Trader Talk

Cetera Financial Group is buying Voya Financial Advisors, in a deal that will accelerate the consolidation in the independent broker-dealer sector. Some 900 financial advisors from Voya’s wealth manager are folding into the IBD network’s largest firm, Cetera Advisor Networks, the companies said Feb. 8. Los Angeles-based Cetera, backed by private equity firm Genstar Capital,

A race for talent is heating up as Wells Fargo winds down the roughly $40 billion international segment of its wealth management business, with several firms competing to scoop up advisers and their lucrative client lists. UBS and Banco BTG Pactual SA are among firms seeking to hire from Wells Fargo’s pool of about 330

Private equity and hedge funds face an increased risk that the U.S. will close a longstanding money-laundering loophole for assets they manage. All it would take is the Biden administration to quickly revive a rule that was developed during Barack Obama’s term but left unused by Donald Trump. The U.S. has intensified its crackdown on

A Captrust rival helped draw a major practice to its ranks by suggesting — correctly, it turned out — that the competitor would be “a very good fit for you,” according to a partner with the firm. The surprising referral in Genovese Burford & Brothers’ talks with a different wealth manager led the four partners

As Interactive Brokers Chairman Thomas Peterffy watched the GameStop stock-price saga unfold last week, he felt nervous. He’d seen a lot in a long financial-services career that began in the 1970s; bull markets and bear markets; Black Monday and the Dot Com bust. Last month Reddit users drove shares of GameStop sky-high and some firms,

When FINRA examiners check in with brokers this year, they’re going to be expecting to see real progress in firms’ compliance policies and procedures around Regulation Best Interest. FINRA put the industry on notice this week that its exam team is going to conduct more thorough reviews of how firms are handling Regulation Best Interest

Some financial advisors might have to repay their forgivable pandemic loans. That’s the unpleasant prospect for brokers now under scrutiny by Wall Street’s self-regulator over whether they violated industry rules or securities laws when they received Paycheck Protection Program loans. “I would imagine they would run the risk of losing ‘forgivability’ of the loan,” says

Former New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez joined the roster of wealthy celebrities backing blank-check companies with a filing to raise $500 million for Slam. Rodriquez is the CEO of Slam, which intends to pursue businesses in the sports, media, entertainment, health and wellness and consumer technology sectors, according to its filing Thursday with the

Despite absorbing a double-digit hit to its bottom line, LPL Financial reached record levels of client assets and financial advisors with potential new growth areas on the horizon. The No. 1 independent broker-dealer’s headcount rose 5% year-over-year — a net 823 advisors — to 17,287 in the fourth quarter, LPL said in reporting its results

Private equity giant KKR filed to raise $1 billion via a special purpose acquisition company. KKR Acquisition Holdings filed on Thursday with the SEC to sell 100 million units for $10 each. The vehicle will focus on acquisition targets in the consumer or retail industries, according to the prospectus. Private equity firms have been active

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. NYSE Blowout earnings are forcing analysts to up estimates for 2021. With a little more than half of companies reporting, earnings are proving to be a pleasant surprise for the trading community. The GameStop/Robinhood fiasco is turning out to be a minor blip in

SEC examiners will be eyeing a new relationship summary form to determine how dual registrants delineate services provided through the advisory and brokerage wings of their shops and how firms determine in which silo a client’s account is placed. Now that Reg BI is the law of the land, firms are required to explain their

An alternative investment manager’s long legal saga has entered a dramatic new stage, with potential ramifications for wealth managers that sold its products. GPB Capital Holdings, founder David Gentile and Jeffry Schneider’s Ascendant Capital — the placement agent that pitched GPB’s products to RIAs and brokerages — face a raft of charges in multiple jurisdictions.

As one beleaguered stock after another suddenly soared in January, so too did queries on Google: “How to trade options on Robinhood.” Robinhood Markets’ options-trading platform, barely three years old, is charting a meteoric rise in the COVID-19 pandemic, establishing the firm as the venue of choice for throngs of retail investing enthusiasts. New disclosures

Wall Street is concerned about the Yellen regulator super-summit, and with good reason, market watchers say. “The Street should be worried,” Jamie Selway, former head of electronic brokerage at ITG and now an investment advisor, told me. “There’s clearly questions about gamification, and whether a lot of these approaches are suitable and inducing unnecessary trading

UBS recruited a team that managed $900 million and generated $4.5 million in annual production. It’s a large get for the wirehouse, which has continued its policy of selectively hiring advisors catering to ultrahigh-net-worth and high-net-worth clients. The team, which includes advisors Brian Corley and Dan Grover, joined UBS from First Republic in Walnut Creek,

Long-term gains of the fund industry’s top-performing sectors show why portfolio diversity is mission critical. Home to a combined $9.99 trillion in combined assets, the 20 fund categories with the biggest returns of the past 10 years generated an average gain of less than 12%, undershooting some of the industry’s largest index trackers, Morningstar Direct

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has summoned U.S. financial regulators to discuss recent volatility in financial markets, in her first public effort to address the tumult involving GameStop shares and broker-dealer Robinhood Markets. Yellen called a meeting with the SEC, the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Commodity Futures Trading

With our annual rankings, Financial Planning recognizes the industry’s top producing young advisors among regional firms. The 2021 edition of the Top 40 Advisors Under 40 includes a separate ranking for advisors who work with firms like Ameriprise; RBC; Baird; Oppenheimer & Co.; Janney Montgomery Scott; Raymond James; and Alex. Brown, a division of Raymond

Stifel Financial recruited a mega-team from Merrill Lynch, spurring on the firm’s recruiting efforts aimed primarily at wirehouse advisors. The new hires oversaw $1.35 billion in client assets at their former employer, according to the firm. The group includes Robert DeBeer, his son Stephen, Russel May and Blake Hanna. Stifel CEO Ron Kruszewski and co-President

Peak GameStop?  GameStop’s volume and volatility has been much lower this week than in the prior six days. This is also true of other heavily shorted names like Bed Bath and Beyond, Express and AMC.    What’s going on?  Chris Murphy, co-head of derivative strategy at Susquehanna Financial Group, ticked off the signs that the endgame

Q: What is the proper way to define a client complaint? Someone being upset with paperwork not being mailed out on time or disappointing investment performance as opposed to an alleged breach of fiduciary duty are all very different levels of complaints. How is a complaint defined for compliance purposes? A: The Supplementary Material to

Advisors who violate the CFP Board’s standards of conduct may face stiffer penalties in the future. The organization unveiled a new committee tasked with reviewing and potentially updating its sanction guidelines and fitness standards. The move underlines the board’s latest efforts to respond to heightened scrutiny and public criticism of perceived shortcomings in its enforcement

Bond-rating agency Moody’s Investors Services changed its outlook for the debt of two of the largest wealth management firms, but noted uncertainties in their businesses that could cause ripples. After Moody’s affirmed “B3” corporate ratings for the parent companies of Advisor Group and Cetera Financial Group and revised their outlook from “negative” on Jan. 14,

With the convergence of multiple layers of tax legislation and IRS guidance since 2017, this year’s filing season has the potential to confuse tax preparers as well as the clients they serve. Even for those who follow legislation day in and day out, things can get complicated. For example, the Paycheck Protection Program was initially

Robinhood and Interactive Brokers took steps to curtail trading in several high-flying stocks, including GameStop and AMC Entertainment Holdings. Robinhood restricted transactions on those stocks and others, according to a blog post. Interactive Brokers said it wouldn’t allow clients to take new options positions in names including AMC, GameStop and BlackBerry. “In addition, long stock

I have a favorite saying that bears repeating: “Investing is like a stool with three legs: Market Risk, Liquidity, and Taxes.” Each one of these factors could either wreak havoc or greatly enhance your overall financial plan at a given point in time. In the unforgiving world of finance, not knowing is not an excuse.

New York markets had just fired up, and the investing world was tuning in for Thursday’s episode of the continuing drama: Legions of Robinhood Markets investors versus hedge-fund Goliaths. But within minutes, a shock wave invisible to the outside world rattled the mechanics of Wall Street — sending Robinhood rushing for more than $1 billion

The CFP Board will add a non-binary gender option to its applications this year, following requests from financial advisors on social media to do so. It’s another step the Board is taking as part of its effort to promote inclusivity in wealth management and a more diverse workforce. While the addition is underway, the CFP

Bank of America increased margin requirements to 100% for wealth-management and self-directed brokerage clients to trade certain stocks, as firms impose limits amid wild price swings sparked by investors on social media. The margin requirements apply to Merrill Lynch wealth management clients and individual traders using the Merrill Edge platform, according to Bank of America.