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Content tagged "Schwab"

Schwab PortfolioCenter

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Schwab Advisor Services

Filed under: Asset Custodian
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Leonard Palmer allows that not every RBC broker's request to become an RIA under RBC is approved.

What ever became of RBC's RIA custody unit after it showed such promise
Royal Bank of Canada high-ups say RBC Advisor Services still holds importance, but the Cerulli numbers are concerning and some RBC brokers are barred from channel switches

Thursday 5.16.13
Steve Lockshin: I think we were surprised at the resistance from the entire industry.

What led to Advizent's end and why Steve Lockshin is unfazed, even energized
The RIA business -- including custodians, asset managers and advisory firms -- lived up to its reputation of resisting cooperation

Wednesday 5.15.13
Jeff Carney has been test-driving jobs and settled on the Canadian model.

Jeff Carney lands in Ontario where he'll lead a fund giant with 4,500 associated financial advisors
Schwab's short-tenured ex-branch chief and former Fido star returns to near his college stomping grounds in taking role at Mackenzie Investments

Saturday 5.4.13
Walter Bettinger: We did not expect conflict. We're not seeing it.

Some Schwab independent branches are raking in assets as much as 200% above goals, Schwab CEO says
Analysts applaud the scant data but one RIA has the opposite reaction to what Walt Bettinger said

Thursday 5.2.13
Ed O'Brien: Any of the custodians could probably put together an offering like this ... but they haven't.

Is Fidelity's move to put RIAs deeper into the cloud gonna make it rain?
'First to market' crows Fido. 'Not even close' counter other custodians. But one expert says the Boston-based firm's one-click platform could change everything

Wednesday 5.1.13
Walter Bettinger: There was a period late yesterday in which wait times were excessive.

Schwab CEO issues 'sincere' apology, reassures on data security and calls attacks a 'fact of life' after website goes down
Walt Bettinger also declares mea culpa surrounding long wait times for telephone service late on Tuesday

Thursday 4.25.13
When websites go down, however briefly, it rocks our world.

Schwab's website went down twice after two 'denial of service' attacks -- so what was up?
The San Francisco-based broker showed that even it's not immune to web fritz; RIAs take it in stride though not without administering a healthy dose of schadenfreude

Wednesday 4.24.13
Jeff Chiappetta: The most common thing advisors use options for is to sell a covered call. A covered call generates income in the immediate term.

TD, Schwab and Pershing RIA units embrace mini-option mania to hedge Google, Apple, ETFs
Options have a gambling aura but some advisors find that the are quite the opposite when used with care

Wednesday 3.20.13
Tina Valenzuela: Schwab will continue looking into product development opportunities.

Killing two birds with one stone, Schwab delves deeper into the variable annuity game
With interest rates low, consumers are desperate for safe income and Schwab needs a way to generate revenues to replace lost money market fees

Monday 3.18.13
Mike Durbin: We feel that the story about ETF investing goes beyond the simple costs and is like an onion, and there are several layers.

How Fidelity is locking arms with BlackRock and appealing to RIAs to fend off a Schwab ETF threat
The Boston and New York giants are seeking a big win by offering greater value through greater liquidity on the distribition side -- while quietly partnering on ETF-making in the fund factory

Thursday 3.14.13
Mindy Diamond: You can imagine the size of transition packages that he was offered and turned down.

HighTower grabs sought-after $650 million Merrill Lynch 'life sciences' team and shrugs off recent deal slowdown
In the old money town of Philadelphia, the strategic buyer is 'planting a flag' and going after new wealth created in the biotech realm

Wednesday 2.20.13
Esther Stearns: We are not really recruiting advisors in the sense LPL does. We're training them to become good advisors.

NestWise is starting to take shape and take flight under LPL's wing -- and from under Schwab's shadow
The San Fran-based venture, headed by a former Schwabie, is pioneering technology, mass-affluent retainers and choice of labor pool, for starters

Wednesday 2.13.13
Paul Weisbruch questions whether Schwab is providing the same apparent ETF value once trading spreads are figured in.

Schwab makes play for ETF-distribution domination but not without risks
Low margins, a small list of ETFs, plenty of competition and possible trade-spread issues make this OneSource bid no slam-dunk

Friday 2.8.13
Stephen Cucchiaro: Think of all the bad things that could happen in the future.

As Windhaven assets head moonward, Stephen Cucchiaro keeps right on warning of falling skies in New York
At IMCA event, the Schwab investments superstar is selling catastrophe-proofing at Dow 14,000 as well as he was at Dow 7,000

Tuesday 2.5.13
Roger Hewins:We don't use them. We don't even look at them.

Why Schwab handed Facebook and Apple 'F' ratings -- and why advisors seem unfazed
Clients may be perturbed by the flunking grades meted out to the popular Silicon Valley firms even as some RIAs discount the data as 'backward-looking'

Monday 1.21.13
Bernie Clark with Paul Merage Scbool of Business dean Andy Policano: 'Schwab is thrilled to be supporting academic institutions to cultivate highly skilled future business leaders'.

Schwab nonprofit ponies up $500K for simulated securities floor to give prospective advisors hands-on experience
Cozying up to academic institutions has both a charitable and a shrewd side; Zero Alpha Group also launches an education project

Friday 1.18.13
Travis Rychnovsky: We wanted functionality that PortfolioCenter didn't have.

Orion bags Schwab's 'best' advisor -- a $1.3 billion RIA weaned on Schwab PortfolioCenter
Eric Clarke will serve Foster Group but he's also becoming a vendor of the firm's startup, Orchestrate, which automates work flows through Salesforce

Wednesday 1.9.13
Mark Feldman: We're lining up outside funding. Schwab wants to be a partner.

Why a $1.5 billion RIA is selling internally this time -- perhaps with Schwab as 'investment bank' -- after a sale to an outsider went bad
Miller/Russell of Phoenix is partially owned by a client and plans to enlist custodians to finance junior advisors in their quest for partnership

Monday 1.7.13
Greg Friedman: If I could have waved a wand, I would have had it two years ago.

Greg Friedman is set to finally bring Junxure to the cloud and beat back the Salesforce-ification of the industry
True, the ascension to cloud would have happened sooner in an ideal world, but the world has not passed Junxure by, the RIA and software entrepreneur says

Wednesday 12.12.12
Schwab held IMPACT in Chicago this year but really the city was already very much on the RIA map.

The case for Chicago as an epicenter of the RIA world
The rise of registered investment advisors here means the city, once viewed as a very secondary financial center to New York and the Bay Area, is coming into its own in a big way

Tuesday 12.11.12
Kris McCabe is charged with helping to bring back Advisor Partners to its former asset stature.

Hire of former Fidelity and Wealthfront talent is latest move by Andrew Rudd to remake Advisor Partners
Kris McCabe has admired Andrew Rudd's company from afar and now he believes he can get its brand humming

Monday 12.10.12
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

Wednesday 11.21.12
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

Tuesday 11.20.12
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

Monday 11.19.12
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

Friday 11.16.12
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

Thursday 11.15.12
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

Thursday 11.15.12
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

Wednesday 11.14.12
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

Wednesday 11.14.12
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

Tuesday 11.6.12
Neesha Hathi: This is where the attorneys go to the side and the project managers take over.

Schwab and Advent Software forge historic agreement -- mostly for the good of Black Diamond users for now
Aided perhaps by the ex-Schwab employees moving to Jacksonville, the two giant RIA forces, both San Francisco-based, are looking happily engaged

Wednesday 10.31.12
Tom Nally: If we just have a small piece of their business, we won't show up on the radar of senior management and internal operations staff will just look at you with resistance as yet another form to fill out or process to re-engineer.

Tom Nally answers 10 questions that show one seminal shift: TD Ameritrade no longer seeks a few assets and extended probation
The RIA custodian built by taking token accounts from Schwab malcontents then scrambling for the rest is now leaving the peashooter at home

Friday 10.26.12
Mike Durbin: We've stabilized this foundation.

Fidelity to play midwife to RIAs-in-the-making now that WealthCentral is firmly on its feet
Fidelity RIA execs envision a post-WealthCentral landscape that incudes marketing consultations, strategic planning sessions and M&A facilitation

Friday 10.19.12
Bernie Clark says Windhaven's phenomenal growth has already justified the investment in it and that ThomasPartners will follow a similar course of success.

A look inside Schwab's second big deal with a small asset manager
Using its RIA custody unit as a talent pool, the San Francisco giant is bringing ThomasPartners into primetime.

Wednesday 10.17.12
Chris Crawshaw: This is a great opportunity for us to show the commitment to Japan, which is extremely important to Japanese residents.

A new office in Japan? It's the latest bold move by a $9-billion RIA in Chicago that was acquired by Piper Jaffray
Low-profile Advisory Research Inc., sold for more than $200 million, has long served high-net-worth clients but it's asset management business is also strong

Wednesday 10.10.12
Mitchell Reiner: It's advisors that created this, [it's] not a 1-800 number.

How a $1 billion Atlanta RIA is getting fellow RIAs to funnel it their small-ticket clients
Wela nabbed $40 million right off the bat from its parent, Capital Investment Advisors LLC, and has Schwab veteran Paul Scudellari to ensure that assets are soon measured in billions

Thursday 10.4.12
Walter Bettinger: The line of people who have expressed interest is long.

Technical challenges may push Schwab's ETF-only 401(k) plan schedule into 2014 -- deferring an intriguing financial clinical trial
The bad news for Bettinger: a few million more lines of code; The good news: Fidelity won't seek to capitalize on the extended deadline

Wednesday 10.3.12
Rich Steinberg: We're essentially hiring ourselves.

A big Schwab RIA in Florida launches a mass-market venture with Placemark and Schwab as the key pieces
Rich Steinberg is using, in effect, his own RIA as the manager to clients of a startup RIA, outsourcing the technology and counting on Schwab referrals

Monday 10.1.12
Matt Judge: Demand reached a head recently.

Not without criticism, TD Ameritrade opens an 'insurance agency' for RIAs that want to provide annuities
Schwab says it will also use more annuities to meet the swelling demand for retirement income but Jefferson National's CEO questions the custodians' focus on traditional annuities

Friday 9.28.12
Charles Goldman: The number of hybrids has been tapering off and it's been tapering off for a while.

How Charles Goldman, Philip Palaveev, Brian Hamburger and Tim Oden -- and my cabbie -- caught my attention at MarketCounsel Summit
Tussles over scale, branding and professional service played out vividly in Vegas

Friday 9.28.12
Shirl Penney (l.) and Elliot Weissbluth (middle) take their turns listening as Rudy Adolf (r.) explains his firm's impressive M&A feats.

What exactly the CEOs of HighTower, Focus Financial and Dynasty Financial revealed when they shared a stage in Las Vegas
Aggregator honchos appeared together under the unloved roll-up tag to highlight differing and evolving facets of their firms

Tuesday 9.25.12
Ron Carson: There was a lot more to [acquisitions] than we thought.

Ron Carson launches roll-up/TAMP-like venture with Envestnet, TD Ameritrade and Advizent as puzzle pieces
The biggest of LPL's affiliates shows a walk-before-run approach to inorganic growth

Monday 9.24.12
Walt Bettinger: They’re not in response to something else that someone has said.

Walt Bettinger strikes back to show that Charles Schwab won't be bested in the brewing ETF price war
The Schwab CEO says that moves are permanent and that ETFs are not a loss-leader for his firm

Friday 9.21.12
Joe Masterson: It's always bugged me that passive investors weren't paying their fair share.

RIAs join move to right a 401(k) wrong: Lopsided plan expenses -- a non-DOL issue
Participants using mutual funds with active management pay for their passively managed brethren; with fiduciary issues being taken for real, this is a problem

Thursday 9.20.12
Doug Pyle: U.S. Trust possessed that common culture of trust and personal responsibility for our clients.

Dynasty clinches an ex-U.S. Trust advisor's trust by playing its U.S. Trust card
Doug Pyle and Radnor Capital were absorbed by the firm back in 1999 and now they're finding footing in independence again

Thursday 9.20.12
Ron Ferguson revitalized the RIA-owned trust company when he came aboard in 2008.

Ron Ferguson steps down as CEO of National Advisors Trust after 4-1/2 years
The executive proved an adept turnaround artist; now the RIA-owned company is left to search for his replacement

Wednesday 9.12.12
Kevin Kraus: This is the bread and butter of our platform.

Revamping its trading platform, Schwab at long last is poised to catch up with its smaller peers
The giant RIA custodian explains it deliberate pace as a balancing of innovation with the veracity of the existing platform

Friday 9.7.12
Roger Hewins: We could end up with thousands of small clients.

A $2.5 billion RIA makes its mass-market bid for thousands of new clients
Hewins Financial is making the no-minimum move after a six-figure investment in Tamarac software

Tuesday 9.4.12
The M Resort is a sufficient RIA magnet -- though it shares characteristics with a suburban metroplex

'Ocean's Eleven'-grade RIA sharpies set to play Vegas at MarketCounsel's 2012 Summit
A remarkably varied lineup of industry A-listers are odds-on to spark lively conversation at the compliance confab

Friday 8.31.12
Ron Ferguson: We won't lose.

TD, Fidelity and Schwab get green light to custody assets of advisors who use National Advisors Trust
Fido and TD Ameritrade are on board with the RIA-owned custodian and trust company but Schwab is still weighing its options

Thursday 8.23.12
Ben Welch: This is a big advancement.

TD Ameritrade showcases what API can do with slick Veo-iRebal harmonization
The RIA custodian is creating -- and third parties are applauding -- a time-saving, low-error way to trade and rebalance

Tuesday 8.14.12
Michael Brown: When you hit those milestones, it causes you to reflect.

Why making partner at Deloitte Touche helped convince a CPA to join a $2 billion DFA RIA 2,300 miles away
After Michael Brown earned CPA nirvana he realized what he really wanted to do -- become an IA

Friday 8.10.12
When the fog lifts, San Francisco has a case to make.

Why the San Francisco Bay area is almost certainly the capitol of the RIA business
Companies like Schwab, Advent-Black Diamond and Salesforce are based here for starters -- but big wealth managers and lots of open-minded rich people clinch the matter

Monday 7.23.12
Steve Ippolito: You've got $8 million and you're not getting any attention, really?

By hiring a Fidelity sales veteran, National Advisors Trust goes after the $1 million to $10 million client who use $500 million RIAs
Steve Ippolito, an RIA-savvy veteran of Schwab and Fidelity, will also work with existing member firms

Friday 7.6.12
Heather Ettinger: This year was 180 degrees different ... [Bettinger's] chemistry with advisors seemed so much better.

Walt Bettinger's comments on threats facing RIAs clinched success at Schwab's EXPLORE 2012
150 top RIA execs with $150 billion-plus in combined firm AUM gathered in Dana Point, Calif., last week

Wednesday 6.27.12
Steve Onofrio: We needed the new wealth platform to enable a new business model.

SEI makes its play for big RIAs by doing some un-SEI things
The Oaks, Pa. TAMP, long doctrinaire about its closed approach, is taking big steps to open up but it still may not be enough, say some advisors and competitors

Tuesday 6.26.12
Chris Cordaro: We have 25 different workflows in our system....If we waited for Schwab to develop best business practices for us we'd be five years behind.

Schwab escalates the RIA custody arms race by releasing more plug-in business practices called workflows
TD Ameritrade, Schwab and others have designs on inserting neural pathways into advisor practices but one expert questions the workability of automated workflows

Friday 6.22.12
Rene' Nourse: Creating the brochure, I wanted to make sure there were women and people of color represented.

Seeing her small clients take Morgan Stanley's brunt, a 12-year Smith Barney vet decamps with $100 million after meeting with Schwab
Rene' Nourse joins CONCERT to avoid telling smaller clients that MSSB benefits were being taken away and to create a brand aimed at middle class urbanites

Friday 6.22.12
Frank Troise: There's exceptional demand. We just don't have enough advisors on the platform.

How one firm is supposedly cracking the lead generation code to the tune of 50,000 advisors supplied -- by, for now, not trying to create referrals
Investor Watchdog, FreeRetirementReport and Vestorly are among the firms seeing growth but are grappling with vetting issues -- of both advisors and clients

Thursday 6.21.12
Brian Shenson: That's a huge pain point for a lot of our clients.

Schwab moves to keep 3,500 desktop-bound RIAs from walking onto somebody else's cloud
Advisors with PortfolioCenter housed on a closet-based server can get on Schwab's titanic servers without giving up years of customization -- and, finally, get data through Schwab from multiple custodians

Tuesday 6.19.12
Neesha Hathi: That's a bit of an evolution for us.

Schwab shifts its strategy on its massive Intelligent Integration
Schwab evolves to a platform-of-platforms strategy for technology rather than hand-picking best-of-breed applications

Thursday 6.7.12
Bernie Clark: I'll personally deliver your message to the representatives with whom I'll be meeting.

Bernie Clark and Skip Schweiss head to Washington next week to fight on behalf of RIAs in Bachus bill showdown
With FINRA threat looking real, the Schwab and TD Ameritrade executives are urging letters and Tweets

Friday 6.1.12
Anne Tuttle: We’re happy to see more information provided to sponsors.

How giant advice provider Financial Engines can sweep the 401(k) field -- or not
It has $53.7 billion of assets under its managed account platform, but how the new DOL disclosure rules, competition from Morningstar and Schwab's bet on GuidedChoice play out will be very telling

Tuesday 5.22.12
Black Diamond founder Reed Colley is relocating to San Francisco to help chart Advent's broader future with his knowledge of mobile, social media and the cloud.

A year after the Advent-Black Diamond deal, the merged company is making some big chess moves
Reed Colley switches coasts as new hire Mike Golaszewski heads the other way to Jacksonville and the Advent-Black Diamond sales teams merge

Monday 5.21.12
Susan Forman: We got brokersXpress and we evaluated it.

How Schwab may yet reap value from brokersXpress accounts, advisors, staff and assets
The San Francisco broker may find ways to use its better pieces without the need for the extra broker-dealer

Friday 5.18.12
Neesha Hathi: We take client feedback very seriously and we've been watching (Tamarac) for a long time.

Schwab taps Tamarac as its next integration partner
The allure was Microsoft CRM and a significant overlap in customer bases

Thursday 5.17.12
Debbie Pritchard: Most of the advisors we're working with are all talking to us about becoming 3(38)s.

How Schwab is gearing up its RIAs to fight for 401(k) assets
The San Francisco custodian's deal with fi360 will help advisors meet increasing demand from employers that their advisors be fiduciaries

Wednesday 5.16.12
Matthew Hutcheson testified in Congress about 401(k) plans and now the DOL is breathing down his neck.

What to make of a fiduciary flag-bearer's alleged misappropriation of $5 million from clients -- and his denial of the charges
Arrest of Matthew Hutcheson raises questions about the fiduciary movement

Thursday 5.10.12
Michael Araiz: We realized this was more than a meet and greet.

A hungry NYC-based firm takes aim at a bigger future by signing on with Dynasty Financial Partners
Further Lane kept hearing about the vendor of vendors -- then paid a visit, and also put Black Diamond and Callan in its cart

Friday 5.4.12
Walt Bettinger: There's hundreds of billions in assets that are not under an advisory relationship.

Schwab adds $2 billion of assets from Windhaven, with RIA help, and another $2 billion of assets from 41 new RIAs
Walter Bettinger lauds the 'fairly rapid growth' of the recent acquisition

Tuesday 5.1.12
Walt Bettinger: This is a whole new ball game when you're a franchise with Schwab

Walt Bettinger explains to Wall Street why some prospects are balking at investing in Schwab franchises
The Schwab CEO tells listeners of the interim update that the $10 million asset-gathering quota is a psychological hurdle -- but one that can be overcome

Friday 4.27.12
"We don't have to work with aggregators," says Tom Muldowney, pictured here (l-r) with Glenn Kautt and Brent Brodeski, Dick Bennett, Tom Muldowney

Why a pair of Zero Alpha RIAs are combining and out-and-out avoiding roll-ups and private-equity money
Savant Capital and Monitor Group will have a combined $2.7 billion of AUM and hot prospects for gobbling up more firms

Wednesday 4.25.12
Gerald Graves: Scope creep can be disastrous to an individual and to a company.

How Gerald Graves grounded a high-flying career trajectory to get back to basics -- with a 6-foot-11 former NBA player at his side
After top executive spots at Schwab Institutional and M Financial, Graves started Filagree Advisors from scratch and is careful to avoid 'scope creep'

Tuesday 4.24.12
Myles Pritchard: They were making it more difficult and they were getting ready to close accounts down.

Myles Pritchard thought it was better in the Bahamas and Merrill Lynch didn't -- so he left for life with CONCERT Wealth Management
With half of his clients offshore, the LA advisor grew disenchanted with Merrill's lack of appetite for international business

Friday 4.6.12
Brad Griswold: Many of the changes were beneficial to the [LPL] advisors as a whole, but did not offer as much value to our practice.

Why an 18-year LPL rep moved most of his firm's $250 million of assets to Schwab
Brad Griswold had a fondness for Schwab from using PortfolioCenter and is determined to remove all obstacles to growth, profitability and offering choice to clients

Wednesday 4.4.12
Scott D'Alessandro is known to be a driven competitor and only sat out a few months after leaving Fidelity -- probably with decent severance pay.

Former Fidelity rainmaker lands at Schwab after both big custodians reshuffle their East Coast staffing
Scott D'Alessandro could boost Schwab's efforts to gain better traction with aggregators like United Capital and HighTower

Tuesday 3.20.12
Diane Russell: It's just not been at the top of advisors' lists for running their businesses.

Why RIAs are shunning mobile apps and why Black Diamond, Orion, Fidelity and others are still placing their chips on an iPad future
Many providers are stuck at 10% mobile adoption rate, but Fidelity has hit 40% and Orion 30% with their RIA clients

Monday 3.19.12
Jeffrey Carney has no shortage of admirers who think he'll make Schwab's branches much more effective.

Without much ado, Schwab is set to put ex-Fidelity star in charge of its branch system
Jeffrey Carney will get back to his retail roots and could give a needed charge to the San Francisco broker's direct-sale efforts

Wednesday 3.14.12
Shirl Penney and Todd Thomson: The reason to [go independent] is that you want to build equity in something that's yours."

The top 10 people to watch in the RIA business in 2012, Part 2
Keeping an eye on those gaining the most ground in the fleet-footed RIA industry

Tuesday 3.13.12
The FPA put on a humble but eye-opening event in Burlingame, Calif., this week.

A reporter empties his notebook after attending FPA's Business Solutions event
Marty Kurtz lets crowd in on peer review plan, big custodians square off on tech and Eric Clarke yields interesting thoughts in a one-on-one interview

Thursday 3.8.12
Ann Bergin: We'll see a rush to the front door in coming days and weeks.

Schwab wins long-awaited green light from the SEC on alternative-assets distribution
The no-action letter on a DTCC standard may pave the way for custodians to create supermarkets of hedge funds

Wednesday 3.7.12
Mike Harger: What we’re hearing is, 'We like your commitment to the marketplace.'

Fidelity reports 57% boost in 401(k) sales as it sets its sights on smaller plans and advisors
Heading downmarket, the Boston-based firm is trying to muscle in on boutique providers

Wednesday 2.29.12
Franklin Tsung: It is a messy business and not for the meek.

How AppCrown got a big RIA footprint overnight by handling Salesforce implementations
TD and Fidelity are in with both feet but some are taking a wait-and-see attitude

Monday 2.27.12
Brad Stratton: I realized that [Merrill Lynch] was going in a different direction.

Veteran Merrill Lynch manager leaves seven registrations on the table to return to his pure-RIA roots
Fed up with BofA and faced with a choice between managing advisors and being one, Brad Stratton moves to CONCERT

Wednesday 2.22.12
Joel Bruckenstein (with David Drucker): It is the only time during the year that all of the technology vendors to the industry are gathered in one place.

RIAs flock to Dallas for the T3 technology conference
The seventh annual gathering drew 500 advisors, execs, software vendors and custodians with integrations, mobile apps and clouds on their minds

Tuesday 2.21.12
John Beirne: It was really traumatic to go to my manager's office and resign.

A $2 billion, 69-year-old Merrill Lynch advisor passes up the gold watch in favor of breaking away
Fearing the loss of massive public accounts, John Beirne swallowed the idea of independence with help from Focus Financial

Thursday 2.16.12
Marie Chandoha: I like to build things.

Schwab turns the YieldPlus page the old-fashioned way -- with a whole new CSIM team
Ex-Goldman and former BlackRock star Marie Chandoha has quickly overseen Charles Schwab Investment Management's rise from Barron's #34 to top 10 -- but Morningstar wants to see more

Wednesday 2.15.12
John Bunch: I felt like I can go out on top and do something different.

A few words with John Bunch as he steps into the CEO spot at The Mutual Fund Store
Getting recruited away from TD Ameritrade was a shock but ultimately one that captured his heart

Tuesday 2.14.12
Derek Holman: We had grown to the point where the business took up most of the day.

Looking for a second growth spurt, a billion-dollar-plus RIA hires away a Nuveen global ops man
Patrick Goshtigian, new president of EP Wealth Advisors has taken over back-office operations from its founders and is also heading up its expansion efforts

Friday 2.10.12
Ben Brigeman is leaving as Schwab searches for ways to boost profitability in its retail business.

Ben Brigeman is exiting Schwab and his position atop its retail business -- perhaps portending bigger changes
The San Francisco-based company will have Andy Gill and John Clendening assume the duties

Thursday 2.9.12
John Philpott: We want to make sure that they're going to get the return on the investment.

Miller/Russell chooses IAS, after considering Advent and Schwab
The $1.3 billion wealth manager is offering new services and felt it couldn't afford to wait for Schwab's new system

Tuesday 2.7.12
Tom Bradley has achieved impressive results by not taking life too seriously.

What Tom Bradley's 25-year reign at TD Ameritrade says about the RIA business
People in this industry can be themselves while prospering and inventing a profession

Monday 2.6.12
David Barton: We have to live with the decision for a long time.

The TD Ameritrade-Orion pairing again proves productive -- this time to wrest assets from a $3.6 billion Schwab RIA
As part of a barrage of big moves by Mercer Advisors, Tamarac gets superseded for rebalancing

Wednesday 1.25.12
Andrew Salesky: We're very optimistic with the ability to build this model.

The 10 most influential figures in the RIA business going into 2012
The RIA power elite: Part 1 of 2

Tuesday 1.3.12
Fred St. Laurent: A number of smart brokers are going to see this as one of the best deals on the street.

What one recruiter learned about Schwab's franchises after talking to Mary
Initially skeptical, on closer inspection and after talking to Schwab's first franchisee, our correspondent sees a real value proposition in the offing

Wednesday 12.21.11
Mary Murphy is carrying the Schwab brand on her shoulders.

And they're off! Schwab opens the doors to its first independent franchise ... in New Hampshire
Ex-wirehouse advisor and teacher Mary Murphy puts her toe in the water, perhaps leading the way

Wednesday 12.14.11
Stan Ehrlich: Why does Schwab want to franchise its brand and potentially put itself in conflict with some of its own RIAs, such as me and many of my peers in NAPFA?

Are Schwab’s independent branches an opportunity or a threat to RIAs?
For RIAs with financially profitable practices that meet their lifestyle needs, I think owning a franchise would take them back a few steps.

Friday 12.9.11
Gil Baumgarten: New clients say they would have never done business with me at any wirehouse. They think the system is rigged.

How a former Barron's top advisor was able to offload 350 clients and raise profits after leaving UBS
The wirehouse breakaway finds he also has a new social status and the ability to win $19-million clients

Wednesday 12.7.11
Schwab is moving Schwab Private Client completely out of its branches to a remote RIA.

Starting 2012 with a bang, Schwab will place its private client business under a new RIA
The Bay Area firm says it's making the move to avoid compliance clashes with ERISA; others say Schwab's riding the coattails of the RIA movement

Thursday 12.1.11
David Barry 'has a proven track record of strong leadership and the establishment of award-winning service and employee culture' says TCoA of its new chief executive.

Frank Maiorano is out at Trust Company of America and board member is named new CEO
The Colorado-based RIA custodian is putting a ski resort executive, David Barry, in the chief executive spot

Thursday 12.1.11
Mike Golaszewski: I absolutely intend to stay connected to this industry.

After defecting from Schwab a year ago, Mike Golaszewski departs Pershing
The techie helped develop strategies and websites for both companies

Monday 11.28.11
Michael Chasnoff: We always say we are independent and we encourage Fidelity to continue to improve. This relationship can continue, but it's not a permanent relationship.

How one charmed referral set Michael Chasnoff on the path to $900 million of AUM
The power of PR and positive press proved to be the afterburners for Truepoint

Wednesday 11.23.11
Scott Slater says a study by his firm, Schwab, shows that 88% of advisors are looking at an internal succession plan.

3 notable RIA happenings in the past week
CFP Board says it's changing hearts and minds of affluent Americans, studies find more advisors making succession plans and RIAs find clients can't get over their allergy to risk

Monday 11.21.11
Bryan Olson: These funds are there to protect on the downside and there will be a lower kick on the upside in a stronger equity market.

Windhaven misses its 12-month benchmarks again but still hits asset-gathering mark
More advisors are using Schwab's ETF manager but some of them dislike the company's tactical approach

Friday 11.18.11
Neesha Hathi: It would be much simpler to say: Let's make Schwab Advisor Center the center of the universe.

What Neesha Hathi has to say about Schwab's oh-so-slow-but-steady technology initiative
The big custodian is more concerned with error-free melding than quick milestones -- but are competitors pulling ahead while Schwab tinkers?

Wednesday 11.16.11
David Lindenbaum : Our platform is growing and is being used in a way that helps the largest clients of our RIAs

Schwab steals a big chunk of SMA market share from wirehouses, according to new Cerulli data
Taking Wells Fargo's No. 4 spot in the SMA pecking order, the San Francisco dark horse is looking to advance still further

Thursday 11.10.11
Best practices panel share their award-winning strategies. L to R: Nick Georgis, Richard Stone, Peggy Ruhlin and Steve Samsom

What Schwab's best three RIAs for 2011 say about how they got there
Success stories achieved through unorthodox staffing strategies, growth plans and company culture

Tuesday 11.8.11
Marco Bitran: There is a lot of demand for alternatives in the space we're targeting—the RIA and broker-dealer space with high-net-worth clients.

AI Exchange to offer hedge fund-like investments in managed-account form through Schwab, Fidelity
The startup's platform offers advisors access to long-short strategies in managed-account form for investors with $100,000 minimums

Monday 11.7.11
David Selig: I’ve had numerous confidential conversations with other large RIAs who are considering buying themselves back from holding companies.

RIAs reveal their M&A war stories with 200 Schwab IMPACT attendees
Panelists discuss pitfalls to avoid if you're thinking of selling your RIA

Monday 11.7.11
Charles Schwab: We were pretty much in the ashes.

In a rare IMPACT appearance, Chuck Schwab predicts a 'significant turn' for the better
The famous founder is worried about Washington but expects a big market comeback

Friday 11.4.11
Chuck Schwab: The advisor's role today is as complicated as any time in my lifetime.

What Chuck Schwab's talk showed about his complex relationship with RIAs
The Schwab chair let loose a barrage of strong personal opinions yesterday; people mostly noted the candor

Friday 11.4.11
Bernie Clark: I don't know if you've noticed but around you an entire industry has been created...we're just getting started.

Bernie Clark and Tony Blair draw big crowds - but no protestors - at IMPACT
Here's how Bernie Clark rallies the troops. In what almost felt like a snub, Occupy San Francisco kept its distance

Thursday 11.3.11
Schwab's top brass spread the word about new initiatives and chatted with reporter Lisa Shidler.

Inside a reporter's notebook at Schwab's IMPACT
Small moments at a big conference

Thursday 11.3.11
Nikki Chicotel: We're small and that's why we come here.

Nearly 3,800 attendees converge at Schwab IMPACT though power outages back East claim a few
Mixing, mingling and schmoozing as sharp-eyed student-advisor wannabees look on

Wednesday 11.2.11
Jason Lahita: Even Netflix's CEO has not given up, and he's endured one of the worst PR and marketing debacles I've ever seen.

Your public relations horror story: It's not as grim as you think
News cycles are fleeting so pick your battles wisely

Tuesday 11.1.11
Scott David: We said: how can we make this happen?

Schwab and T. Rowe Price finally strike a OneSource deal with help from an ex-Fido exec
Scott David has only just arrived at the Baltimore mutual fund giant from Fidelity in May and he's already pulled off a coup that was 20 years in the making

Monday 10.31.11
Mike Durbin: We want to have the largest clients with the most assets. We're going after the largest teams and getting them.

Mike Durbin is putting his stamp on Fidelity as an RIA custodian for asset-flush breakaways
The leader is working to improve its customer services as the custodian pours big bucks into upgrading its tech offerings

Tuesday 10.25.11
Tom Bradley: We consider ourselves the Apple of the industry.

Once good for a few million, TD Ameritrade's foot-in-the-door strategy is starting to net billions
With the paperwork signed, TD goes to work wooing big RIAs with technology, special pricing and a maverick culture

Tuesday 10.11.11
Neal Ringquist: We're doing it from the top down through enterprises and bottom up trying to convince advisors to buy it themselves.

Long a tech innard for Schwab, LPL and TD, Advisor Software is looking to push its own brand with new product
Its new software, goalgamiPro, is able to make sense of multiple housebold balance sheets and come out with a plan

Tuesday 10.11.11
TD Ameritrade Institutional is moving staff into this San Diego building as part of its growth

What's happening at RIABiz this week and why it matters
We've got our eye on TD Ameritrade's growth, do-it-yourself hedge fund analytics and two elite conferences starting Wednesday

Monday 10.10.11
Jim Weil: There was no straw that broke the camel's back. There was no dirty secret.

Big Chicago advisory firm exits Raymond James; forms its own RIA with Pershing
After a dozen years with the big broker-dealer, the group saw advantages to using NetX360 and working with Mark Tibergien

Friday 10.7.11
Tim Oden: If clients fire the market then they don't need financial advisors.

The booming breakaway market could be slowed by the sick stock market, say Raymond James and Schwab
Dislocation at places like UBS and Merrill Lynch helps recruiters until the point where clients are thoroughly spooked

Friday 9.23.11
TJ Gilsenan: Consider the entire campaign a real-time experiment in content marketing. I highly encourage Schwab to share this information with advisors.

How Schwab's RIA advertising campaign could pay quick dividends for some advisors
The effort should yield quantities of quality content that firms can use

Wednesday 9.21.11
Bernie Clark: This is our responsibility.

Schwab to pump millions of dollars into promoting RIAs as a channel
Bernie Clark tells crowd at national FPA conference that it's not about Schwab

Friday 9.16.11
Myra Rothfeld: You walk the floors here and you really feel the energy.

Genworth Financial snags Myra Rothfeld from Citibank
The TAMP is making the former Schwab and Citi executive its head of marketing

Thursday 9.8.11
Bernie Clark: We win a disproportionate share of business.

Schwab Advisor Services is nearing $800 billion of RIA assets but analysts are split over whether it can continue to dominate
Fidelity keeps flexing its muscles as Schwab raises its hybrid-friendly profile, reaches out to IBDs and rolls out an ambitious vendor platform

Tuesday 9.6.11
Jason Lahita: Trying to somehow gloss over this or claim it was justified would pour gas on the fire - take your lumps for an honest mistake and move forward.

Schwab's rapid response to letter snafu seems to be smoothing ruffled feathers
The custodian garnered praise for its straightforward apology, but does the blunder point up a larger conflict of interest?

Thursday 8.25.11
Brian Shenson: This is really just the tip o the iceberg.

Beta test of Schwab's grand integration plan draws rave, but will the slow rollout prove detrimental?
Schwabinstitutional.com data flows freely into Salesforce.com's CRM in 12-RIA trial

Tuesday 8.23.11
Bart Bonga: I thought the apology was fairly tepid.

Was Schwab's letter of apology to RIAs good enough?
One advisor called the custodians reaction 'tepid' and others expressed have even stronger feelings

Friday 8.19.11
Kim Bang: The fixed-income markets are at a regulatory and competitive inflection point.

Executive leaves Bloomberg with ambitious plan to unify the retail bond market
Kim Bang has experience consolidating securities exchanges and signed on as CEO at BondDesk

Friday 8.19.11
David DeVoe: The new methodology ... removes institutional RIAs, such as hedge funds, mutual funds and separate account managers

Schwab redefines RIAs in its M&A study but experts say further refinement is needed
Registered Investment Advisors have $50 million of AUM and serve HNW investors

Thursday 8.18.11
Chip Roame: Envestnet has the opportunity to dominate wealth management technology.

Envestnet and Chip Roame forge stronger tie
The large outsourcer has installed the high-profile consultant on its board of directors

Tuesday 8.16.11
Bryan Olson says the explosive growth doesn't include many RIA assets, which are expected to start kicking in soon..

Schwab's purchase of Windhaven made its asset growth soar -- and RIA assets may be the afterburners
The Boston-based phenom has gathered assets mightily in good markets but may do even better in bad ones

Monday 8.15.11
Tim Oden: The amount of due diligence they're conducting is so deep. I just can't imagine they'd go to that trouble to just kick the tires.

Breakaway Movement II is kicking in, say Schwab and Fidelity execs
Spurred by waning wirehouse retention packages, a wave of advisors are poised to jump ship in 2012

Wednesday 8.10.11
Bill Dwyer: We decided you were right.

What's behind LPL's decision to slash its ticket charges for advisors
The IBD is in a generous mood as it also pays dues to FSI on behalf of thousands

Tuesday 8.9.11
Watson is expected to help achieve the company's goal of establishing increased personal contact with advisors

LPL lures a TD Ameritrade talent across the San Diego street
Mike Watson will bring his practice-management expertise to 1,400 LPL reps

Friday 8.5.11
Michael Martin has a new business plan for The Mutual Fund Store that involves big-league capital and expertise.

How Warburg Pincus plans to grow The Mutual Fund Store several-fold
National advertising, a shift to more company stores from franchises, delivering services by an e-commerce site and using ETFs are on the table at The Mutual Fund Store

Monday 8.1.11
Alois Pirker: Firms will have to renew retention bonuses next year or brokers will jump ship.

RIAs and online brokers are winning the market-share game
Wirehouses will have to re-up retention bonuses or see mass migrations of top producers

Wednesday 7.27.11
Mario Hernandez: In the future, clients will be able to electronically sign. We can electronically take it to Schwab rather than using FedEx or a fax.

Schwab connects CRM to account opening for RIAs
The software fulfiills some of Schwab Intelligent Integration's promise without the fancy cross-wiring

Friday 7.22.11
Larry Roth: We're attracting more interest and more advisors [than at any time] since I've been in the business. It's not luck. It is our size, scale and platform.

Larry Roth has AIG playing offense again in the advisor game
The CEO is looking for big acqusitions and ways to compete for big RIAs

Friday 7.22.11
Griffin Meyers: Although not mandatory, providing a competitive GIPS-compliant track record can also help demonstrate a firm's track record.

How an RIA can capitalize on referral programs offered by Schwab, TD and Fidelity
Success in converting leads favor the firm that makes dedicated hires

Monday 7.18.11
Christy White: No 401(k) plan provider has succeeded yet in having a top brand and a top service rating..

Fidelity, Vanguard and Schwab have top 401(k) brands but plan sponsors like the service of off-brands better, study shows
In market share wars for retirement plan dollars, big and small brands alike have much to learn

Friday 7.8.11
Philip Palaveev: I would hypothesize that a significant number of firms had a knee-jerk reaction.

Big Schwab survey: RIAs surpass 2007 former peaks in assets and revenues
One analyst still sees troublesome signs in the findings but outsourcing is on the rapid rise

Tuesday 7.5.11
Patrick Sweeny and David Connelly: In 1994, Pat and I felt we were very, very late to the game.

Advisor Spotlight: Two small Dean Witter breakaways are now Symmetry, a big DFA TAMP
David Connelly and Patrick Sweeny grew to $6.5 billion of assets largely as an exclusive DFA shop but recent added Vanguard, BlackRock and State Street ETFs

Thursday 6.30.11
Mark Tibergien: My goal is to upset you.

Tibergien uses brutal honesty to captivate big Schwab RIAs and others at San Francisco event
The Pershing leader and former Moss Adams star lit into advisors on practice management issues

Friday 6.24.11
Elliot Weissbluth: I can tell [advisors] life is better for you outside of the wirehouse and I didn’t know this fact three years ago.

HighTower dangles array of hedge funds to lure breakaways
Wirehouses have nothing on independents when it comes to access to hedge funds, firm says citing three-year study

Thursday 6.23.11
Dave Welling may play a pivotal role in whether Advent's Black Diamond acquisition makes the combined entity more like the Google or Microsoft of portfolio management systems.

Five recent articles that show the RIA business just keeps hitting milestones
Advent buys Black Diamond, Carson goes RIA, Duran champions consolidation, Schwab goes full-out into franchises, Brightscope grades RIAs

Tuesday 6.21.11
Brian Keil: We’ve not seen a change this big industry wide in a very long time.

12 takeaways for RIAs from a Schwab report about complex cost basis rule changes
The onus is on the custodians but advisors will be expected to help, especially during tax season

Friday 6.17.11
Fred Tomczyk: [We’re] protective of [our] brand and client experiences. Owning is the right experience for us.

TD Ameritrade and Schwab at odds on franchise model
TD's CEO Fred Tomczyk questions Schwab's approach to greater distribution using independent contractors

Thursday 6.16.11
Joe Duran: “When [my wife and I] are having an argument, my goals and dreams are adapting right there.

Joe Duran tries out novel financial planning strategy on himself and his wife
United Capital is seeking a replicable method for counseling high-net-worth couples

Tuesday 6.14.11
Andrew Salesky: It’s come up many times in the past. The timing is right.

Schwab spells out the details of its franchise plan
The San Francisco broker is making five-year deals with dozens of financial advisors from across advisory channels

Wednesday 6.8.11
Benjamin Baldwin: I did my August monthly statements for my clients, had them up on the website by the first week of the month, and they were already completely out of date!

One RIA's unvarnished views on Advent, Black Diamond, Tamarac, IAS, Orion and Schwab PortfolioCenter after an odyssey of test drives
Benjamin Baldwin is making the jump from PortfolioCenter to Orion after a brief affair, and lingering love, for Black Diamond

Monday 6.6.11
Bill Belichick's presence helps explain a big jump in attendance this year at Pershing's conference

Pershing, TD, Schwab set to raise the curtain on late-spring conferences
Pershing's event has presidents, prime ministers and Bill Belichick

Monday 6.6.11
Walter Bettinger, Schwab's CEO, is high on ETF-infused 401(k)s combined with independent advice

What to make of yesterday's Wall Street Journal report on Schwab's 401(k) 'bet'
RIAs favor WSJ's suggestion that Financial Engines is getting a close look as an outsourced 401(k) advice provider

Thursday 6.2.11
Rick Keller: It was stressful to compete in a world where investment management services are combined with a broad bank platform so, I decided to open my own bank.

In a twist, RIA opens a bank - to significant success
Despite increased oversight, the one-stop-shopping model has worked for First Foundation

Wednesday 6.1.11
Tom Bradley: We’d better be getting our act together and find out the issues so we can do a better job.

TD Ameritrade launches an effort to develop women advisors
Schwab and Fidelity do not share the philosophy of specifically targeting female RIAs - and female investors

Thursday 5.26.11
Chuck Schwab is sparing in his public appearances, which gives them energy.

'Chuck' Schwab, Tony Blair to headline IMPACT 2011
A former leader of the free world? Cool. But bring on Chuck!

Friday 5.20.11
Nick Georgis: Advisors get knocked like they’re not good business people. I don’t agree with that at all.

Schwab University is fast off the mark and its course selection is set to grow
RIA principals are pleased to be relieved of rote training tasks

Friday 4.22.11
TD's Skip Schweiss: “We have advisor demand for it. We started offering it (to a small handful) and doing manual processing to make it work.”

TD Ameritrade beats Schwab to the punch with ETF option for retirement plans
Platform allows advisors to sell mutual fund and ETF capability

Thursday 4.21.11
State Street's Anthony Rochte: Some ETF managers are building true institutional-powered portfolios. Some have strong performance records and can take their solution and market it to other RIAs or investors.

Windhaven's success draws attention to emerging ETF managers
Aided by big companies like State Street and BlackRock, managers offer a leg up to RIAs seeking ETF strategies

Wednesday 4.6.11
Dynasty's T. Patrick Mulvey: Charles Schwab is an important partner for Dynasty, and we believe Loren will make that partnership even stronger.

Schwab strengthens its hand against Fidelity via hot NY startup
Loren Morris's move from Schwab to Dynasty looks a bit like an arranged marriage

Wednesday 4.6.11
Bernie Clark: Why would you claim the middle ground of being a quasi-employee (at an IBD) with a lesser brand name?

Virtually all big IBD reps covet the independent RIA life, Schwab study says
Schwab's Bernie Clark and TD's Tom Nally see IBD reps undergoing a palpable mood switch, but Fidelity's Mike Durbin and Pershing's Mark Tibergien are unconvinced

Tuesday 3.29.11
Mercer Bullard: "If the CFP Board, the Financial Planning Association or the Investment Adviser Association finally get their act together, they might want to get involved."

Mississippi lawyer Mercer Bullard volunteers to form an RIA SRO and nobody's laughing it off
IAA won't join forces; annual cost to run an SRO could top $150 million

Thursday 3.10.11
Jeff Geygan: We have clients that are professional golfers, state senators, movie actors ... a leading scientist in his field.

Milwaukee Wealth Management was born when Jeff Geygan's investing strategy hit the UBS wall
A value devotee, his picks at times conflicted with the wirehouse's research department

Tuesday 3.8.11
In February, Walt Bettinger sketched out two major retail and retirement strategy shifts for Schwab.

Walt Bettinger's big moves drew RIABiz readers in February
TD Ameritrade's sunny conference also made the top 10 in February, along with a retirement-world story that seems a harbinger of a changing market

Thursday 3.3.11
Dale Walters: Canadians are leery of U.S. financial institutions.

How a custody relationship with RBC may net an advisor $100 million on day one
The Canadian bank was the missing ingredient for one Keats Connelly client; Cardinal Point's Jeff Sheldon signed on with TD Ameritrade for similar reasons

Monday 2.28.11
Jim Roth says that the economic of the IBD business have shifted to make a hybrid model a necessity for IBDs.

Pershing warns IBDs to embrace hybrid business model or risk being marginalized
Schwab gives hybrid advisors another vote of confidence in its own new study yesterday

Friday 2.25.11
Mark Palmer will manage aggressive growth plans for Presidio Financial Partners LLC.

Mark Palmer departs Cetera and joins big West Coast RIA
Presidio Financial Partners knew the veteran from his Schwab days and lured him back to San Francisco

Friday 2.25.11
Walt Bettinger: Let’s cut through the noise that is out there. A participant spending a career in a program offering an index oriented line up of investments will retire with $115,000 more over a similar participant using actively managed funds.

Schwab's CEO engages in a Q&A about how his company's deep-discount, more-advice 401(k) plan will work
It's the fees and the index approach that's important, Bettinger says -- not that Schwab plans to offer the capacity to trade

Wednesday 2.16.11
Benjamin Brigeman: We’re sure we have the capabilities, governors and guardrails.

Why Schwab is embracing a franchise-like strategy to fast-forward branch growth
'Entrepreurial' energy will help fuel a plan to increase retention of assets, say execs

Monday 2.14.11
Bob Oros: These people were working big-box brands.

Trust Company of America's hiring blitz nets a veteran sales team
In five months, Bob Oros has poached away talent from Schwab, LPL Financial and New York Life

Friday 2.11.11
Walt Bettinger: The Schwab brand is under-distributed.

Schwab eyes massive branch network expansion using independent operators
Leaner concept could become dominant retail channel for big San Francisco broker

Thursday 2.10.11
Lou Harvey: This gives them a huge edge on Fidelty.

Schwab to make long-awaited move in 401(k) market with an all-indexed mutual fund and ETF strategy
Market leader Fidelity not likely to mirror the move because of its legacy structure

Thursday 2.10.11
Scott Dell'Orfano: The average is well up from what we saw at this time last year

Big advisors drive solid year for breakaway wins at Schwab, Fidelity, Pershing and TD
Aggregators drive momentum in 2011

Thursday 1.27.11
Bernie Clark: Advisors are back.

With a rebound in net flows from its biggest advisors, Schwab finishes 2010 with a flourish
Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services records a $100 billion asset jump

Thursday 1.20.11
Jim Alfred is joining Asset Dedication after stints at Advent Software and Black Diamond

Asset Dedication, Mariner Holdings, California Investment Trust and BondDesk make key hires
Hiring moves by advisory business firms show labor market is picking up

Tuesday 1.18.11
The Top 10 on RIABiz last month included a story about Charles Goldman.

What advisors care about: technology, hiring, Schwab's lawsuit against a broker hit top RIABiz stories this month
A new platform for alternative assets, plus the regulatory moves expected this year also make the list

Monday 1.17.11
Nick Georgis: Schwab has had conversations with SEC staff.

Schwab takes high-profile stand opposing self-regulatory organization for advisors
Largest custodian opposes FINRA on heavily lobbied issue

Friday 1.14.11
Skip Schweiss: "I had in mind that some organization that is familiar with the fiduciary standard practiced by RIAs would set the standards, then perhaps an organization like FINRA could lend its examination expertise/process/infrastructure."

Advisory factions steel for end game as SEC's verdict on FINRA SRO comes down
As action moves to Congress, a flurry of meetings and Schwab's appearance

Friday 1.14.11
Norm Boone: "(The settlement) seems like a pretty small amount. I’d guess this isn’t going to do more than cover attorneys’ fees.”

YieldPlus fallout darkens advisors' view of Schwab as asset manager
Loyal custodial clients are skeptical after settlement and fraud charges

Wednesday 1.12.11
Kristian Colvin: I’m not sure why they made such a stink of me leaving.

How Schwab failed to block one broker's breakaway and what the legal battle may mean for the future
Industry insiders say they're stunned by a recent courthouse loss

Tuesday 1.11.11
Mark Hurley touched a nerve in 2010 by questioning the enterprise value of RIA practices.

The next 20 top stories and what they say about where the RIA business is headed
Big companies, big innovators, exclusive conferences and the 401(k) market riveted advisor attention

Wednesday 12.29.10
RIAs happily got to the nuts and bolts issues of building their practices and a better industry in 2010

The top 20 RIABiz articles in 2010 and why they were so important to readers
Schwab, Fidelity, DFA, LPL, Envestnet and the 401(k) market dominated the headlines this year

Monday 12.27.10
Charles Goldman: I’m still hungry to do more stuff.

Charles Goldman is seeking his game after tumult and a year of decompression
The former head of Schwab's and Fidelity's RIA units may land in an entrepreneurial venture

Monday 12.20.10
Bernie Clark: An advisor coming to Schwab with alternative assets to custody needs to be able to provide some transparency.

Schwab leads effort to create industrywide solution for alternative assets
The San Francisco custodial giant is now working to recruit other members to DTCC innovation

Friday 12.17.10
Sarah Libbey: Foundations can cost four times as much and offer fewer tax benefits than a donor-advised fund.

Fidelity Charitable courts advisor business -- and competes with Schwab -- by making alternative assets OK in its donor-advised fund
The move comes after Schwab enjoys success allowing advisors to use hedge funds and private equity

Friday 12.10.10
Bill Miller and Liz Ann Sonders said European debt and growing pains in China will drive money into U.S. equities.

Bill Miller: U.S. stocks will go 15% higher in 2011 thanks partly to tax cuts and cash-fat banks
Thomson Reuters uses advisor conference to offer a glimpse at a new wealth management system: Prism

Thursday 12.9.10
Keith McWilliams: We constantly manage with an active point of view; we always manage with an opinion, and we will get tactical.

Advisor spotlight: How a Schwab IMPACT award winner aims to hit $1 billion in 3-5 years
Mt. Eden aims for the complex clients: 'It's what we do'

Thursday 12.2.10
Mike Golaszewski, now business technology officer at Pershing LLC

A key Schwab web manager jumps cross country to Pershing
Mike Golaszewski will likely join in NetX360-related efforts

Friday 11.19.10
Stephen J. Cucchiaro spoke with Chuck Schwab and Walt Bettinger before deciding to sell his company to theirs.

A look inside Schwab's big deal with a small asset manager
Windward sold for a big premium but Schwab may be the bigger winner

Friday 11.12.10
Neesha Hathi: We know there are going to be disappointed clients and vendors.

Schwab chooses some giant software partners, apparently with big RIAs in mind
Experts say it chose well but advisors may have to wait for IMPACT 2011 for a demo of integration

Thursday 10.28.10
Fidelity will pelt arriving Schwab advisors with its own message at every turn in Boston. This one reads: Welcome to Boston, where independence began.

As Schwab poises for massive invasion of Boston, Fidelity lays in wait
The San Francisco custodian expects near-record IMPACT crowds but Fidelity is monopolizing billboards to impress them

Tuesday 10.19.10
Bernie Clark spends more time listening than talking.

After lunch with Bernie Clark, the future of RIAs seems to have no limit
Schwab's head of advisor services is looking to China and the wirehouses for the business model's next frontiers

Tuesday 10.5.10
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

Wednesday 9.29.10
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

Monday 9.27.10
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

Friday 9.17.10
Bernie Clark: Complicated markets make clear the need for 'prudent, objective, and personalized' guidance from RIAs.

The nine things Schwab's new study shows about how big RIAs are managing client assets
Inflation fears have evaporated and advisor attitudes toward cash investments are bipolar

Thursday 8.26.10
Andy Rachleff: KaChing is setting itself up as an alternative to mutual funds for smaller investors, and may benefit advisors in the process.

Can Silicon Valley rewire the RIA business? eBay investors think KaChing is the answer
VC-backed start-up leverages the web to offer complete transparency; firm also has a back-end platform it's offering RIAs for portfolio management

Tuesday 8.10.10
Nancy Ma-Apfel: The buzz in the industry and from clients helped convince her to jump from Schwab to Black Diamond.

Black Diamond nabs a Schwab veteran as it gears up for new service approach
Fast-growing software provider is creating separate service team to transfer RIA performance history

Tuesday 8.3.10
Jon Patullo: No other custodian actually engaged [these vendors] in this fashion and set up a summit, so they're very excited about it.

Joining the industry-wide trend, TD Ameritrade announces its upcoming project for "open architecture" technology integration
Custodian hopes to open the platform to all vendors that pass a security check

Friday 7.30.10
Scott Dell'Orfano: Bigger teams are more educated, thoughtful, diligent. They’re asking pertinent questions.

Fidelity weighs in with breakaway results reinforcing the big-advisor trend
Are cost-cutting wirehouses creating a farm system for top entrepreneurial teams?

Thursday 7.29.10
David DeVoe: Of the deals completed so far this year, 55% were for $250 million or less.

M&A market for RIAs continues record pace: Second half looks even stronger
As compliance burdens grow, smaller firms are driving merger activity

Monday 7.26.10
Brett Sharkey: Quite honestly, I was not interested in the idea at first. Look! We have done it; we are out [of Smith Barney]. That taste of freedom is sweet.

HighTower wins its first-ever existing RIA after offering the breakaway a new way to do business -- and a chat with David Pottruck
Three Bridge Wealth Advisors surpised itself by giving up its 'sweet' freedom to regain the advantages of scale

Friday 7.23.10
Bernie Clark: The average assets of new teams that custody with Schwab has doubled compared to 2009.

Both Schwab and TD Ameritrade smash breakaway recruiting marks from last year
Schwab nets eight breakaway teams with more than $250 million of AUM each

Thursday 7.22.10
Tom McGuirk: "It was this intense feeling of euphoria and also a moment of whoa! I am really a business owner now."

How an Olympic hurdler and Smith Barney broker made the leap to his own RIA
Goal oriented: Tom McGuirk put his breakaway date on the wall in the place where his running time used to be

Friday 7.16.10
Bernie Clark sees advisors building better businesses now that there isn't a bull market to make almost automatic.

Schwab's Bernie Clark on why RIAs are figuring out how to grow ... and other items from the RIABiz cutting room floor
What was left out of RIABiz's Amerprise story, and why; plus, advisory industry intelligence from our readership stats

Monday 7.12.10
Dorie Rosenband: I invested $150,000 and still haven’t taken a salary, so this was a significant financial event for my family, but so worthwhile!

Dorie Rosenband's post-maternity return to Smith Barney shocked her into becoming a RIA
Seeking to build a practice serving women-in-transition, she hopes to attract other women advisors, too

Friday 7.9.10
Scott Pritchard: As much as I’d like to say that Fidelity has lost their edge, I think this is just a reflection of the fact that a small percentage of plan sponsors have begun to recognize the value of working with independent RIAs.

What the confidential documents uncovered by Reuters say about Fidelity's future in the 401(k) business
A rare glimpse at the 401(k) giant's client tally shows slippage among big customers but its 401(k) business may be finding increased traction with advisors

Thursday 7.8.10
Scott Slater: I see it as the next step in the maturing of the RIA industry.

How the market downturn affected 870 Schwab RIAs in 2009 and how they are reacting to it in 2010
Profits took a tumble in the market downturn but resolve to grow is on the rise, according to a massive new survey

Wednesday 7.7.10
Mike Byrnes: Plan now. The resulting greater success will be compounded over time.

What if you spent one hour a day on the #1 idea to free up time and cash flow?
10 people in the RIA business offer their best thought for making the second half of 2010 more productive

Thursday 7.1.10
Neesha Hathi is prepared to have Schwab accommodate most technology vendors but to marry far fewer

Schwab's Project C now has two tiers and three new names
The company's grand technology plan will include a modular plan and a turnkey package

Tuesday 6.29.10
Michael Kim: Advisors learned a tough lesson that they need to keep the pedal to the metal and seeking referrals is the best way to do that.

Fidelity primes the referral pump for RIA clients
A new program gets a warm reception from advisors ready to snap out of hand-holding mode

Friday 6.25.10
Barnaby Grist: If you fit into the LPL box, that’s a great place to be, but if you like to do things your own way, you probably want to go to an environment that’s more customized to your needs.

Cetera Financial shores up its technology as it prepares to take on LPL for big hybrid RIAs
The face-lift of the old ING broker-dealers is starting with a big investment in Advent Software

Wednesday 6.23.10
Marc Channick: Any of the three of us could have turned the other two in and tripled their book of business

A Harvard lawyer, a Columbia MBA and an engineer break away from AllianceBernstein private client unit to form an RIA
The San Diego-based advisors may be among the first to leave the company to turn independent

Wednesday 6.16.10
Julie Sunwoo: Advisors tell us that maximizing productivity and efficiency to enable growth is one of their top business priorities

Schwab launches 'university' for advisory personnel
The San Francisco-based custodian is taking a self-service approach to a crying need for training employees of RIA firms

Wednesday 6.16.10
David DeVoe: The numbers have slowly crept up in terms of advisors that have these plans in place but we still see situations where folks don’t.

Favorite succession plan of RIAs remains the same: none at all
The biggest impediment to planning is finding a successor

Monday 6.7.10
Tom Nally: I think joiners are going to take the breakaway trend to the next level.

9 things to know about the breakaway-to-RIA movement and why it's likely to get bigger
In a down market, RIAs need a new growth strategy and small brokers a safe landing place

Wednesday 5.26.10
Craig Gordon: We have 2,400 in-house advisors. It would be very different if I told you it was 24,000. The commitment in that channel would be too big to disrupt..

Royal Bank of Canada is hustling to become an RIA custody force
RBC Advisor Services weaves together RIA businesses of old Dain Rauscher and old Bear Stearns

Monday 5.24.10
Liz Ann Sonders: It's clear that both the US and global economies are well into recovery, and even expansion mode.

Double-dip market disaster on tap next? Not likely, say pundits from Schwab, Fidelity, Barron's and Seeking Alpha
Digest of recent pundit writings counters view of Joseph Stiglitz that consumers are out of bullets

Monday 5.24.10
What really happened with Charles Goldman leaving Schwab is finally coming out in a lawsuit

What the Charles Goldman and David Brochu lawsuits say about the RIA business
Good people and good companies sick lawyers on each other when so much happens so fast

Thursday 5.13.10
Neesha Hathi: No one in the industry is doing anything like this.

Schwab unveils a plan to create a grand ecosystem of top technology vendors to RIAs
Executives of the San Francisco RIA custodian believe they can take integration further than Fidelity's WealthCentral

Tuesday 5.11.10
Jonathan Kempner: The mantra is: Know what you have.

Tiger 21 members have shifted priorities in choosing who manages their investments
Tiger, a forum for the ultra-affluent, has members who see the beauty of working with squeaky-clean advisors

Friday 4.30.10
Barron's Top 100 advisors paid for their own Ritz-Carlton rooms but didn't seem to mind

Enthusiasm simmers in the wake of the by-invite-only Barron's Top 100 conference
The purity of the all-independent crowd was palpable, powerful for attendees

Monday 4.26.10
Andy Gill: Clients understand what they're going to get with purchases of new issues of municipal bonds.

Schwab gives investors seat at the table for new-issue municipal bonds with J.P. Morgan deal (updated)
San Francisco broker answers call of RIAs seeking to better serve retirement-minded Baby Boomers

Friday 4.23.10
Bernie Clark: Our competitors are still treating this [custody of alternative assets] as an accommodation.

After a wait, Schwab has a program for alternative assets
The giant custodian will hold many of the assets itself

Thursday 4.22.10
Red Goldstein: All we have ever known in the financial business is folks leaving one wirehouse to go to another wirehouse.

This Merrill Lynch team leader broke away for fear of what might happen under Bank of America
Red Goldstein loved Merrill Lynch but he deemed any chance of increased restrictions too risky to his business model

Tuesday 4.20.10
Adam Honoré: Nearly 70% of financial advisors see online brokers as being no threat to their business.

Online brokers may be bigger threat to financial advisors than they realize, study says
E*Trade, Schwab and Fidelity win assets from advisors and relinquish them grudgingly, according to Aite Group report

Monday 4.19.10
John Peluso: He leads a network that offers a middle way when it comes to independence.

Wells Fargo emerges as independent channel competitor
Third-largest wirehouse had a banner year in 2009, in space inhabited by LPL, Raymond James

Thursday 4.15.10
Matthew McGinness: It would not be surprising to see the toll go up.

TD Ameritrade's raised its NTF fee to mutual funds and analysts believe rivals may hike theirs, too
Schwab and Fidelity have ample leverage with mutual funds to raise their toll, analysts say

Wednesday 4.14.10
Scott Dell'Orfano: The average is well up from what we saw at this time last year

Breakaway broker signings get off to hot start in 2010 for Fidelity, TD and Schwab
RIA custodians report big increases in both size and number of recruits from wirehouses

Tuesday 4.13.10
Mike Watson: A lot of advisors went into hibernation the last couple of years.

M&A market for RIAs sprints to record start in 2010
Deals are mostly smaller thus far but activity behind the scenes is intense

Friday 4.9.10
Readership on RIABiz has been surprisingly international

What do RIAs care about?
A breadcrumb path through RIABiz into the mind of financial services entrepreneurs

Wednesday 4.7.10
Lon Morton: Most potential clients do not fully appreciate the differences between dealing with an advisor from a Merrill Lynch or other wirehouse versus a fee-only advisor -- RIA.

Advisor Spotlight: Lon Morton went from being a minor league baseball player to a major league RIA
Morton Capital Management gets referrals from both Schwab and a local bank that acquired it

Wednesday 3.31.10
Mike Durbin: Fidelity's investment management heritage and capital markets resources are unique qualities among custodians

Fidelity plows ahead in the RIA business with overhauls of service, technology and management
Stagnant for more than a decade, the Boston-based RIA custodian has become a cauldron of dynamic change in last few years

Tuesday 3.30.10
Bob Adams: Advisors can rest assured that we will meet the needs they have. We're acting in their best interests.

Fidelity delivers a white paper and a warning to RIAs regarding new cost-basis rules
Multi-custody arrangements and third party platforms can lead to troublesome data fragmentation, the Boston custody giant says

Friday 3.26.10
Custodians are aggressively hiring good talent to keep up with RIA demand. Schwab's hire of Nick Georgis was a good example of that.

Part II: The things 11 through 20 that show the RIA market is really heating up in 2010
Everything from New York Times recognition to accelerating executive hires suggest the RIA realm is getting hot

Tuesday 3.23.10
Christopher Dean, managing director of Summit Partners in Boston, invested VC money in RIAs

10 things that show the RIA movement is really heating up in 2010: Part I
Observers need a scorecard to keep track of all the advances that RIAs are making

Monday 3.22.10
James Poer: NFP Securities has undergone a vast evolution and now aims to serve a broader market.

With Schwab [and maybe Fidelity] as custody partners, NFP is positioned to make a run at the hybrid market
If NFP IndeSuite catches on, the success could make up for some struggles on the roll-up side of the business

Friday 3.19.10
Charles Huebner: You can see it in their eyes. They say: You can tell what it is like to take the risk.

Two senior UBS brokers pass on retirement to pursue aggressive breakaway plan
Huebner and Jagger are winding up, not down with multi-faceted growth strategy

Tuesday 3.16.10
Maggie Serravalli: It is about taking it to the next level and making it a distinctive experience

Fidelity names buck-stops-here service czar for all of its financial advisory channels
Maggie Serravalli is aiming for service quality consistency

Monday 3.15.10
Arthur Tambaro: It validates all the work we have done and the technology we continue to develop

How Royal Alliance won a big-time RIA after a string of losses
Rehmann Financial loves the AIG subsidiary's alliance with Pershing

Friday 3.12.10
Janelle Sallenave: Stay focused on your ideal client profile by taking plenty of time to get to know prospective family clients.

Look before you leap: Six questions you must consider before becoming a multifamily office
Taking the attitude that any client with $25 million is a good client leads to trouble

Tuesday 3.9.10
Mark Tibergien: We are managing risk. That is what B-to-B firms do.

Pershing is working to create a better alternative assets experience
The Jersey City RIA custodian believes a defined list of criteria gives it an edge

Monday 3.8.10
Mark Tibergien: We were so impressed with Schwab's service that we hired 14 of their people in the past two years.

Mark Tibergien is making Pershing an industrial strength custodian with an RIA service touch
The feisty CEO of Pershing's RIA unit believes his offering will speak to big RIAs

Thursday 3.4.10
Nick Georgis: I had time to get away from the thinking you get from coming to the office and doing the same thing every day

Why Nick Georgis came back to Schwab and how the old hand may bring new vision
The former sales chief believes he is wiser after being away for six years

Tuesday 3.2.10
Nick Georgis: My job was [previously] more the day to day issues. What’s exciting is helping to determine where the business evolves in the next five years.

Nick Georgis returns to Schwab Advisor Services
The former head of sales will assume many of Barnaby Grist's duties

Monday 3.1.10
Joseph Vietri: Check-up calls on wire transfers will continue indefinitely and more safeguarding steps will be added to the program

Schwab won't stop at wire transfer check-up calls in its quest for airtight security of RIA client assets
Top service exec at big custodian says the tumult of the last 18 months led to the escalation of asset safeguards

Thursday 2.25.10
Steve Walkenbach is heading Scottrade's RIA custody unit but the company is seeking a replacement for Doug Talir

Scottrade is ramping up marketing -- with an interim leader at the helm
The St. Louis-based discount broker has big momentum and a big position to fill

Wednesday 2.24.10
George Tamer let it be known that technology without a dedicated effort by the financial advisor won't yield great results

The T3 conference hit its stride Friday with key speeches and a hum of activity
An IBM big wig cleared up some issues surrounding 'cloud' computing

Monday 2.22.10
Bernie Clark: We will be spending a great deal of money

Schwab is a big custodian with plans to step it up in 2010
Bernie Clark will have a juggling act of keeping service top notch and shoring up the hybrid offering

Wednesday 2.17.10
Matt Mathias: Every time there's a merger, clients are disrupted.

Consolidation pushes a veteran of Wachovia, U.S. Trust, National City into the RIA space
Trendspotters see increase in bank breakaways as wealth management divisions consolidate

Tuesday 2.16.10
Joel Bruckenstein says it was the final straw when his speech at a big industry conference got bumped into nighttime.

The T3 conference has a rebellious air and the makings of success
Bruckenstein and Drucker channeled their frustration about industry conferences into creating a tech mecca for RIAs

Friday 2.12.10
Charles Goldman: Because this industry is filled with so many wonderful people, I truly believe that the best is yet to come.

Postscript to the story of Charles Goldman parting ways with Fidelity Investments
Many people are still coming to grips with the quick split of the attractive couple

Thursday 2.11.10
Frederick Van Den Abbeel has made CNBC his ally in recruiting RIAs to his Florida-based custodian

Trade-PMR is elbowing its way into the RIA custody market with cheap software and expensive advertising slots
Florida custodian is opening its doors to career-changers and smaller IBD reps who want to become RIAs

Wednesday 2.10.10
Frank Shull: Our pipeline is very full.

Focus Financial looks more like a consolidator-of-consolidators as its partner firms go on buying sprees
Lara, Shull pulls off five deals to nearly double its assets in a year

Tuesday 2.9.10
Fred Tomczyk: RIAs will continue to get what they need from TD

7 signs that TD Ameritrade's big conference may be a harbinger of bigger things
The #3 custodian is choosing its own path

Monday 2.8.10
Ed Clark told Fred Tomczyk to 'blow Schwab and Fidelity out of the water.'

Ed Clark: TD Ameritrade will not compete with RIAs through its branches
'Absolutely not' he says in response to RIA's quiz about spread of Canadian practices to US

Monday 2.8.10
Barnaby Grist helped develop sales and business development strategies for Schwab

Barnaby Grist is leaving Schwab and Jon Beatty is stepping up
The prominent Schwab executive goes for a new opportunity in Los Angeles

Friday 2.5.10
Bernie Clark: Advisors just appreciate us understanding them and this [move] supports that understanding

Why RIAs see Bernie Clark's appointment at Schwab as a positive event
The new head of the RIA unit needs no introduction for most Schwab advisors

Wednesday 2.3.10
Ron Fiske: You don't have to have that discussion with clients about what the right forum is to do business

9 things RIAs need to know about Fidelity's pricing moves on equities and ETFs
The trade commissions grab headlines but ETF cuts are a glimpse of the future

Wednesday 2.3.10
Jim McCool handed over some of his duties to Bernie Clark to sharpen focus

Jim McCool makes Bernie Clark the head of Schwab Advisor Services
Move brings Clark up a notch from sales and unifies a bifurcated structure

Tuesday 2.2.10
Derek Bruton's hybrid RIA platform receives an endorsement from an unlikely source: Morgan Stanley

Top 10 findings of Morgan Stanley report include: Schwab as the best RIA custodian, LPL for highest advisor satisfaction
Wall Street's endorsement of the RIA model is a sign of the times in the industry, analysts note

Tuesday 2.2.10
Stephen Finn is betting on Maiorano to keep his growth streak alive

Stephen Finn taps Maiorano to take small custodian to the next level
Schwab RIA pioneer plans to make his custodian more mainstream

Monday 2.1.10
Brooke Southall: The Custody Project has grown to do justice to the scope and quality of the material it covers

Asset Custody Project rolls forward
The scope of the RIABiz plan for 2009 recaps and 2010 outlooks of RIA custodians took on a life of its own

Monday 2.1.10
Frank Maiorano faces the challenge of taking skyrocketing growth to a higher level

Frank Maiorano takes the helm at Trust Company of America
Veteran of Schwab and Nuveen will raise visibility of low-profile RIA custodian

Friday 1.29.10
Terry Reitan called Trust Company of America a well-kept secret when he came aboard four years ago.

CEO Terry Reitan retires from Trust Company of America
Former Fiserv ISS chief presided over four years of stunning growth

Friday 1.29.10
Charles Goldman still embodies a service ethic for many advisors

Advisors can tolerate Goldman departure from Fidelity if service doesn't suffer
Fidelity says to expect no change in service approach because of executive changes

Thursday 1.28.10
Charles Goldman aggressively tackled Fidelity's approach to service but he may also have ruffled feathers

Charles Goldman to leave Fidelity
Overseer of Fidelity's RIA custody, broker clearing and family office units sets a departure date

Tuesday 1.26.10
Barnaby Grist says that wirehouse data on attrition is accurate but not telling for breakaways

Schwab and TD Ameritrade pipelines brim with breakaway prospects
Growth rate accelerates despite slowing attrition at wirehouses

Tuesday 1.26.10
Derek Bruton is now in charge of LPL's hybrid business after years of RIA experience with Merrill Lynch, TD Ameritrade and Schwab

LPL's hybrid RIA platform is fast off the mark and names new leaders for 2010
The giant IBD has already surpassed Raymond James' RIA assets but Derek Bruton plans to build on momentum

Monday 1.25.10
David Welling: I was a plant needing to be re-potted.

Former Schwab RIA veteran lands with Black Diamond
Welling looks to bring his big-company experience to fast-growing software firm

Monday 1.25.10
Bridgewater Wealth has long experience reining in athletes and their money

[UPDATED] Focus Financial breaks into the American sports world with its latest RIA deal
Bridgewater purchase gives New York roll-up specialized knowledge of managing sudden fortunes accumulated in sporting world

Wednesday 1.20.10
Eduardo Ramos: We launched on September 10, 2008. On the 15th, Lehman filed for bankruptcy.

Advisor spotlight: Tapping the market of Hispanic entrepreneurs
Puerto Rican advisor expands to Chicago to help risk-taking empresarios learn the market

Monday 1.18.10
Bernie Clark: We’ll continue to build the connectivity that will make it better

A giant is awakening in the hybrid RIA market
Schwab vows to spend big in 2010 and 2011 on better connections to IBDs

Thursday 1.14.10
Hybrid tomatoes have their advantages and so do hybrid RIAs

5 Reasons why the hybrid RIA model may be a bigger deal than ever
Someday all advisors could be hybrid-like under FINRA

Thursday 1.14.10
Mike Kavanagh: We are taking this very seriously and we’re taking our time with it

RBC is checking every box to ensure it acquires the JPMorgan RIA unit intact
Mike Kavanagh brings the former Bear Stearns service team to Minneapolis for bonding

Wednesday 1.13.10
Elliot Weissbluth is turning his guns on the Los Angeles market now that he's secured $100 million

Weissbluth lands war chest for HighTower Advisors [Updated]
The $100 million haul means the Chicago company can battle wirehouses for talent on equal footing

Tuesday 1.12.10
Dan Skiles: It doesn’t matter from a passion standpoint whether the RIA has $50 million or $2 million

How Schwab's top tech executive for RIAs ended up with a fledgling competitor
Dan Skiles makes conscious decision to stop his 'Up in the Air' life and discovers the joys of being an entrepreneur

Monday 1.11.10
Peter Mangan: [RIAs] like that we’re a boutique operation

A small RIA custodian in San Diego faces a new challenge: accelerating growth [updated]
Peter Mangan is creating a company that resembles the old Jack White more every day

Monday 1.11.10
Walt Bettinger: After the past two years, our clients are thinking more than ever about their financial future

Morgan Stanley report: TD Ameritrade and other rivals may face pricing dilemma after Schwab price chop
San Francisco broker can cut commissions with relative impunity now that it has shifted primarily to fees

Friday 1.8.10
Mark Palmer warns that wirehouse brokers may regain their sales swagger: “It’s amazing how a big check can settle your emotions.”

Top resolutions for RIAs: Get out of cash and unleash the rainmakers
Advisors need to shrug off 2009’s traumas and to fend off sales forces at wirehouses buoyed by retention bonuses

Monday 1.4.10
Expect to hear more in 2010 from Mike Durbin, who leads Fidelity's fast-growing RIA custody unit

Percolating: RIA custody roundup for 2010
New faces, new programs, new technology and new assets

Thursday 12.31.09
Brooke Southall: I asked John, 50, why he didn’t hire a financial advisor and he said that the system was “crooked” and “corrupt.”

What I learned about E*TRADE, Bank of America, Google and the Bubble Lounge during pre-holiday conversations
Just because a wirehouse broker doesn't win the account doesn't mean that another advisor will

Tuesday 12.22.09
Tom Bradley: The success of this program is the result of a powerful structure of goal-setting, follow-up and follow-through.

TD Ameritrade takes on Schwab with big consulting push
Smaller custodian will seek to democratize consulting advice on behalf of smaller advisors

Monday 12.21.09
Brian Moynihan: We think of this not as changing the business model, but changing the way we do business

Merrill Lynch goes unmentioned as Bank of America settles on CEO choice
Krawcheck doesn't figure in, and press release neglects mention of big wirehouse

Friday 12.18.09
Tom Giachetti: Brokers say: Tom, Do I need to repay that loan and the answer is ‘yes’.

11 steps to becoming an RIA without upsetting Merrill Lynch, the SEC or your clients
Concerns over regulatory challenges are way overblown

Thursday 12.10.09
John Furey: Top advisors only engage professionals referred within their networks

Deal killers for almost-breakaway brokers
How to break the dam of 60,000 wirehouse employees

Wednesday 12.9.09
Jim Warren: I promised Art [Tambaro] I would seek out reasons to stay as opposed to reasons for leaving

Why a Royal Alliance champion gave up the cause after AIG made changes
Jim Warren made personal pleas to Art Tambaro but a small IBD nabbed his RIA

Monday 12.7.09
Like Tom Turkey, many RIAs were thankful to survive 2009

Taking A Break From the Turkey?
RIABiz's top 10 stories from the past month offer a window into what RIAs care about

Thursday 11.26.09
Charles Goldman: Service and knowledge of clients’ accounts is not the place to skim.

Goldman aims to make red carpet service for RIAs universal at Fidelity Investments
Boston investing giant is showering tip-top clients in service but it won't stop there, advisor exec says

Tuesday 11.24.09
Barnaby Grist: “The success of independent investment advisors has not gone unnoticed by the industry at large."

10 ways that a new Schwab study demonstrates a nation of willing breakaways behind brokerage curtain
Brokers who know a breakaway like the idea of independence

Friday 11.20.09
Doug Swope: There’s no independence per se [at a wirehouse]. You’re [restricted] by the [inventory of] products.

Independent-within-Smith Barney breaks away after hitting wall
Former Smith Barney peers light fuse for Swope independence

Wednesday 11.18.09
Jim Scanlon: I was not a big producer so [my boss] could say: I need you to be in this meeting.

How TD Ameritrade wins clients $47 million at a time
UBS brokers double take-home pay with breakaway

Friday 11.13.09
Matthias Paul Kuhlmey is helping to create a blueprint for globally-minded breakaways

HighTower Advisors nabs a UBS team and shifts to new recruiting gear
Chicago company creates comfy nest for breakaways with overseas clients

Tuesday 11.10.09
With Doug Talir gone, Scottrade is already seeking a new leader for its custody unit

Doug Talir, director and founder of Scottrade's RIA custody business, departs
Scottrade is seeking to fill position

Friday 11.6.09
Charles "Chuck" Schwab: He is a big backer of his company's push into ETFs

10 reasons why Schwab's move into ETFs may be an even bigger deal than it appears
Big broker's move could be precursor to ETF equivalent of OneSource

Wednesday 11.4.09
Tom Ruggie: "Some things I’ve been pleased with and some things I’ve been disappointed with but both [Raymond James and LPL] are bending over backward to [help] and keep the business.”

Why Raymond James is getting an LPL advisor's wealthiest new clients
Tom Ruggie started a new RIA but kept his LPL practice intact

Tuesday 11.3.09
Barry Glassman: There are restrictions as far as the kinds of things we can say and document if one has the ability to earn commissions.

New RIA with a Royal touch
Glassman takes assets to Schwab and outsources some services to Fortigent

Monday 11.2.09
McWhinney chooses someone she knows and trusts

McWhinney gains aid of Myra Rothfeld
Citi continues to draw on former Schwab talent

Friday 10.30.09
Peter Hess: “It’s more affordable and it’s more of an offering.”

Outsourcing begins to catch fire at Advent Software
Hess recognizes that a new breed of advisor doesn't want the 'dirty work'

Wednesday 10.28.09
Ed Friedman: “We ask them, do you really need somebody just to get lunch and coffee?”

The seven things I learned from roll-up executives in Princeton, including not to call them that
Four CEOs of aggregators choose four different paths to growth

Tuesday 10.27.09
Reed Colley: “If we can’t make an advisor happy, we encourage them to find another solution that will.”

Black Diamond is winning big accounts from Advent at an impressive clip
The Florida-based upstart has tripled its pipeline of customers since 2008

Monday 10.26.09
James Burton sought to create easy-to-use platform

Fidelity to provide Wall Street-style access to international investments
Boston brokerage gets edge on close rivals but State Street is still king for global investing diehards, advisor says

Thursday 10.22.09
Mike Di Girolamo: “Advisors want to find out who their peers are.”

Raymond James shows it's serious about winning bigger RIAs
Raising minimums is part of creating an atmosphere more conducive to elite advisors

Thursday 10.22.09
Brian Hamburger: “I’ve been critical of investment advisers. I don’t think they’ve taken advantage of this time [of upheaval].”

Merger and breakaway experts convene near Princeton at old Merrill Lynch lair
Attendees will shares notes on how to dismantle wirehouse salesforces

Thursday 10.22.09
Krawcheck tells InvestmentNews:“What we’re seeing now is independent advisers asking how they can join us."

6 things to consider when reading Sallie Krawcheck's comments in interviews
Critics say mixed motives may explain head-scratching comments by CEO of Merrill Lynch

Monday 10.19.09
Barnaby Grist: “We think the rest of the year looks good but we can’t expect the strength of September to continue.”

Schwab and TD Ameritrade go on breakaway recruiting tear in September
Larger number of bigger teams seek greener pastures as RIAs

Friday 10.16.09
Deborah McWhinney: We really don’t have enough teams to serve the market

Citigroup puts RIAs at the center of its strategy to retain banking clients
McWhinney's custody plan for RIAs may reunite her with Charles Goldman

Tuesday 10.6.09
Thomas McGuirk: I didn't like the person I was during those three months

The number one obstacle to completing a clean breakaway from a wirehouse
Leading a double life is not for the faint of heart

Monday 10.5.09
Steve Disenhof: The service offered by the broker-dealer's team will make or break the relationship

How to choose between the bewildering custody choices
Litman/Gregory took its time and checked all the boxes

Friday 10.2.09
Charles

Charles Schwab will speak and his fellow CEOs will listen
Schwab chairman gets short-changed one award, says other recipient

Friday 10.2.09
Michael Kavanagh: We now have critical mass

RBC's appearance on custody scene could be a 'game changer'
Canadian bank's combo with JPMorgan unit creates new choice for breakaways

Wednesday 9.30.09
Sean Cook: We said: Are you going to be here?

In major reversal, Merrill turns away RIA assets
Is it post-BoA merger streamlining or a decisive strategic shift?

Tuesday 9.29.09
David Hou and Mark Sear: Our biggest fear was that Merrill Lynch would find out and fire us, Sear says.

(Part 2 of 3-part series) Hou-Sear team can't always beat RIAs so it joins them
Why Hou-Sear turned down $60 million to start Luminous

Monday 9.28.09
Paul Lally: "If you educate me, please don't leave me at the altar."

Fidelity races to develop M&A program ahead of looming merger boom
Boston custodian seeks to manage a flood of client requests

Wednesday 9.23.09
Jim McCool: Trish Cox and Bernie Clark have authority

McCool clarifies who is in charge of RIAs post-Goldman
Clark and Cox are empowered

Monday 9.21.09
Bernie Clark: Team liftouts have contagious effect

Top 10 things I learned at Schwab IMPACT about the smoldering breakaway movement
Wirehouses do little to resist leakage of talent

Thursday 9.17.09
Liz Ann Sonders: Surprised at the anger of her critics about her views

Bernanke antes up recession's end and Sonders raises him a solid recovery
Schwab chief strategist sticks to guns in face of gloomy critics

Wednesday 9.16.09
Janelle Sallenave: Clients will gladly pay for extra services

Schwab family office head preps RIAs for landing big fish
Crash course on pricing strategy is a good start

Tuesday 9.15.09
Jim McCool: This isn't about me

Schwab deploys $1 billion annually on behalf of RIAs
McCool offers few specifics and emphasizes silver lining for RIAs

Tuesday 9.15.09
Mohamed El-Erian: We are not at escape velocity from this crisis

BlackRock CEO rates U.S. economy closer to brink than PIMCO CEO
Fink and El-Erian both decline to sound the all-clear

Monday 9.14.09
Schwab IMPACT: Advisors come for its punch

The 10 top things to know on the eve of Schwab IMPACT 2009
A fragmented industry gets under one tent

Saturday 9.12.09
Sean Cook: Fidelity's cuts are a validating symbol of the company's willingness to take alternative investments

One notable Fidelity price cut may enliven conversation, advisors say
Cut of alternative investment custody fees is symbolic to key Schwab advisors

Thursday 9.10.09
Fidelity cuts come two months after Schwab's and go further

Fidelity's Durbin debuts with strategic price cuts
Head of RIA unit wants to eliminate obstacles to winning business

Thursday 9.10.09
There are empty seats to fill at fall advisor conferences

Down economy subdues advisor attendance at fall conferences, FPA says
Schwab and IMCA events could avoid drops from last year

Tuesday 9.8.09
Doug Talir: Ameritrade went upscale

Scottrade rakes in small RIAs
Discount retailer turns its sights on advisors

Friday 9.4.09
Fidelity Investments continues to see high-level executive changes

Perspective on departure of Fidelity's top advisor exec [updated]
Michael Clark set the bar high

Wednesday 9.2.09
Nevin Freeman: Advisors can find quarterly balances for billing purposes

Schwab's big effort yields big improvements
Schwab debuts bubbles and liquid in website overhaul

Tuesday 9.1.09
Say good-by to this website

Schwab technology undergoes metamorphosis
Beta tester still has wish list for Schwab upgrades

Tuesday 9.1.09
Eric Thurber, Fred Molfino and Brett Sharkey: Have a niche with VCs on Sand Hill Road

Citigroup share plunge triggers elite Smith Barney team to consider breakaway
Three Bridge Wealth Advisors go RIA route after competitor provides help

Thursday 8.27.09
John Furey: Breaking away can still be a rough passage

The transition process is still too rough for gusher of breakaway advisors
Aggregators are showing the way in smoothing the bumps

Monday 8.24.09
Barnaby Grist: Big brokerage teams came out of hibernation

Breakaway broker signings rocket ahead in July
Big mood shift has brokers seeking the dotted line to become RIAs as stock market rebounds

Monday 8.17.09
Bernie Clark: Clients have "moved on emotionally" from wirehouses

Schwab: Breakaway uptick is part of secular trend (part 1 of 2 in series)
Breakaway pick-up is mere acceleration of awareness

Tuesday 8.11.09
Mark Palmer: Best RIAs had big buffer in downturn

Schwab RIA study debunks marketing myths [full story on hold]
New statistics give firms few excuses to skip biz development in hard times

Friday 8.7.09
Brooke Southall: I separate brokers as people from brokers as an institution

Welcome to RIABiz on day one
Online publication for financial advisors debuts from Sausalito, Calif.

Thursday 8.6.09
Mark Tibergien: Plays role in marrying RIA and brokerage assets

Pershing puts RIA custody on desktop of thousands of IBD reps (One of three articles in a series)
Pershing makes mini-custodians out of broker-dealers

Thursday 8.6.09
Schwab, TD disclose magnetic effects

With big assist from RIAs, Schwab is still a net new asset magnet
Wirehouses keep net flow numbers to themselves

Thursday 8.6.09
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Story » Sallie Krawcheck: I worry our industry will become the Republican party -- with middle-age white guys talking to middle-age white guys, saying that we need to change.At Envestnet event, Sallie Krawcheck alludes to Crager alliance, blasts women-as-niche marketers and edges perhaps closer to endorsing the RIA modelRead 
Story » Jeffrey Concepcion: I'd tell you the biggest victory was the vindication and comments from former co-workers.How Jeffrey Concepcion manned up after FINRA and Lincoln Financial troubles to become an LPL giant