Articles published 7/2025
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John Rourke just sold half his company to take 'biggest shot' of his life -- combining $200 million and artificial intelligence to exploit Salesforce's supposed Achilles' heel with RIAs -- implementation
July 31, 2025 at 10:31 PMThe Wealthbox founder is doubling down after 18 years building and selling CRMs because "‘the wheel is turning, and you can’t slow down.’”
Two Things: Avantis follows LPL as B2B seller that is advertising directly to its very B2C users' users; Envestnet sees yet another 'RIA' executive pop up at a rival as it embarks on its own HR fresh start
July 30, 2025 at 2:44 AMThe improbable Los Angeles DFA-like, ETF-maker is micro-advertising to retail, while AssetMark shows, again, the intensity of its post take-private willingness to take action
A small ETF shop thrives in Vanguard's backyard by winning advisors and investors with snappy funds -- while following a decidely anti-Vanguard strategy and charging 13 times the fees
July 29, 2025 at 4:54 AMPacer, founded in 2015, has already hit $46 billion by refusing to accept the ETF 'commodity' mindset, and relentlessly and effectively telling its 'cash-cow' story.
Adam Spiegelman is converting his dad's old Northwestern Mutual practice into a Fidelity RIA -- after growing to $400 million of AUM over seven years at Commonwealth
July 25, 2025 at 8:21 PMThe Alamo, Calif., advisor is using the LPL purchase of his broker-dealer as a catalyst for his long-held ambition -- made simpler by Commonwealth using Fidelity for clearing
Schwab authorizes $20-billion stock buyback and unshackles its sidelined 'capital intensity' -- downplaying previous TD Bank off-balance-sheet proclamations -- after reducing post-bank crisis obligations by $70 billion
July 25, 2025 at 2:24 AMSchwab still owes Federal Home Loan Bank and others $27.7 billion, but post-bank crisis fears have receded and the willingness to be aggressive is back to par.
Vanguard and Fidelity each launch pricier [for them] funds -- extra junky junk bonds and futures -- that wealth managers prefer to farm out
July 24, 2025 at 2:15 AMThe Malvern giant already has a 'junk' ETF, but more constrained than this one, and Fidelity's new futures ETF looks to a brighter future, after a slow start
A tale of two TAMPS: AssetMark and SEI shift their long-time rivalry to a new green field, RIAs, in major strategy shift, as independent broker-dealer market nears zero-sum game
July 23, 2025 at 2:13 AMTaken private, AssetMark is investing heavily in added service 'hub' overhead; SEI just spent $527 million to snap-up an RIA roll-up in a deal that could cost it up to $916.5 million, if shareholders exercise put options.
Charles Schwab finally launches 'discretionary' version of Schwab Wealth Advisory, removing the last difference with RIAs, and closing a gap with Fidelity and Vanguard
July 22, 2025 at 3:28 AMThe Westlake, Texas, broker-dealer's CEO revealed the launch of Schwab Wealth Portfolios, where each portfolio move will no longer need investor approval -- a feature long offered by Fido and Vanguard.
Rick Wurster says Schwab will 'have a stable coin' after analyst peppering on Schwab's no-show on in-house crypto, but balks at setting timeline for Bitcoin and Ethereum, which take priority, he adds
July 19, 2025 at 1:52 AMThe Schwab chief celebrated a great quarter on the earnings call and said Schwab's growth will 'accelerate' after it gets a first-party crypto offering
Advyzon's latest play to achieve Envestnet-level success is to hire chief success officer from the company
July 18, 2025 at 7:16 PMClark Richards spent 12 years at the $6.5 trillion-AUA company that counts 111,000 advisors as users of software, investmewnts or both
Vanguard sued by direct-indexing founders for allegedly cajoling a deal for Just Invest where the payoff came from hitting targets that the fund giant, allegedly, impeded -- actively and passively
July 17, 2025 at 1:43 AMThe Malvern, Pa., asset manager has yet to answer the claims, but the suit's acrimony could lead to a public relations black eye.
Buoyed by cash cow and under new CEO, Grayscale files for IPO just days after it blogged about Bonk, Playtron, and Binance coins, possibly being in its future
July 14, 2025 at 11:12 PMThe Stamford, Conn., firm still has $19-billion 'GBTC' collecting 150 basis points -- even as Fidelity and BlackRock devour its marketshare -- but Bitcoin's price may open a big window for Grayscale to sell shares to the public.
iCapital's run-the-table strategy takes leap ahead after Goldman Sachs helps it raise $820 million for M&A to enhance domination -- and add to previous 23 deals
July 12, 2025 at 1:03 AMThe New York City alts machinery for Schwab, Envestnet, Pershing and others -- cash positive since 2019 -- fattened its balance sheet to keep the pressure on.
RIA executives who defined $5.5 trillion, 12-year growth run in RIA biz represent new resource -- 'on-tap' senior advisory talent
July 11, 2025 at 12:53 AMOf 19 noted CEOs who relinquished the top job since Feb. 2023, 16 now serve in advisory positions at dozens of firms.
Vivek Ramaswamy's 'pure insanity' plan achieves liftoff -- fueled by mysterious investors and unmysterious sweeteners -- using other people's money and another company's public listing to create a 'Bitcoin treasury'
July 10, 2025 at 1:48 AMAbout 34 investors put up $750 million so Strive Asset Management could buy, buy, and buy more Bitcoin -- even as it phases out the old anti-ESG company persona.
Seeking fresh custody revenues, Schwab Advisor Services radically expands 'institutional' no-transaction-fee platform -- essentially OneSource at a giant discount for discount mutual fund share classes
July 9, 2025 at 2:57 AMSchwab seems to be adjusting to market forces in building up its platform fee revenue, analyst says
Ready to really take on Schwab and Merrill Lynch, Vanguard quantifies 'meaningful' value that financial advisors deliver 'beyond portfolio performance' in code shift
July 8, 2025 at 1:22 AMThe Malvern, Pa., asset manager -- long a DIY advocate -- is busy launching its new 'wealth' divison under Joanna Rotenberg.
Savvy pushes rewritten model with $72-million raise, but taps Mark Casady's playbook for scaling -- something an RIA-centric 'platform' has never achieved at nearly an LPL Financial level
July 3, 2025 at 10:22 PMThe New York City startup is promising the moon with AI, but Cerulli questions its scalability, and the former LPL CEO knows the scale game.
Vestwell gains access to win 390,000 Amazon delivery driver 401(k) plans, hones 'gig' edge, though Fidelity still recordkeeps 1.5 million Amazon W-2s
July 3, 2025 at 1:52 AMThe 2016 startup for 'small' 401(k) plans landed Amazon's DSP against 401(k) heavy hitters; part of its genius was getting JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and Ascensus to lend their presence.
The anticipated Robinhood to TradePMR 'bridge' is being erected that makes RIAs -- and their faces -- part of the mobile app
July 2, 2025 at 1:12 AMThe vision out of Menlo Park is to have its 25 million investors shop RIAs if they need to go beyond self service trading -- making RIAs the only real 'wealth' option.
Gordon Ross joins DeVoe & Co. as president six months after abrupt departure of Tony Parkin, who surfaces at Parallel Advisors
July 1, 2025 at 3:14 AMCEO David DeVoe praises both execs, while Parallel also adds Gary Bonner as head of business analytics and technology.
