"A lot of advisors think, I don't want to sell to private equity or join a firm that's PE backed, because those evil private equity people like Edward Lewis are just going to strip my firm, fire my people, reduce all the costs," says Modern Wealth's Jason Gordo. "That's just not the way it works in the RIA community."
"That's something we aspire to do, to build out a referral network," Altruist CFO Marc Greenberg told InvestmentNews, though the custodian is currently leaning more on AI and workflow automation to support growth for its 5,100+ advisors.
Longtime Commonwealth marketing executive Sarah Howes has been hired to spearhead advisor marketing at Farther, and 16 ex-Commonwealth advisors totaling $1.7 billion AUM are set to follow her to the technology-focused RIA.
Google still dominates search, but advisors are shifting to “generative engine optimization” to stay visible on AI search platforms such as ChatGPT.
Private equity exit values and volume are up sharply, but investments in RIAs are taking a different path: “Many PE firms are now structuring proposals that allow RIAs to roll equity into their next fund,” Hue Partners' Emily Blue told InvestmentNews.
Robinhood’s stock has skyrocketed 440% over the past year ahead of the company's upcoming referral program launch with RIA custodian TradePMR.
Two longtime RIA industry figures have joined the board of directors at TaxStatus, a fintech company that garners thousands of IRS data points on clients to share with advisors for improved financial planning oversight and time savings.
"QuantumRisk, by design, recognizes that these so-called "impossible" events actually happen, and it accounts for them in a way that advisors can see and plan for," Dr. Ron Piccinini told InvestmentNews.
Schwab has expanded its Registered Investment Advisor Talent Advantage Student Scholarship with more winners and more scholarship funding as it projects an industry-wide RIA talent crunch to fill 70,000 jobs.
From tax-free municipal bonds to the prospect of relocating to Florida, advisors say Zohran Mamdani’s proposed millionaire tax has sparked a wave of client conversations ahead of November's New York City mayoral election.
