The financial assistance appears to be on the higher end of PPP loans received by privately held broker-dealers who obtained Covid-19 business relief. Other B-Ds have reported taking larger PPP loans.

In keeping with the times, it appears that the practice of cold-calling is out and using social and business networking platforms like LinkedIn is in.

Private equity investors are keenly interested in RIAs for their recurring revenues, good margins and low capital expenditures. By most accounts, mergers and acquisitions of RIAs continue to be close to record numbers for the past several years.

Financial advisers who manage any amount of client assets are free to open an RIA, but those with $100 million have a leg up, said speakers at the InvestmentNews RIA Summit, a virtual conference with close to 700 attendees.

Private Advisor Group has taken the unusual step of launching its own broker-dealer with the intention of putting it in better position to grab referrals.

The broker, Matthew Clason, transferred more than $668,000 from the victim’s investment accounts into a joint bank account and then took most of it, according to the Department of Justice. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

Meanwhile, the Long Island, New York-based firm also reported that its financial condition continued to decline.

According to InvestmentNews data, since Rockefeller Capital's launch in early 2018 to the end of March, the clear bulk of its hired advisers have come from CEO Greg Fleming's two former firms.

While the firm is planning to hire financial advisers in 2021, it may see a slowdown in the typical number of new advisers that join the firm in a given year.

President Joe Biden is considering a proposal to almost doubling the capital gains tax rate for wealthy individuals to 39.6%. The looming increase could add urgency to the market.