Trader Talk

After the defeat of an activist shareholder and a report that its wealth manager received an acquisition offer, a midsize firm is trying to regain its footing. The count of financial advisors at Avantax Wealth Management has fallen for two consecutive quarters and by a net 266 registered representatives since the end of 2019, according

A growing RIA that’s tapping into its founder’s ties with a wirehouse and offering a blend of independence and back-office support added the largest recruit in its three-year history. Financial advisors Mike Barry and Kelly Milligan took the eight-employee team of Quorum Private Wealth independent with Sanctuary Wealth after more than 20 years each with

The latest step in Bank of America Merrill’s ongoing overhaul of its advisors’ technology is to digitize the account opening process. With its new collaborative onboarding experience, or COBE, Merrill advisors can open several new accounts simultaneously, across banking and wealth management, in a single, paperless workflow. Clients can verify information digitally, log on themselves

Advisors have a job that’s theoretically portable. It can be done from almost anywhere in the country, especially in the post-pandemic era of video meetings. For those considering relocating to a new city as the world begins to reopen, they may have the option to cast a wider net. One of the key criteria for

When high-net-worth investors consider using our firm, which manages wealth and offers a host of comprehensive portfolio management services, the documents they initially share with us often reveal the same set of mistakes. We find this is the case whether they’ve handled their own investing or have used a financial advisor through an investment bank

A $900m UBS team left for RBC; Raymond James asset-management subsidiary Carillon Tower Advisers hired a new president; Dynasty Financial Partners will begin taking minority stakes in RIAs in its network; and Beacon Pointe made its seventh acquisition so far this year. Plus: academic research, financial literacy surveys, and other career moves around the industry.

On the internet, no one knows you’re a financial advisor — so it’s up to you to show them. “Advisors need to think about what kind of archetype they want to represent in the minds of clients or prospective clients,” says Ben Dattner, an organizational psychologist and human resources consultant in New York. “What do

One of the largest wealth managers recruited a major office of supervisory jurisdiction that expects to top more than 50 representatives in the next couple of months. Jim Starnes and the team at Houston-based Totus Wealth Management picked Cetera Financial Group after he spent 20 years with wealth managers in the wirehouse and insurance channels,

Gary Gensler, then-chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Simon Dawson | Bloomberg | Getty Images New Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler will testify before the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday. This is the third House hearing focused on GameStop, but this is Gensler’s first appearance as chairman before the Committee.

One of the oldest financial planning software vendors has new ownership. Advicent, the owner of NaviPlan, has been acquired by InvestCloud, a company that builds a variety of cloud-based applications for financial advisors. Advicent provides planning technology to more than 140,000 financial professionals across 3,000 firms, according to a statement. Terms of the deal were

He promised his clients, many of them retirees who turned over their life savings, that they were “guaranteed” to make money with him. Instead, the Chicago-based financial advisor stole their money to bankroll a $40,000-a-month mansion in the Hollywood Hills, luxury sportscar rentals and other lavish expenses. A federal judge handed DaRayl D. Davis a

With suggestions that include raising tax rates on ordinary income and capital gains, modifying carried interest taxation, and eliminating the step-up in basis for a decedent’s beneficiaries at the date of death, the Biden administration’s tax proposals could radically reshape the tax landscape for wealthy Americans. “In memory, this is one of the most exciting

The financial advice industry has 212 reasons to be confused. That’s the bewildering number of professional designations advisors use to indicate their expertise in every money issue under the sun, from retirement planning and college savings to insurance and investment funds. The alphabet soup is mystifying for investors. It’s baffling for advisors. And it’s getting

Traders on the NYSE, May 3, 2021. Source: NYSE It’s not just about earnings anymore: Dividends and huge inflows are helping stocks power forward. April trading data is in, and it shows two surprises: an increase in dividends, and huge inflows into equities that are even stronger than the first three months of the year.

Firms backed by one of the industry’s fastest-growing RIA consolidators are scaling quickly, too. CI Financial-backed Congress Wealth Management said May 3 it had acquired Pinnacle Advisory Group, a Columbia, Maryland-based RIA with $2.4 billion in assets. Congress Wealth Management will nearly double its client assets as a result, to $5.8 billion, up from about

In this article .DFII Traders working at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), today, Wednesday, April 21, 2021. Source: NYSE The NYSE is adjusting its Covid protocols and will allow more people on its trading floor. Beginning Monday, members of the floor community who have been fully vaccinated will be exempt from certain restrictions, including

After a national search for a partner to help it gain more scale, a billion-dollar RIA found the right fit with a firm in its backyard. Paracle Advisors is folding into Coldstream Wealth Management in a deal that will push the Seattle-based firm above 100 employees and $5.5 billion in client assets upon the expected

One of the fastest-growing hybrid RIAs unveiled its third agreement to acquire a billion-dollar firm in the past five months. Private equity-backed Wealth Enhancement Group is acquiring Pillar Pacific Capital Management, an active asset and wealth manager that manages $1.6 billion on behalf of clients from five continents. Wealth Enhancement and the California-based seller announced

As custodial consolidation brings advisor service models front and center, BNY Mellon Pershing is in early stages of what will be a multi-year restructuring of its business. The clearing firm said at the end of April that it would merge its bank and trust, broker-dealer and RIA custody units under one division, dubbed Wealth Solutions,

Environmental, social and governance reporting has been improving, but questions remain about how advanced it is right now. “From a reporting quality perspective, there’s definitely still room for improvement,” said Desiré Carroll, a senior manager with the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants. “The reporting systems around sustainability information are currently at generally rather immature

With the COVID-19 vaccine rollout well under way, many office workers are beginning to consider where they want to live and work as their priorities shift. For advisors, one factor in their decision might be the amount they’re likely to get paid, on average, in a new city. A study from SmartAsset identifies the top

Financial advisor Michael Policar launched an RIA with a heretical approach toward the gospel of growth that’s often dogma in wealth management. After three years with Hightower — one of the largest and fastest-expanding wealth managers — Policar dropped his FINRA registration as well as the firm’s broker-dealer and RIA on his 37th birthday this

President Biden’s proposed income tax increases for the wealthy would hit individuals earning more than $452,700 in 2022 and married couples making at least $509,300, according to a White House official. The new top 39.6% tax bracket, proposed in Biden’s American Families Plan on Wednesday, would encompass less than 1% of taxpayers, the official said,

After a year of early-morning Zoom calls, the specter of a deadly virus and soaring stock and real estate values, working American baby boomers who can afford it plan to get out while the getting’s good. About 2.7 million Americans age 55 or older are contemplating retirement years earlier than they’d imagined because of the

KeyCorp has hired a former JPMorgan Chase executive to lead its wealth management unit. Joe Skarda, who joined the Cleveland-based company this week, will oversee KeyBank Wealth Management. That unit houses the firm’s private bank, family wealth and mass affluent business segments. He replaces Terry Jenkins, who retired as the unit’s president in March. Skarda

T. Rowe Price Group CEO Bill Stromberg said the firm plans to bring its U.S. workers back to the office by Sept. 13 after more than a year of remote work. The money manager will allow employees in North America to return on a voluntary basis until that date, with social distancing measures in place,

Even as low interest rates push down its earnings, the nation’s largest independent broker-dealer is growing from its massive recruiting push. LPL Financial added $23.8 billion in recruited client assets and vaulted its headcount of financial advisors up by a net 909 advisors year-over-year in the first quarter to reach 17,672, the firm said in

Despite the rise of online brokerages and robo-advisors, most millennials and mass market investors still rely on traditional broker-dealers to manage their assets, according to a study from Broadridge Financial Services. An analysis of 20,000 households that invest in mutual funds, equities and ETFs (excluding workplace retirement accounts) found that 60% of households with fewer

For the first time in the company’s history, Wealthfront is giving clients the ability to self-select the investments in their automated portfolios. Investors can adjust the holdings in one of the robo advisor’s model recommendations or build a portfolio from scratch, according to a blog post on Wealthfront’s website. Products are limited to a selection

The acquisition frenzy for independent advisory firms may be about to get even hotter. That’s the thinking of some industry dealmakers, who predict that President Biden’s proposal for tax increases on the wealthy will pour fuel onto the already-hot market of deals to acquire RIAs. For advisors who are nearing retirement, or who are younger,