have observers high on its prospects

The Boston- and New York-based blue-chip 'middle market' player stakes the Duran 'accelerator' venture $250 million with a view to a killing in a market starved for get-over-the-hump expertise and financing

February 1, 2024 at 4:41 PM

Schwab is shedding staffers at TDA Institutional Jersey City offices..

Charles Schwab filed in November under New Jersey WARN laws for October layoffs in Jersey City -- the former TD Ameritrade RIA custody headquarters; the layoffs become official Feb. 5 under NJ labor laws

The Westlake, Texas company disclosed the planned February cuts in a state filing and their relation to big cuts first reported in July, and executed in October

January 31, 2024 at 2:14 AM

SF Mayor London Breed: Taking steps to turn around the Golden Gate City.

Schwab IMPACT is back in San Francisco -- its old stomping grounds -- a boost for the city after Schwab dumped it, and it struggled post-COVID

Pushed to perhaps its latest date ever, Nov. 19-21, the 2024 event will swing from Right Coast Philadelphia to Left Coast 'Frisco, at a venue yet to be announced.

January 30, 2024 at 3:17 AM

The Sora Finance co-founders were named top emerging technologists.

Familiar faces -- Bill, Eric, Oleg and Joel -- dominate Day One at T3 but Syntax Data and SoraFinance get their moment -- and Oleg brandishes app marvel

The big companies like Orion, Envestnet and Invent cement the 20th anniversary of the Joel Bruckenstein event with bundle-ism, but green sprouts of new firms are everywhere; the kids get AI

January 24, 2024 at 6:27 AM

Karen McColl: Demand for financial planning services from clients is exploding.

RightCapital conversions from MoneyGuidePro are a catalyst for Commonwealth's move to put paraplanners at advisor fingertips

The Waltham, Mass., IBD with 2,200 reps is latest, after LPL, to create a paraplanner bank of people for advisors to use -- and pay for -- as they go, and switch software vendors smoothly

January 20, 2024 at 3:03 AM

David Solomon: With our clear and simplified strategy, we have a much stronger platform for 2024.

Goldman Sachs salvages $349-million 'gain' from its United Capital misadventure that may also be a $400-million haircut

The New York City investment bank managed a sale and jailbreak of its in-house mass-affluent RIA but was able to get enough assets transitioned to Peter Mallouk's Creative Planning for the accounting win

January 19, 2024 at 1:45 AM

Stephen Caruso: RIAs can encourage advisors to embrace a more decentralized approach.

The classic RIA era is sputtering and firms must 'decentralize,' hiring non-advisors to specialize, new Cerulli report shows, or RIAs will 'limp along,' a second consultant says

RIA principals have killed Wall Street with semi-solo shops -- only 35% have 'specialized staff' -- but the comfort zone must evolve for growth

January 13, 2024 at 2:24 AM

Jon Jones: The only way we can do that at scale is to have a modern platform that uses the latest technologies, designed by true innovators.

Reed Colley reports $20-billion AUA RIA win -- a legacy Envestnet-Tamarac shop -- as proof point Summit Wealth software is ascendant

The San Francisco-based Black Diamond founder has Summit Wealth playing hardball among elite RIAs with Brighton Jones as pioneer.

January 12, 2024 at 3:23 AM

Gary Gensler: We did not approve or endorse Bitcoin. Investors should remain cautious.

Gary Gensler post-exchange listing approval for Bitcoin ETF includes a stark '1940 Act' warning to RIAs not to read too much tolerance into it

The SEC head bent to the will of the Stamford, Conn, fund firm's lawsuit and rivals -- BlackRock, Fidelity and eight others -- piled on for the ride, but ETF price spreads are wide and likely headed for a shakeout.

January 11, 2024 at 3:35 AM

Andrew Kadjeski: 'We saw this as an opportunity to offer a cash product the Vanguard way.'

After many beta tests, Vanguard finally launches bank cash product for non-Vanguard investors, a U-turn but also likely thorn in the side of Schwab, Fidelity

High-yield but low frills, the Malvern, Pa., giant's long tip-toe back to cash makes it a me-too filler product but perhaps effective.

January 10, 2024 at 3:11 AM

Fisher Investments new Plano headquarters is part of the intrigue of the Fisher Investments story.

Fisher Investments is again part of a public firestorm after media heavyweights report it has entered sale talks; Fisher fires off heated denial, but one analyst still sees smoke on the horizon

The Plano, Texas RIA with $236 billion of AUM -- worth perhaps $10 billion -- flamed The Wall Street Journal for anonymously sourced report, without checking with firm, but did not condemn nearly identical Bloomberg report.

January 4, 2024 at 2:37 AM

Andrew Blake: The past year was a big year.

RIAs remain wirehouse kryptonite in 2024, and by 2027, JP Morgan, Merrill, Wells and UBS will see market share tailspin -- RIAs the obvious culprits, Cerulli data shows

'RIAs' will control nearly one-third of advised assets by 2027, up from 27% today, virtually switching spots with wirehouses in a statistically zero-sum battle for market dominance, Cerulli projects.

January 3, 2024 at 1:21 AM

The tide is rising and the fog is lifting on the RIA industry.

2023 was great RIA year and nobody really noticed, setting up 2024 for a more visceral reap

Pushing toward $10 trillion on multiple rising tides -- and with much creative destruction sorted out -- the RIA channel, ethos and movement are succeeding quietly in plain sight

December 30, 2023 at 1:39 AM

Huatei is a Chinese financial colossus that saw the U.S. wealth market as ripe but may have second thoughts.

Huatei Securities is ready to cash out of AssetMark, after it hits $100-billion of AUM and $2-billion in market cap, according to reports

The Chinese financial conglomerate may unload all of the $1.4-billion stake it bought for $768 million in 2016

December 21, 2023 at 4:18 AM

Joanna Rotenberg: I’ve traveled 20,000-plus miles across the U.S. and internationally.

Joanna Rotenberg is departing Fidelity Investments after only two years, writing that she traveled 20,000 miles and successfully split her retail division into wealth and brokerage units

At her hire, analysts were adamant the head of Fidelity retail had 'big shoes to fill' to replace legendary Kathleen Murphy and her task of 'digitiizing' retail was no small ask

December 16, 2023 at 2:22 AM

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