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8 stories
- Tax & estate planning
IRS starts automatic refunds for more than 50,000 adoption tax credit carryforward filers
Notices generally go out within 30 days of the account adjustment, and the agency says no amended return is needed.
- Tax & estate planning
Advised investors ask AI more and verify less, Evergreen.ai study finds
Among advised respondents who used AI for money questions, 41.9% acted without checking against another source or a professional, nearly triple the 14.4% rate among unadvised users.
- Tax & estate planning
F&G survey: 51% of pre-retirees plan to semi-retire rather than stop working
Only 21% equate retirement with quitting work outright, and 51% expect to retire later than originally planned.
- Succession & selling a firm
Family offices took part in 342 Q3 2026 deals with $68.3 billion disclosed capital
FINTRX says AI and wealth management consolidation dominated the quarter, but the reported figures give no separate count, value or multiple for wealth-management deals.
- The Advisor's Note
Schwab raises tax-aware long-short account minimum to $10 million
The accounts represented $60.7 billion of Schwab's $187.9 billion in client margin loans at the end of September.
- Succession & selling a firm
RIA deal count falls 17% as $5B sellers set record, DeVoe says
Mercer Advisors refinanced $1.9 billion in a Goldman Sachs-led loan, cutting the rate by 1.75 points and saying the savings will fund acquisitions.
- Practice management
FPA and Allianz: 74% of surveyed planners will spend more time per client relationship
The June survey of 387 planners also found 67% expect to evolve their business model; those with under five years of experience were more likely than veterans to say so.
- Products & portfolios
All Magnificent Seven companies fall short of a 1.5°C climate pathway, Morningstar says
Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft face heightened climate transition risk as operators of hyperscale data centers, Morningstar says
27 stories
- Recruiting & transitions
Schwab Advisor Services net new assets rise 47% in Q3
CEO Rick Wurster drew a contrast with Fidelity after Fidelity told sub-$100 million custody clients to move by June 2027.
- Products & portfolios
Schwab raised tax-aware long-short minimum to $10M from $1M
The custodian earlier limited how much of an RIA's assets could go into the accounts, which accounted for $60.7 billion of $187.9 billion in client margin loans at the end of September.
- Tax & estate planning
Focus Partners Wealth’s Jeffrey Levine tells advisors to keep college savings in 529 plans
Distributions from Trump Accounts are generally taxable at 18, while 529 withdrawals for college are tax-free, Levine says.
- Tax & estate planning
F&G survey: 75% of pre-retirees weigh delaying retirement
WTW's survey the same day found the share of U.S. employees who felt financially secure fell to 36% from 46% in 2019.
- Succession & selling a firm
Mercer Advisors refinances $1.9 billion in first broadly syndicated loan
The seven-year term loan and $340 million revolver, led by Goldman Sachs, cut the rate by 1.75 points; Mercer says savings will fund acquisitions.
- Practice management
Advisor Growth Strategies survey finds 28% of RIA firms plan to add staff because of AI
Eight percent plan for less hiring, and most firms said AI has not changed hiring plans or they are unsure.
- Succession & selling a firm
DeVoe: RIA deal count falls 17% in Q3; $5B-plus sellers set record
Consolidators announced 53% of all deals, and sellers with $100 million to $500 million in assets are on track for a record-low 36% full-year share.
- Tax & estate planning
Social Security retirement trust fund 2032 exhaustion date holds; funding gap widens to 4.42%
Without congressional action, exhaustion would cut retirement benefits about 22%, Morningstar reports.
- Tax & estate planning
Washington voters to decide in November whether to block 9.9% tax on income above $1 million
The tax is not scheduled to take effect until 2028, and for some Seattle earners the combined top state and local rate could reach 18.037%.
- Practice management
IWI survey finds certification awareness higher among clients who refer
The Investments & Wealth Institute's 2026 client research polled 1,000 U.S. investors with at least $500,000 in household investable assets who work with an advisor.
- Practice management
Schwab Wealth Advisory net flows grew 55% in direct advice push
Schwab says the advice division holds about 2% of a $37 trillion market and is working on a proprietary long-short strategy.
- Practice management
WealthManagement.com: Judge conferences by audience fit, not crowd size
The article says the spend is justified by a defined objective, from qualified sales conversations to product launches.
- Practice management
MassMutual launches securities-backed credit line through Supernova Lending
Loans are made and serviced by Supernova Lending; MML Investors Services takes applications and makes no credit decisions.
- Practice management
Triad's compliance chief says onboard Anthropic's Claude like a new employee
The framework runs vendor due diligence, a named AI policy owner, approved-user lists and supervised logs for Claude for Financial Advisors, WealthManagement.com reports.
- Succession & selling a firm
DeVoe counts 77 RIA M&A deals in Q3, down 17% as consolidators gain share
DeVoe projects 320 to 340 RIA transactions in 2026, straddling 2025's record of 322.
- Tax & estate planning
Ed Slott's mailbag: hospice client, 52, can qualify for IRA penalty exception
A physician certification that the illness is reasonably expected to result in death within 84 months is required.
- Succession & selling a firm
AmeriFlex, Genesis execs: Name successor before client handoff
In an Oct. 15 Wealth Solutions Report roundup, they describe identifying a successor early so clients know them before transition.
- Succession & selling a firm
DeVoe counts 77 third-quarter RIA deals, down 17%; a record year needs 79 in Q4
Piper Sandler counted 89 third-quarter deals, down from 93, and says deal activity has not slowed.
- Practice management
Evertern Wealth sends advisors to meet clients as seasonal stays lengthen
The Naples firm says clients split the year across several states and weeks abroad, and it reported $1.6 billion in regulatory assets across 1,153 accounts.
- Tax & estate planning
US ultra wealthy gave $107bn in 2025, Altrata reports
High-net-worth client demand for philanthropic advice has roughly doubled since 2018 while fewer than half of advisors deliver it, separate 2026 studies find.
- Practice management
Wealthy U.S. investors' interest in advisor guidance more than doubles, UBS survey finds
Eighty-four percent of respondents also say they want more guidance than usual from their advisor during an election year.
- Practice management
Escalent survey finds 46% of former-plan holders likely to open a rollover IRA
Gen Z's share of likely rollover candidates rose to 22% from 12% year over year, while millennials' rose to 44%.
- Tax & estate planning
Hybrid clients are 67% more likely to consider leaving their advisor, Greenwich finds
About 22% of affluent investors use both a full-service advisor and a self-directed account, and the study puts their average age at 63.
- Tax & estate planning
Treasury opens Trump Accounts for more than 60 million eligible children; parents must claim
Baird's Tim Steffen tells InvestmentNews parents must verify identity before contributions or investment changes, and that 529 plans remain the first choice for education savings.
- The Advisor's Note
Morgan Stanley reports $15.2 billion in alternative net flows
Fitch shows nontraded BDC redemption requests at 9.8% while the funds still cap quarterly repurchases at 5% of shares.
- Practice management
Kitces & Carl argue an irrevocable decision can beat a reversible one
Episode 201, published October 15, suggests asking what a client would do if the default option disappeared.
- Tax & estate planning
IRS Notice 2026-62 treats one 351 ETF conversion sequence as taxable
The guidance expresses no view on funds that keep assets matching their strategy, and Baird's Steffen says sound conversions remain viable.
5 stories
- Tax & estate planning
IRS guidance targets abusive 351 ETF conversions; Baird's Steffen says sound deals remain viable
Notice 2026-62 and companion Rev. Rul. 2026-20, issued Sept. 28, treat one seeding-and-redemption sequence as a taxable exchange while expressing no view on funds that keep assets matching their strategy.
- Tax & estate planning
Social Security sets a 3.6% COLA for 2027, lifting average retired-worker checks by $75
Payments start in January, SSI checks rise Dec. 31, and the earnings cap climbs to $192,300 from $184,500.
- Products & portfolios
Morgan Stanley posts $15.2B in alt net flows as wirehouses push alts and AI
InvestmentNews coverage names Wells Fargo alongside Merrill and Morgan Stanley among the wirehouses expanding alternatives and AI tools for advisors.
- Recruiting & transitions
Hoge moves $3B-asset Truist team to Captrust, citing employee equity
Captrust says just over 68% of its more than 2,000 employees hold a stake.
- Recruiting & transitions
LPL adds $1 billion Seattle team from Northwestern Mutual
Prince Financial Services founders Julie Prince and Dave Burnett each spent about 20 years at Northwestern Mutual.