Moglia to step down as TD’s chief executive

Joe Moglia, credited by industry observers with guiding TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.’s explosive growth over the past seven years, will step down as chief executive in October. Mr. Moglia, 59, who has been in charge of the Omaha, Neb.-based company since 2001, will be succeeded by Fred Tomczyk, who has been its chief operating officer since July 2007. A longtime veteran of New York-based Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., Mr. Moglia oversaw Ameritrade’s 2006 merger with New York-based TD Waterhouse Group Inc. and the 2002 acquisition of Datek Online Holdings Corp. of Jersey City, N.J. In October, he will become non-executive chairman, a position currently held by Joe Ricketts, the company’s founder, who is retiring. TD Ameritrade’s market capitalization has soared from $700 million in 2001 to more than $12 billion this year. The firm has become the industry leader in daily online equity trades, according to industry observers. The company also has started to focus more on asset-gathering and advisory services, targeting clients with investible assets ranging from $100,000 to $1 million. Mr. Tomczyk, 52, is a well-regarded former executive at Toronto-Dominion Bank, the Canadian banking giant that owns 39.9% of TD Ameritrade. While at Toronto-Dominion, he ran the bank’s retail-branch network and wealth business. Most recently, Mr. Tomczyk was president and chief executive of London (Ontario) Life Insurance Co. Several industry analysts believe that the change in leadership at TD Ameritrade signaled Toronto-Dominion’s desire to expand the company’s financial reach. Adam Honore, a Denver-based senior analyst for Aite Group LLC of Boston, called Mr. Tomczyk “a more natural fit” for the next stage of TD Ameritrade’s growth. “Ameritrade has lagged in the holistic-wealth-management space,” Mr. Honore said. “Schwab is the king of asset gathering, and if you want to mirror what they have done, you need to create the infrastructure and platform to do it.” For the full report, see the May 19 issue of InvestmentNews.