Trader Talk

An ETF investing in U.S. companies that BlackRock considers most likely to prosper in the transition to a low-carbon world lured the most cash on record in its first day of trading. Investors poured about $1.25 billion into the BlackRock U.S. Carbon Transition Readiness ETF (LCTU) on Thursday, making it the biggest launch in the

A former Edward Jones financial advisor alleges a company trainer “pressured” her into “a forced sexual encounter” during her time with the firm. In a lawsuit filed April 6 in East Texas federal court, Amanda Daugherty accuses the wealth manager of gender-based discrimination and unlawful termination, including unwanted advances by another advisor she says is

Most of Envestnet’s technology caters to advisors serving the already-wealthy, but the firm’s latest acquisition provides new capabilities for firms working with investors who haven’t yet accumulated significant assets. The Chicago-based fintech giant and turnkey asset management provider has purchased Harvest Savings & Wealth Technologies, which builds technology to automate “micro-saving” and “micro-investing” at banks,

Asset managers with the biggest long-term losses and some of the industry’s priciest mutual funds outperformed their peers over the past year. The 20 actively managed funds with the worst 15-year returns, and at least $100 million in assets under management, notched an average loss of 2.37% over the period, Morningstar Direct data show. In

Don’t get me wrong: I am a staunch supporter of digitalization — as a financial services executive it’s been my focus for more than 10 years. And yet I have to ask: Is it possible that, in our quest to provide better access to investing through automation, we’ve forgotten the emotional connection — and in

What will advisors get paid this year? It’s a perennial question particularly from wirehouse advisors whose employers make annual tweaks to compensation. Last year, the coronavirus pandemic upended expectations, forcing some firms to postpone changes made to their 2020 comp plans — but it didn’t derail what industry insiders say are the long-term trends in

Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Source: NYSE Is this as good as it gets?  It seems like everything is working, and with good reason: The broad rally is supported by an accelerated vaccine rollout and recent economic reports that have been robust across the board. Nonfarm payrolls.  ISM Manufacturing. ISM

After a decade of futility, active mutual fund managers are having the run of a lifetime in 2021’s can’t-miss stock market. With leadership in equities moving beyond megacap tech companies — for once — stock pickers are finding a reprieve from the dominance of their index-tracking rivals. Selective bets on undervalued stocks are paying off

A 37-year veteran broker lost his job and FINRA registration due to an investigation into the barred father of another former advisor from the same firm. William J. Novack declined to testify and agreed to the ban after FINRA contacted him about the other ex-Cambridge Investment Research advisor’s termination, according to the March 24 settlement.

Renaissance paintings, stamps, whisky: Collectibles, in some cases, have garnered big gains for previous generations of investors. Could sneakers be next? And could advisors use this asset class — which is more fun to own, for some, than stocks or bonds — as a way to entice younger clients who may not yet have an

There are lots of reasons to fret about debt. And more reasons not to. There is certainly a lot of debt out there. Federal, state and local governments have accumulated a record $27.9 trillion of debt financing. U.S. companies are selling the most debt in a decade. Borrowing costs are the lowest in at least

A year after a private equity infusion and its then-largest acquisition as a firm, a major RIA consolidator’s latest deal more than doubled the size of its record. Wealthstreet Investment Advisors — a Dallas-based RIA with five financial advisors and four other employees managing $1.18 billion in assets under management — sold to Beacon Pointe

The CFP Board has introduced its anticipated non-binary gender option for current certificants and future applicants, according to the membership organization, in a step toward being more inclusive of individuals who don’t identify as male or female. The update, on which the organization said it was working in January, will allow advisors to “indicate non-binary

The dense, single-spaced, 20-odd-page company report that is sent to IntraFi employees each month may not be as satisfying as the office breakfast spreads or as soothing as the weekly yoga sessions. But the feeling of trust it evokes may be one of the biggest differentiators in what landed the Arlington, Va., company at the

More than one in two Americans who make $100,000 a year or more plans to save at least a portion of their tax refunds in 2021, according to an academic study. NORC of the University of Chicago found that 52% of such individuals intend to tuck away an unspecified portion of their refunds in savings

High fees aside, the top-performing actively managed funds have steadily produced market-beating returns. The 20 active funds with the biggest 15-year gains, and at least $100 million in assets under management, notched an average return of nearly twice the broader industry, Morningstar Direct data show. Over the last year, a portfolio consisting of the same

After watching Bitcoin’s stratospheric rise from the sidelines, game developer Adam Dart wanted a piece of the action. The 29-year-old Scot who lives in Singapore reached out to a handful of local and international banks to ask about opening investment accounts to trade crypto with funds from his family’s wealth office. To his surprise, he

One of the largest wealth managers must pay restitution and a fine after selling $18 million worth of investments in a risky alternative mutual fund that went bust. A registered representative of Cambridge Investment Research sold more than 80% of the shares in the LJM Preservation & Growth Fund — a product tapping the difference

Pam Hendrickson took work calls while waiting to give birth at a New York hospital three decades ago, helping to sort out a problem at Chemical Bank from her labor room. Since then, she’s watched colleagues drag themselves to the office when they should be home sick. Now, the vice chair of investment firm Riverside

Ex-financial advisor Chris Wayne Burns’ truck was found about six months ago in a parking lot with copies of three cashier’s checks. He wasn’t in it. Meredith Brown, his wife at the time, filed a missing person report with the police on Sept. 25, after using OnStar to track down his vehicle. The SEC had

Advisor Sheila Padden never had a complaint with Charles Schwab, her custodian of five years. That is, until last year. Padden doesn’t have her own client service team and relies on one of Schwab’s call centers. It has historically been responsive; the company “tends to run a pretty tight ship,” she says. Around November, that

MX Technologies emphasizes a core value — “exuberance for life” — on its website and in recruitment materials, and it lives up to that attitude with energizing benefits and perks. The 11-year-old financial data aggregation firm, based in Lehi, Utah, relies on workers to maintain a brisk growth pace, which will likely accelerate this year

A business world gone suddenly virtual played to the strengths of fintech companies. After all, they are built on digital alternatives to analog processes, from making loans to trading securities. But even though many fintechs saw growth accelerate over the last 12 months, they were not immune to the political, social and financial turmoil wrought

Goldman Sachs is close to offering investment vehicles for Bitcoin and other digital assets to clients of its private wealth management unit. ″We are working closely with teams across the firm to explore ways to offer thoughtful and appropriate access to the ecosystem for private wealth clients, and that is something we expect to offer

An ex-financial advisor received a sentence of 17.5 years in prison after a federal judge said the former registered rep “lied through his teeth” during his trial on fraud charges. A jury had convicted Anthony Diaz, 53, on 11 counts of wire and mail fraud after a two-week trial in January 2020, according to the

UBS hired a top-ranked advisor from Merrill Lynch, making him the latest elite wirehouse advisor to switch firms. Brandon Sobel had been with Merrill since 2016, according to FINRA BrokerCheck records. He was recently named a Forbes best in state wealth advisor for 2021, and was listed as overseeing more than $650 million in client

From his vantage point in Wellesley, Massachusetts, George Patterson sees restless Americans everywhere desperate to board planes, take vacations and dine in restaurants. To the $120 billion quant manager, these are telltale signs that stocks hitched to the economic cycle are set to boom anew and the Big Tech safety trade of the lockdown era

For advisor Keith Beverly, achieving his CFP and CFA designations put him on the road to success as the owner of his own firm. Now he wants to help more Black advisors follow the same path. Beverly has organized classes to help Black CFP aspirants study for the board’s certification exam. And he’s pushing larger

At least three wealth managers — and 388 other publicly traded companies — have pledged to end an employment practice that critics say is harmful to victims of sexual harassment. The number has soared from just five firms in September 2019, when Rachel Robasciotti of impact investing manager Adasina Social Capital and two collaborators began

It wasn’t so long ago that airliners and real estate companies were asking for emergency support and precautionary bank loans. Now investors are desperate to lend them money. Bonds of EasyJet and U.K. property manager Hammerson are among the best performers in Europe this year. Investment-grade companies in the two sectors have sold almost $22