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Articles published 2/2015


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Ron Rhoades: Don’s view reflects a misunderstanding of the breadth of the fiduciary principle.

Why I disagree with Don Trone's characterization of Obama's fiduciary stance as 'punitive'

The essential component of fiduciary duty -- loyalty -- is what separates the advisor from the salesperson, according to fellow fiduciary advocate Ron Rhoades

February 27, 2015 at 12:06 AM

Don Trone: Fiduciary is no longer a point of inspiration for moral, ethical and prudent decision-making.

Why Obama and the DOL are all wet when it comes to the proposed fiduciary rule

Stress the carrot and not the stick in formulating a rule that will get real results, says a fiduciary maven

February 26, 2015 at 5:54 PM

Mark Casady: I think one or two of these robo-advisors will survive.

Mark Casady settles the question of whether LPL will start its own robo-advisor

In the wake of the aborted NestWise effort and a quieter robo rollout by his firm, the LPL Financial CEO doesn't buy the economics of the opportunity

February 26, 2015 at 12:15 AM

Sheryl Garrett poses with DOL's Phyllis Borzi and the Fiduciary Oath from the Committee for the Fiduciary Standard.
February 25, 2015 at 8:37 PM

Stephen J. Huxley: Only those with very large stashes of cash will be willing to pay for the privilege of depositing their wealth in a bank.

Are negative yields for US bonds on the horizon?

European countries' less-than-zero club is becoming a popular one. Could it happen here in the States?

February 25, 2015 at 7:00 PM

President Obama: There are a whole lot of advisors that do put their clients first.

As President Obama takes the gloves off, pro-broker groups throw up 'sledgehammer' response

After a lot of waiting around FSI calls this news 'the real thing'

February 24, 2015 at 8:31 PM

Adam Nash: When you start handling large accounts, you start having to deal the problems that come with them.

Wealthfront throws engineering at its large-account 'problem'

The Palo Alto-based automated money manager addresses tax slippage from transfers of HNW accounts to its website

February 23, 2015 at 8:39 PM

Vilas Naralakattu: My initial reaction was 'oh crap,' but I got a lot more information and I talked to the folks at Orion, I felt much better.

Orion signs on three $1 billion-plus RIAs on its even-keeled Omaha reputation then rocks its own boat with a sale to Boston firm

Pinnacle Advisory Group, Brouwer & Janachowski, HK Financial Services bought Orion for scaling and nervously accept that it made its own scaling move

February 20, 2015 at 8:51 PM

Jon Stein: Every month is bigger than the last.

On strength of $1.4 billion of AUM and 90 RIA clients, Betterment raises $60 million of VC funding as it looks to disrupt RIA custody

The New York City-based robo added $1 billion in 11 months and (sources say) has bigtime RIAs contemplating it as a primary platform, CEO Jon Stein says

February 19, 2015 at 2:01 PM

Naureen Hassan's revenue weapons for robo-accounts include one howitzer.

Schwab tells the SEC its robo-advisor has a 30 basis-point fee and big-time cash allocations held by Schwab Bank

The Schwab Intelligent Portfolios ADV says as much as 30% of clients assets are being sent to Schwab Bank

February 18, 2015 at 7:59 PM

Burton G. Malkiel: Yes, there could be a problem if all investors indexed, but as long as the profit motive is alive and well it is inconceivable that such an event would happen.

Has indexing become too popular?

The Princeton senior economist who pioneered index funds ponders whether sheer investor tonnage on the bandwagon could flatten tires

February 17, 2015 at 10:08 PM

Edmond Walters: We are going to kick the crap out of the B-to-C robos.

In a T3 teeming with deals, eMoney's Edmond Walters owned Dallas

Fresh off his firm's sale to Fidelity, eMoney's CEO demo left the crowd spellbound -- even as he chided Chuck

February 16, 2015 at 8:27 PM

Teri Kallsen: We've got OneSource and we've got the scale to get to market quickly. This will disrupt our competitors. They may try to copy us as we've seen in the past.

Schwab spills robo-beans to Wall Street, including a Schwab Bank wrinkle, cannibalization rates and the algorithm's distaste for OneSource funds

Calling Schwab Intelligent Portfolios a $400-billion opportunity, Walt Bettinger boasts of his own four-minute sign-up

February 12, 2015 at 10:49 PM

Edmond Walters: We've integrated MoneyGuidePro. People say they are our competition. We don't care.

What to make of Fidelity Investments paying $250 million out of the blue for eMoney

The price paid is about right, experts say, but in the hands of the giant, it could be worth more -- or less

February 12, 2015 at 6:06 AM

Ben Johnson: The bigger risk is to not participate.

An outflow-plagued American Funds holds its ETF fire until it can resolve the vehicle's front-running exposure, which defies a resolution

Edward Jones and other legacy American customers consider ETFs a niche solution to a main portfolio -- lessening the urgency for change

February 10, 2015 at 9:57 PM

The downtown Hartford headquarters of Virtus Investment Partners

Where Virtus stands after F-Squared seemingly led it astray, to mutual benefit

The Hartford, Conn. firm is raising no alarms with investors but a handful of Virtus ex-employees are expressing confusion about how it all went down

February 9, 2015 at 8:58 PM

Eric and Todd Clarke: We are wired to engage in the battle. We enjoy doing it and we want to keep doing it.

Boston firm buys Orion Advisor Services as part of NorthStar succession deal

TA Associates is acquiring a majority position in NorthStar Financial, which also owns CLS Investments and Gemini Fund Services

February 9, 2015 at 2:30 PM

John Drachman: Can it now be said -- if a robo-advisor could speak to its human counterpart -- 'I can do anything you can do?'

Six ways that human advisors kick robo-advisor butt

You can't hug a client with robo arms -- or confer peace of mind, offer actively managed or alternative investments, help build a legacy...

February 6, 2015 at 8:01 PM

Jeff Colin built his RIA to $5 billion in 10 years with DFA, Goldman Sachs and myCFO all part of the recipe.

AMG is suddenly among the RIA roll-up elite after the Baker Street deal pushes it past $25-billion of AUM

After adding the $5.2-billion San Francisco firm, John Copeland's Florida-based skunkworks is smelling sweet

February 5, 2015 at 7:07 PM

Gordon Bernhardt: There is no better time to invest than the present for a long-term investor and the future is truly better than you think.

3 citizen-blogger attendees at TD Ameritrade National LINC offer their ground-level views

The dispatches start in outer space, descend to the cloud and finish up with down-to-earth do's and don'ts for dealing with reporters

February 4, 2015 at 7:51 PM

The VEO Village was moved to the fourth floor for greater space but lost some flow in the process.

What marketing truths emerged from the exhibit booths at TD Ameritrade's LINC event in San Diego

Flow, buzz and frenzy were constrained by the multi-floor set-up but new players in the RIA space celebrated the event and its value proposition

February 4, 2015 at 4:41 AM

Peter Hess: I don't think [our clients will] notice anything except more services coming down the line.

How SS&C muscle might be just what the Black Diamond and Advent Software doctor ordered

The portfolio accounting provider to giants like Voya, Barclays and New York Life may finally get Advent into the cloud and crack the alternatives challenge

February 3, 2015 at 8:16 PM

Bill Stone: We think there's a tremendous opportunity to cross-sell.

SS&C buys Advent for the Geneva crown jewels so what happens to Black Diamond and Advent Axys?

The Windsor, Conn. software roll-up wants blue chip asset managers, opening the door for a spinoff of RIA software

February 3, 2015 at 12:33 AM

Advisors found ample room to spread out at a packed event.

New marching orders issued at TD Ameritrade's conference in San Diego: Don't join'em, beat'em!

TD touted its robo hookups and Tom Nally proclaimed RIAs are thisclose to overtaking wirehouses at the standing-room-only, come-as-you-are confab

February 2, 2015 at 5:21 AM

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