Articles published 3/2024
Headline
Publish date
As Betterment AUM balloons to $45 billion, Tom Moore ends DFA's exclusive mutual fund deal for RIAs and opens the floodgates; PIMCO, T.Rowe, Fidelity and Vanguard get first crack at DFA 'menu' hegemony
March 30, 2024 at 2:19 AMThe New York City RIA custodian now has 850,000 end investors and admits mutual funds are a 'top request,' but big limits remain on how RIAs can manuever with mutual funds.
In 'forced-evolution,' Robinhood subtracts a co-founder and pivots to credit cards to create captive sales that dried up after its phone-app trading platform and zero-commission novelty act imploded
March 29, 2024 at 5:02 AMCo-founder Baiju Bhatt exits management, but Deepak Rao is just getting started as CEO Vlad Tenev goes all in on making Robinhood a credit card company.
Altruist ups its game with new 5.1%, FDIC-backed cash accounts to lure RIAs, but the digital custodian is still a couple clicks shy of cash management disruption
March 28, 2024 at 2:00 AMNear to break even, the young LA custodian will sacrifice some revenue to compete and 'stand out,' but sweep accounts will remain cash cows.
Clara Shih lands new Salesforce AI power title, with 'healthy' trepidation • Skience patents onboarding auto-fill for RIAs • Another Brit invasion [attempt] meets its Breed's Hill • Defusing an RIA time bomb
March 27, 2024 at 1:47 AMIf Salesforce gets winning [and safe] AI strategy, thank Hearsay founder • Salesforce reseller patently harvests data to onboard assets • Kingswood thoughts IBDs were US trash but Brit treasure
Two RIAs made misleading artificial intelligence marketing claims; that's not good, but neither was the SEC's decision to tar them for 'AI-washing'
March 26, 2024 at 12:31 AMAI is real and a very likely a boon to financial advice and discouraging anybody from marketing artificial intelligence solutions is an overreach
Briefs: Schwab shares soar past $71 as two negatives get more positive • Yodlee upgrades after writedown • eMoney's new dashing portal lands • Ritholtz drops freebie
March 22, 2024 at 12:33 AMSchwab pares short-term borrowing costs • Yodlee hires document-scraper • eMoney adds portal customization • Ritholtz settles into middle-age with fatter fees.
Breen Blitz: Mercer seals Vanguard OCIO buy • Goldman[Sachs] & Cohen split • PIMCO joins ETF shift • AdvisorEngine-Schwab bond grows • Ellevest milestone • Lonsdale nets new chief • Fidelity leaks data & staff move • Collation wins RIAs • Justin Wisz returns as investor • LPL nets CMO & Tifin a CEO
March 21, 2024 at 4:41 AMOCIO sale to Mercer may be Buckley's last act • Goldman's retail lead departs • PIMCO latest to convert mutual funds • Software firm upgrades Schwab data • Krawcheck preaches wisdom of naps • Fidelity hit by data snafu, but D&I on track • New Lonsdale tech shop imminent • Vestorly founder now funding start-ups • Eight month wait for CMO ends at LPL.
Two 'RIAs' that allegedly falsely advertised using 'artificial intelligence' to aid investment decisions cough up real SEC settlements and censure
March 20, 2024 at 3:53 AMAccused of 'AI washing,' Delphia and Global Predictions are liable for $225k and $175k, respectively, after leading investors to believe that AI machines were madly carrying out valuable processes.
Dani Fava is out at Envestnet -- to capitalize on AI revolution at a new firm, she hints
March 20, 2024 at 1:25 AMThe ex-TD Ameritrade talent was hired by CEO Bill Crager in 2020 to harmonize acquisitions -- not least MoneyGuidePro and Yodlee that the company still grapples with
SmartAsset bars new RIA clients from buying referral milk without renting the whole lead-generating cow for $25K a year -- a smart move, analysts say
March 19, 2024 at 1:30 AMThe New York City referral generator is countering rival Zoe with broader offer, but it may now encounter out-of-niche providers like SS&G, FMG, or Hearsay.
Jeff Yabuki puts InvestCloud 'brand identity' under McKinsey & Co. review and signals that no job is safe as Pete Hess exits: report
March 15, 2024 at 11:34 PMThe 64-year-old InvestCloud CEO got dragged out of the Motive boardroom to reclaim control of the private equity firm's ROI -- and he's proving that nothing is sacred.
Fraudulent-'wire' claims bedevil RIAs and their E&O insurers in 2023 -- and investors also asked for RIAs to compensate them for reliance on bonds as 'safe' asset
March 14, 2024 at 3:38 AMSome insurers saw a spike in 2022 claims although exerience varied, and impact was mitigated by shared risk.
DFA undergoes a sea change -- literally -- with a fancy yacht soirée, cigars and champagne as it attempts to sail away from its mutual fund image into the world of ETFs
March 13, 2024 at 1:46 AMHaving just about staunched net outflows with its embrace of ETFs, DFA is embarking on a cultural shift as it tries to figure out how to sell more, even though it's less unique than it used to be.
Fidelity lays off 700 -- not for costs or [bad] performance -- but to shift headcount and hire more client-facing and tech staff, touching off 'panic posting' on job board
March 12, 2024 at 1:08 AMThe $12.6 trillion Boston investments eyes 2,000 new hires to speak directly to clients or develop more tech products, but lack of clarity jars some staffers
Alan Moore can't catch a break; AdvicePay CEO exits after seven months, adding job he hoped to escape back on top of XYPN role; search on for new AdvicePay president
March 9, 2024 at 2:58 AMThe job will be step below CEO, and new hire must have affinity for both touchy-feely culture and aggressive growth in Montana's wide open expanses
High wattage Shannon Spotswood starts spending Long Ridge capital on three big talents, including Abby Salameh, a 25-year veteran executive who pioneered marketing and advisor outreach
March 8, 2024 at 1:25 AMThe president of the little-known Birmingham, Ala., advisory with $4.8 billion of AUA is using freshly raised funds to bring A-listers to the staff
Kartik Srinivasan bounces back from highly publicized Schwab layoff to work with a Morningstar 'mafia' of old colleagues at Advyzon to supercharge software offerings
March 6, 2024 at 11:53 PMThe Morningstar mafia reintegrated one of its own into the brotherhood with new weapons, a Big Five mandate and every incentive to succeed.
Inside Goldman Sachs' on-again, off-again custody play; a cacophony of false starts, pauses, delays, staff departures, technology glitches and morale issues bedevil RIA custody unit, RIABiz learns
March 5, 2024 at 4:52 AMFour years after buying Folio Financial, Goldman Sachs is testing the patience of RIAs, and maybe its own partners according to analysts and sources inside and outside the firm; but Goldman is preaching a new "optimism" and pledging lessons learned.
Orion surprises RIAs with 8.9% price jump, effective April 1 (no joke!); blames 'extreme inflation' -- a possible boon for upstart competitors
March 2, 2024 at 12:28 AMOrion President Brian McLaughlin used snail mail to break the news and explain necessity; Omaha, Neb., firm is sharing in the pain of data price increases.
Tim Buckley sends shockwaves by retiring as Vanguard CEO after adding $750 billion per year during his stay in the executive suite
March 1, 2024 at 3:35 AMThe 54 year-old lasted just over six years in the job, delivered on targets, but he also made head-scratching decisions and never solved its technology woes
