Trader Talk

These days it seems everyone and their mother is investing in SPACs. For Joe Kunkle, that’s literally the case. Kunkle, of Philadelphia, runs a website for options traders. He’s used to spending his days talking about risky trades with people who see themselves as being on the vanguard of investing trends. So he was struck

A financial advisor faces an eight-year prison sentence after his conviction in a complex fraud case investigators describe as an international advance fee scheme. James Michael “Mike” Johnson, 69, and at least three other conspirators bilked entrepreneurs for $5.7 million by soliciting loans from the clients to an entity called Chimera Group Ltd. in exchange

A budding rivalry between Riskalyze and Orion Advisor Solutions is heating up. Though the companies have different origins, they look increasingly similar in the products and services they now offer advisors. Riskalyze began as a digital client assessment tool before expanding into portfolio management with trading, rebalancing and a marketplace of managed account strategies. Now

The violent stock rotation that sent the main ETF from Ark Investment Management to its worst losses in a year is a healthy development for a bull market that will spur the fund to “concentrate toward our highest-conviction names,” founder Cathie Wood said. Wood’s ETFs gained in early trading on Tuesday, signaling a reprieve from

Senate Democrats passed the latest version of the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill after a more than 24-hour voting session that included the longest single vote in the chamber’s history. The plan includes a wave of new spending, an extension of jobless benefits, another round of direct household payments, money for state and local governments and

People say that the small things we do on a day-to-day basis ripple into larger acts of change, like recycling or simply saying hello to a stranger. But there are still those days when a cataclysmic event changes your world forever: a market crash or a global pandemic. For me, an immigrant Muslim woman from

Apollo Global Management agreed to acquire Athene Holding in an all-stock deal that values the annuity business at about $11 billion. The deal is expected to close in January 2022, the companies said Monday in a statement. Apollo was already the annuity seller’s biggest shareholder, with the firm and related entities owning a 35% stake.

One of the nation’s largest hybrid RIAs is adding nearly $2.5 billion in client assets through the two M&A deals it has unveiled this year. Wealth Enhancement Group — majority-owned by funds affiliated with private equity firm TA Associates — agreed to acquire North American Management, a Boston-based firm catering to ultrahigh-net-worth clients with $1.75

Canadian robo advisor Wealthsimple is calling it quits in the U.S. The company, which raised $87 million in October to accelerate growth toward an initial public offering, has sold its U.S. advisory business to rival robo Betterment. Wealthsimple manages roughly $190 million across 17,000 accounts in the U.S., says Betterment vice president of communications Joe

Wells Fargo, which has the largest workforce among U.S. banks, is encouraging employees to get vaccinated against Covid-19 and is offering paid time off for the inoculations. The firm will offer up to eight hours paid time off for employees across the world to get vaccinated, according to an internal memo reviewed by Bloomberg. The

Robinhood Markets has snared most of the attention for attracting an army of day traders during the pandemic. But far bigger profits are flowing to the family behind Fidelity Investments in Boston. Operating income reached a record $7.2 billion in 2020 and the number of retail accounts jumped 17% to 26 million. That helped increase

Fidelity Investments, already a giant in financial services, is even bigger a year after the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The firm ended 2020 with thousands of new employees, millions of new accounts and billions more in assets — growth driven in part by a wave of first-time investors, who have sent markets soaring and

Betterment for Business, a 401(k) provider, has teamed up with people operations platform Zenefits to offer small and mid-sized businesses better quality retirement savings plans. Saving enough for retirement has long been a challenge for employees and the COVID-19 crisis has only exacerbated this issue. However, despite the economic strain presented by the pandemic, 74%

Waddell & Reed is laying off hundreds more employees and calling off the relocation of its corporate office in the wake of selling the 84-year-old business. The mutual fund company and wealth manager is offering severance to 219 employees in unspecified positions who are expected to depart around April 30 — the scheduled date of

A Model X is on display at a Tesla showroom on February 13, 2021 in Beijing, China. VCG | Visual China Group | Getty Images What’s behind the drop in tech stocks? A model Wall Street uses to value stocks is flashing caution. Tech stocks are in a correction. The Nasdaq 100, the largest 100

Hundreds of firms that serve retail investors failed to file a relationship summary document with the SEC, which is part of the regulator’s recent overhaul of standards of conduct for advisors and brokers. The commission’s examiners have been asking the firms — sometimes twice — why they opted not to produce a Form CRS. Some

When advisors reflect on their experience in the tumultuous and sometimes chaotic year of 2020, they use words like “flexible” and “adaptable.” But they’re not just describing the past. Many hard-learned lessons from last year are helping advisors rethink both their own practices and the shape of the profession as they look ahead to grow

Two financial advisors at the forefront of the movement toward social justice-driven funds and portfolios sold their practice to focus full-time on it. Rachel Robasciotti and Maya Philipson of San Francisco-based Robasciotti & Philipson are merging 115 client households with $130 million in assets into major fee-only RIA firm Abacus Wealth Partners, the firms said

The logos of Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and TikTok displayed on a computer screen. Denis Charlet | AFP via Getty Images Is it time for an ETF that measures hype? Measuring the buzz around stocks mentioned in social media is all the rage. Now, there’s an exchange-traded fund for that. The Van Eck Vectors Social

The 20 funds with the worst 15-year performance figures, and at least $100 million in assets under management, posted an overall loss of more than 2%, Morningstar Direct data show. Over the last year, many of the same funds have made up ground with the group posting an overall one-year gain of more than 16%.

The SEC’s update to its decades-old advertising rule could profoundly change the way advisors promote their firms and connect with prospective clients — particularly when it comes to direct advertising. But in the process, it could further advantage bigger firms at the expense of smaller ones. “What this does now is I think for these

Advisor demand for investments they can’t find on public stock exchanges is creating new opportunities for fintech companies. Alternative Investment Exchange (AIX), a digital marketplace for alternative investment transactions, kicked off March by announcing a partnership with independent broker-dealer Kalos Financial. AIX will provide Kalos’ advisors with a paperless, Turbotax-like “point and click” experience that

IRA trusts may have lost some of their luster in the wake of the SECURE Act. Under the act, long-term tax deferral is still permitted for certain IRA beneficiaries but others must empty the inherited account within 10 years. Beneficiaries of employer-sponsored qualified plans face the same new rules. “The term ‘IRA trust’ may be

AssetMark is the latest turnkey asset management firm to buy its own financial planning software. For $145 million, the Concord, California-based TAMP, which provides outsourced investment management and technology to independent financial advisors, will acquire Voyant, a financial planning software used by 20,000 financial advisors across 11 large financial institutions and 2,100 independent advisory firms.

The pandemic stimulus package that’s muscling towards the finish line contains a powerful financial boost that can jumpstart wealth-building for young adults. Under the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill passed by the House on Feb. 27, checks of up to $1,400 would flow to middle- and modest-income taxpayers. And unlike previous rounds of stimulus checks,

In my daily conversations with financial advisors over my 20 years in the industry, I’ve observed their reactions to market pullbacks, major national and world events and multiple election cycles. In many ways, no matter what the differing circumstances, the conversations have had a similar tune. But as we enter year two of the coronavirus

Rockefeller has recruited another top-ranked Merrill Lynch team. The group includes Alpesh Patel, who was recently ranked among Forbes’ top advisors with team assets of $843 million as of Feb. 11. A spokesperson for Rockefeller declined to confirm the team’s current AUM. Other team members include advisors Matthew Birkett and Darren Siegrist; Hai Dang, team

Goldman Sachs slapped a zippy new name on its digital bank, turned it into a billion-dollar revenue generator and rolled out a credit card with tech darling Apple. And the February launch of a robo adviser was supposed to make it the month of celebration. Instead, the most gilded name on Wall Street has been

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) stands in the Financial District in Manhattan on January 28, 2021 in New York City. Spencer Platt | Getty Images Will March be the death of the “TINA” trade? February started with the reflation trade and ended with a bond market rout that scrambled stock valuations and caused some

Bank of America’s wealthiest clients are flying south to Florida. It’s meeting them there. Merrill Lynch Wealth Management President Andy Sieg said the unit is intensifying its focus on the Sunshine State. Merrill Lynch Wealth Management has about 1,300 advisors in Florida.Bloomberg News The firm has 20 teams that cater to ultra-high-net-worth individuals there, and