The big IBD also confirmed long-whispered rumors that it's begun to offshore some operations

Principals at Dynasty, Envestnet and AppCrown are engaging in guerrilla tactics to brave near-impossible business conditions

Aided perhaps by the ex-Schwab employees moving to Jacksonville, the two giant RIA forces, both San Francisco-based, are looking happily engaged

Mariner Wealth Advisors brushed aside a host of competitive bids to absorb Cincinnati-based RiverPoint -- a rare jewel for its size, quality and availability

The quiet is deafening

Already Barron's No. 1 with predominantly a mass-affluent game, the radio dynamo is ready to invest private equity to add a quick $1 billion of AUM

Tornadoes, floods and hurricanes, sure, but death, disability and bad succession plans can also be disastrous for clients

If an Obama reelection triggers the dreaded Taxmageddon, there will be real fallout for those trying to pass on their wealth

The RIA custodian built by taking token accounts from Schwab malcontents then scrambling for the rest is now leaving the peashooter at home

Schwab PortfolioCenter will finally have a cloud option that doesn't take away an advisory firm's control of its data

NetDocuments will put electronic files right into the CRM window for RIAs using Schwab OpenView Integrated Office

Plaintiff's attorneys have found the soft underbelly of advisors and plan sponsors, but the pitfalls are clear and avoidable

The Institutional Fall Regional urged innovations as RIAs become the iPhone to the wirehouse's BlackBerry

Gerber Kawasaki's selection of the big broker down the SoCal road started with a LinkedIn message to Esther Stearns

Alan Greenspan jumped in on the mea-culpa-fest that included bracingly frank comments from a top Pimco official

Philip Palaveev shows his command of practice management and literary artifice in "The Ensemble Practice"

It's no sacred cow like Social Security and the industry image is laboring because saving rates, returns, hidden fees and enrollment levels are none too great

Only the roll-ups seem to have the focus, knowledge, capital and deadly intent to get results in this market

A proposal from leading ERISA attorneys would let RIAs say mea culpa on misinterpretations and technical fouls in the wake of new fee disclosure rules

Obama and Romney are asking for four years to deliver results -- ask your clients for three

Fidelity RIA execs envision a post-WealthCentral landscape that incudes marketing consultations, strategic planning sessions and M&A facilitation

A fizzled management buyout of the Palm Beach RIA by Maria ("Mel") Elena Lagomasino and other managers preceded the executive exodus, sources say

The Tiburon CEO Summit had its usual charge of energy as Walter Bettinger, Ric Edelman, Mike Durbin and Bernie Clark appeared at every turn

Using its RIA custody unit as a talent pool, the San Francisco giant is bringing ThomasPartners into primetime.

The number of cash balance plans, a boon to high-earners, are growing 20% annually versus three percent for 401(k) plans

It's a short term packed with tall meaning

Without the right due diligence many advisors leave the wirehouse frying pan and jump into the IBD fire

More advisors come from outside the industry, with a premium on high tech capabilities and connections.

Vestor Capital was born in the 1980s as an accounting firm with a dream, and now Brian Baker wants more

Leading the way is Will Clemens, an ex-Advent Software executive, who will continue to run the unit from the shores of Lake Tahoe

The RIA business separates itself by putting people first so let's cut the corporate-speak

Views on these black boxes for big chunks of cash are hardly unanimous

Starting with Kanaly Trust, the Philly area private-equity firm plans to pick off sleepy, undersized trust companies and unleash their potential

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

Advisors are happy to hand over the blueprint to wirehouses because they're certain the firms are too fainthearted to execute it

The Jersey City-based clearing and custody company is filling the big shoes of its former chief information officer with two of his former underlings

With Andy Putterman, Scott Welch and a big cadre of Fortigent's biggest customers living well together, a picture emerged

With lawsuits and enforcement actions mounting, and new rules in place, what DOL wants is not all that abstract or theoretical anymore

The Middleburg, Va., roll-up-like hybrid RIA is switching some horses after its CEO and founder exited and some funding sources dried up

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

You can lead a broker to an entrepreneurial opportunity, but the desire to take the plunge needs to come from deep within and maybe family experience

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

The Financial Planning Association aims to rally around the CFP designation, bring in fresh blood and build membership back up

The wirehouses have stopped training, are ruthlessly chopping lower producers. and many advisors they'd like to keep march out the door

A Keats Connelly investor made good on his threat to move north when Obama won in '08, now the firm has fingers crossed for a Romney win

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

'Street cred' may attract like-minded clients but Mark Matson is also taking a calculated risk with his staunch political stance