Financial literacy matters.
The GameStop fiasco brought that to the fore. The rise and fall of the stock in recent months reminded me of the battles that erupted around the advent of “Mad Money.” I bore witness to the explosion of Jim Cramer’s “Mad Money” on to the investing scene. The show straddled the line between game and clinic, and while most attention was paid to the games and the booyahs, there were lessons in most episodes, as Jim strived to educate.
On one hand, more people participating in wealth management is a positive for the markets. But blindly following Reddit characters or second-hand reports of “Buy! Buy! Buy!” opens the dark side of investing.
Therefore, we should give credit to people that cheer for those leaders who strive to create a financially literate community — and that’s what we’ve done in this issue.
In our cover story, Mark Schoeff Jr. and Nicole Casperson report on adviser reaction to the GameStop mania. And then we hear from a number of practitioners on why they are doing the work they’re doing to provide necessary access to finance. Thank you to Kate Healy, Luis Rosa, Dan Otter, Cindy Couyoumjian, and Cristina Livadary.
Wealth Consulting Group, Coastline and Maridea report fresh capital, acquisitions and asset growth as advisor M&A keeps climbing
Carson Group's Dani Fava, Jason Pereira of Woodgate Financial, and Sally George of Convergency Partners led the raise as the growth-tech startup builds out its AI platform and leadership bench.
New teams from William Blair, Ameriprise and UBS bring more than $560 million in combined client assets to the firm's employee and independent channels.
Regulators this year approved UBS Bank USA’s conversion to a nationally chartered bank.
How a subprime lender’s car-loan bonds allegedly unraveled before bankruptcy.
Northern Trust’s Ken Lassner shows advisors how to convert volatility into after-tax portfolio gains
Dan Biagini of American Equity says the steady decline of pensions, longer lifespans and a reset in interest rates are rewriting how advisors build retirement income
