TD Ameritrade Institutional is kicking off its national conference Thursday with more plans to continue advocating for advisers.
The custodian today announced that it will host what it is calling a fiduciary leadership summit on June 13, in conjunction with its Elite conference for top advisers, to be held in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Summit participants will discuss the status of regulatory proposals outlined in the Dodd-Frank reform law, and address the future of the fiduciary standard and improving advisor oversight, the company said. The summit is being organized by Skip Schweiss, president of TD Ameritrade Trust Company and managing director of advisor advocacy.
TD Ameritrade spokespersons said invitations to summit participants are pending, but in the announcement today the company said it would include industry peers and consumer groups.
Separately, the company this week launched a
blog for its advisers,
initially featuring a post by Mr. Schweiss about the fiduciary standard debate.
TD Ameritrade Institutional also announced on Thursday two new scholarship and educational-grant programs.
The company will provide individual $5,000 scholarships to 10 students enrolled in undergraduate
financial planning programs. A $50,000 grant will be provided to a university that best demonstrates a commitment to educating future financial professionals.
Scholarship applications are due May 15, 2013 and will be awarded Aug. 1, 2013. Grant applications are due June 1, 2013 and will be awarded Sept. 1, 2013.
TD Ameritrade's custody unit already supports the University of Minnesota at Duluth, the University of Dayton and Texas Tech University.
The new programs should help “position the RIA channel as a destination for new advisers, a market position previously held by wirehouses,” said Tom Nally, head of TD Ameritrade Institutional, in a release.
In more news, TD Ameritrade announced the pending release of a new web-based version of its popular iRebal rebalancing program. The new version, set to beta test this summer with a full release planned later in the year, will be available free to advisers who custody at the firm and use its Veo technology platform.
Live at TD! Dorsey trumpets boost in breakaways, tuck-ins
