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    Articles published 4/2013


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    Chet Helck: We're confident, but this is one that we can't give up being vigilant about.
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    Raymond James' two-hatted Helck addresses his advisor crowd on both levels

    April 30, 2013 at 7:34 AM

    The CEO believes a 20-year war may yet be won

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    Mark Hurley: The middle ground [of tweeners] is going to go away and there's a staggering amount of opportunity.
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    Mark Hurley drops a new wealth management prognosis on the industry with a zero-sum flavor

    April 29, 2013 at 6:06 PM

    With the best clients aging, RIA business will be shaped by how about 2,000 'tweener' firms react to fast-deteriorating business conditions

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    Philip Palaveev: Client service expectations are ... more difficult to manage profitably.
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    Round 2 in Vegas: Finance Logix advisor conference ponders simplicity as sophistication

    April 29, 2013 at 6:04 PM

    As the RIA industry matures, first-time buyers are gone and differentiation is the name of the game

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    Mark Casady: When our same-store sales are up, then recruiting is typically down.
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    LPL, Raymond James and TD data -- and Walt Bettinger, Mike Durbin comments -- reveal rotten first quarter for breakaways

    April 26, 2013 at 5:17 PM

    Mark Casady's explanation is hard to swallow for Danny Sarch, Mindy Diamond; Bettinger inveighs against 'rat trap' of checkbook recruiting; Ryan Shanks says advisors are "numb to the chaos"

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    Dale Brown: The SEC recognizes that working to harmonize standards is a good PR effort to improve its standing among consumer groups.
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    Dale Brown tells RIAs why SEC's fiduciary standard is too costly for their clients

    April 26, 2013 at 4:26 AM

    Invoking his own parents' small nest egg, the FSI chief projects a 2015 Finra takeover of SEC duties for RIAs

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    Rex Whiteside: Wealthy people are also craving coordination among their own advisors.
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    Two Raymond James advisors relate details on how they segmented clients to get big and successful

    April 25, 2013 at 7:23 PM

    At the broker's annual event in Dallas, two advisors told their stories with generous details

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    Bill Dwyer plans to again work for a company that has the same sense of mission and vision that LPL has had over the years.
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    Bill Dwyer tells RIAs to advise more -- albeit with heavy use of products -- and tips his hand about his for-profit future

    April 25, 2013 at 6:35 PM

    In Philly, the former LPL super-exec talks a very RIA game but seems to hint at FINRA-as-king and getting advisors out of investment advice

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    Walter Bettinger: There was a period late yesterday in which wait times were excessive.
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    Schwab CEO issues 'sincere' apology, reassures on data security and calls attacks a 'fact of life' after website goes down

    April 25, 2013 at 3:08 AM

    Walt Bettinger also declares mea culpa surrounding long wait times for telephone service late on Tuesday

    Read more →

    When websites go down, however briefly, it rocks our world.
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    Schwab's website went down twice after two 'denial of service' attacks -- so what was up?

    April 24, 2013 at 5:10 PM

    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

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    Adri Miller-Heckman: This was one of the few times my mother was willing to defy my father's wishes and make a change not to his liking.
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    Why you won't know your female clients are unhappy until they're out the door

    April 24, 2013 at 5:08 PM

    By 2020, women will control $22 trillion -- 25% more than today's national debt; that's not a segment you can afford to lose

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    When you're young with big assets and not much earning power, you're really a retired person with a long horizon.
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    How a suddenly wealthy, young Bay Area widow found her RIA after months of fruitless efforts

    April 23, 2013 at 4:26 AM

    With a big life insurance settlement augmenting a considerable estate, this young mother had literally dozens of sit-down meetings and a hard-fought happy ending

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    Michael Collins: Only the fittest roll out.
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    8 reasons why the hedge fund industry deserves a second look in 2013 and why RIAs are so well positioned to capitalize

    April 23, 2013 at 4:14 AM

    It's a buyers market for investors who will need an advisor's help to sort the hedge fund manager sheep from the goats

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    Joan Warner: It's an incredibly crowded field. FA IQ is not going to do everything.
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    Why Financial Times is starting an online publication for financial advisors and what to make of it

    April 22, 2013 at 5:24 PM

    FA IQ, with REP. vet Sydney LeBlanc aboard, joins Ignites and FundFire in publishing for niches in the financial advisory business

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    Skip Schweiss: This bill is the best path we've seen thus far.
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    An advisor fee bill hits Congress again, this time gaining qualified support from RIA groups

    April 22, 2013 at 5:36 AM

    Rep. Maxine Waters' bill, which would require fees from advisors for the SEC, is unlikely to pass, but groups say it will push off FINRA efforts for now

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    Roger Hewins: What the heck are they doing for clients to earn this?
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    Industry leaders puzzled by RIAs' being paid by Schwab and Fidelity for investing in funds

    April 19, 2013 at 5:11 AM

    Some RIAs see it as an unacceptable conflict, but the custodians are unabashed about the arrangements

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    Felipe Luna: We're moving beyond advisors who just need turnkey.
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    With LPL as its new BFF, CONCERT seeks bigger game and more RIAs

    April 18, 2013 at 6:36 AM

    San Jose-based firm wirehouse-lite is up to $3 billion of AUA but was hitting roadblocks with some bigger candidates that it believes LPL technology and RBC big-boy services can remove

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    Loren Starr: It really was not something that we were out looking for -- to sell the business.
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    What's up with Invesco offloading its $20-billion RIA/trust firm to a Canadian bank -- and at a bargain price?

    April 17, 2013 at 5:19 PM

    Post-Morgan Stanley deal, the institutionally-minded fund company is becoming a player in retail asset management -- making Atlantic Trust less of a core holding

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    Alex Potts: In the end, I hope for one idea, or concept, to arise and challenge my thinking.
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    What three consumer-investors told CEOs at the Tiburon conference in New York

    April 17, 2013 at 6:41 AM

    It's not, not, not the products and the returns that keep them coming back

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    Michael Kitces: We've sparred back and forth on a couple of things over the past few years.
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    Two firms that have love-hate relationships with RIAs draft their harshest critics to serve as consiglieres

    April 16, 2013 at 1:36 PM

    Advisor-rater BrightScope and tech startup Riskalyze draw two smack-talking industry observers into their inner circle

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    Kelly O'Mara:  I should have been long gone.
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    What RIABiz reporter Kelly O'Mara experienced running the Boston Marathon yesterday

    April 16, 2013 at 4:29 AM

    The bombs going off brought back childhood recollections of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta

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    Matt Sonnen: I made a lot of mistakes along the way, and I hope I can help others avoid those.
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    Focus Financial goes after $100-million wirehouse brokers after hiring five employees suited to the task

    April 15, 2013 at 5:16 AM

    The big New York aggregator will put the brokers through a one-year seasoning process before placing them in RIA foster homes

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    Jud Bergman: I think institutions are seeing this as a way go participate in large trends.
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    As Envestnet shares soar, the firm extends its offerings further beyond RIAs with $33-million deal

    April 15, 2013 at 5:16 AM

    With the Chicago-based outsourcer's stock now up about 75% in the past year, it picks up a Prudential unit that has sweet ties to trust companies

    Read more →

    Mike Alfred: We're showing sensitivity here.
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    How BrightScope plans to publicize RIA advisory fees fairly amid all those onion layers

    April 12, 2013 at 5:11 AM

    One competitor is convinced the Alfreds are merely rewarding fee obfuscation but the San Diego iconoclasts refuse to be discouraged

    Read more →

    Rush Benton: I was really blown away by the size and scope of the business and the successful private-wealth business hidden within it.
    Read more

    Rush 'Rusty' Benton is back in the deal game -- wielding the checkbook and credibility of $85-billion CAPTRUST

    April 11, 2013 at 5:30 PM

    The godfather of RIA roll-ups is heading up CAPTRUST's little-known $2.5-billion private-wealth division with plans for hoovering advisors into a non-autonomous framework

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    Paul Pagnato: They love to block off a day, off-site, out of their business, out of their home, no distractions.
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    $2-billion HighTower practice hosts UHNW event relating to financial -- and personal -- security

    April 11, 2013 at 4:36 PM

    When to tell kids how rich they are and how to unmask sketchy construction workers are two topics covered

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    Scott Pritchard: Wall Street lawyers had plenty of time between 2007 and last July to create slight-of-hand ways to "disclose" these fees without providing meaningful transparency.
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    Why 408(b)(2) is a flop for the 401(k) business and how RIAs can turn it around

    April 10, 2013 at 5:23 PM

    The disclosure requirement sat around so long that workarounds got developed and employers got comfortable in the boiling water

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    Like the almost-completed Freedom Tower, as seen from the Ritz-Carlton at Battery Park, the RIA channel continues to grow in Wall Street's backyard.
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    From a Wall Street perch, Chip Roame imparts wry skepticism anaerobically at Tiburon CEO Summit of 2013, spring edition

    April 10, 2013 at 4:51 AM

    The independent channel is booming -- but objects in the mirror may still be in front of you, the Tiburon guru warns

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    Jesse Mark: The RIA channel is probably the most sophisticated of the distribution channels. [Wholesalers] need to be able to speak at the level of that RIA.
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    How RIAs are forcing mutual fund wholesalers to lead or get out of the way

    April 9, 2013 at 4:47 AM

    Numbers of internal salespeople are fast on the rise as the old-model external forces hit a plateau, according to Ignites research

    Read more →

    Brian Hamburger: We're now prepared to receive a call from a customer at 10 a.m. and have them up and running at the end of the day.
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    MarketCounsel launches legal hyperspace button for breakaways who get fired by Merrill Lynch (and friends) before the 'go' date

    April 8, 2013 at 8:25 AM

    Brian Hamburger's novel service to become an RIA in a day is a response to stepped-up electronic snooping at broker-dealers and nettlesome questions asked by state regulators

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    With MetLife playing an air game, Cetera was happy to buy up Snoopy's ground game.
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    Cetera raises its strategic profile to 'baby LPL' status with MetLife deal

    April 8, 2013 at 4:15 AM

    The size of the insurance-IBD roll-up has moved it into a realm between boutique and biggie

    Read more →

    Barnaby Grist: I do hope to come back to this industry and even to Cetera if the timing is right.
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    In the wake of an unusual HR event, Cetera is seeking its new Barnaby Grist

    April 8, 2013 at 4:14 AM

    Donald Marron has worked to bring class to the IBD business ands Grist captured that in human form

    Read more →

    Margaret Towle had stops at Russell Investments, Northern Trust, a hedge fund, an asset manager and Greycourt before coming to HighTower, and leaving it.
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    HighTower loses RIA with $1 billion of assets and Northern Trust street cred

    April 5, 2013 at 10:54 PM

    Margaret Towle broke the HighTower mold somewhat for having an RIA, not coming from a wirehouse, and serving only 10 clients

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    Savneet Singh: With RIAs we had to build our own platform since we weren't integrating into someone else's. As you can imagine that is a big tech build.
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    How a TAMP, a New York startup, a $14-billion hedge fund and Brinks are part of bringing cold, hard gold closer to RIAs

    April 5, 2013 at 4:37 AM

    Merrill Lynch was first to put Gold Bullion International at advisor fingertips, but now Envestnet will make it easier for independents

    Read more →

    Bo Dong: We actually are helping Advent, not so much taking business away. Otherwise, you probably would have jumped.
    Read more

    How two ex-myCFO guys are winning big RIA clients by using a pilot fish strategy to win Advent clients without harming the host

    April 4, 2013 at 7:02 PM

    WealthSite is a no-name, but its customers are not, and it's winning by skimming the performance reporting off the top of Advent and PortfolioCenter accounts

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    Terence Hong: I can confirm that these technical challenges are not insignificant given a large readership.
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    What to make of Orion's efforts to expand RIAs non-renewable resource -- advisor face time

    April 4, 2013 at 7:00 PM

    RIABiz technologist Terence Hong gives his first impressions of Orion Connect and Orion Mail

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    Darin Pastor: I don't think anybody's going to offer what we have.
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    Why exactly a $1-billion LPL advisor thinks he's the guy to buy and turn around the Phoenix Coyotes?

    April 3, 2013 at 5:33 PM

    Hockey lover Darin Pastor's plan revolves around making Glendale, Ariz. people happy -- and applying managerial smarts that produced serial business successes

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    Barney Frank and Chris Dodd are now aware of how persuasive Brian Hamburger can be as they put Vegas on their pre-Christmas calendar.
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    In a major 'get' MarketCounsel books Dodd and Frank to play Vegas

    April 3, 2013 at 5:32 PM

    How Brian Hamburger booked the Martin and Lewis of financial legislators to his -- formerly -- bare-bones conference

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    James Maher: From a conflict standpoint, it was very awkward.
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    Merrill Lynch team breaks away from Bank of America (yes, ironically) to get better access to bankers

    April 2, 2013 at 6:33 AM

    James Maher is forming Archford Capital Strategies as a wealth manager that needs capital galore to unlock his clients' billions in assets from illiquidity

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    James Combs: [Open architecture is] the key to growth and expanding the shareholder base moving forward.
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    National Advisors Trust appoints former SEI exec as its new chief -- and hands him a big to-do list

    April 2, 2013 at 4:42 AM

    The trust company hopes to give its RIA owners the ability to put their trust assets at the custodian of their choice

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    Levi McMellian:  These guys had it pounded in their head to never sell UPS and we had to coach them to get more diversified.
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    Wielding its Texas six-shooter, TD Ameritrade wins a $500-million rep in the Dallas area from LPL

    April 1, 2013 at 5:52 PM

    Modeling itself after local juggernaut, Neiman Marcus -- and dissing WalMart of Arkansas, CFO4Life signs on with locally-based Tom Nally

    Read more →

    Karl Thunemann: I realized that it is a lot easier to be dispassionately critical of a financial company you've just left than of one you've just connected with.
    Read more

    How I'm doing after my advisor left Schwab Private Client to join a $2 billion RIA

    April 1, 2013 at 5:24 AM

    I pay a higher fee, visit a higher-rise building and may end up with a new level of advice

    Read more →

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