Advisors archive
Every Advisors story, newest first. 898 stories
7 stories
- Recruiting & transitions
Four Raymond James practices move more than $1B to Ascentis, keep Raymond James custody
The practices will operate from offices in California and Colorado under their own brands.
- Tax & estate planning
Roth IRA transfers to a new custodian do not reset the five-year clock, Ed Slott's IRAHelp says
Brenner says an inherited IRA passes to the primary beneficiary at death; if the spouse then dies without naming a beneficiary, the custodian's default—often the estate—decides.
- Tax & estate planning
A 60-day IRA rollover can bridge a cash crunch, with two rules to track
IRAHelp says the once-a-year limit counts traditional and Roth IRAs together, and a missed deadline can leave the distribution taxable and penalized.
- The Advisor's Note
Merrill, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Wells Fargo lose net 517 experienced advisors in H1 2026
The first-half decline already exceeds 2025's net loss of 302 experienced advisors, according to Diamond Consultants.
- Recruiting & transitions
Big four wirehouses lost a net 517 experienced advisors in first half of 2026
Merrill, Morgan Stanley, UBS and Wells Fargo are the four firms in Diamond Consultants' count, which already tops the 302 they lost in all of 2025.
- The Advisor's Note
F2 Strategy: 87% of surveyed wealth firms use or pilot AI; 6% run agentic tools
F2 Strategy's Q2 2026 survey of 40 firms overseeing $8.6 trillion finds AI technology spending has a very weak correlation with measurable business value.
- Tax & estate planning
Tax Foundation counts roughly 40 state tax measures; Colorado top rate would reach 8.4%
Amendment 87 would apply top initial rates of 7.4%, 7.9% and 8.4% above $500,000, $750,000 and $1 million, replacing the state's 4.4% flat tax.
24 stories
- Recruiting & transitions
XYPN registration pipeline hits 110 firms as rollup advisors join
The network says it added more than 370 advisors in 2026 and now reports 2,400 members, 300 of them SEC-registered practices.
- Tax & estate planning
Schwab agrees to sell Forge Trust self-directed IRA custodian to Alto
Advisors with clients in Forge Trust self-directed IRAs could face a custodian move to Alto, a Nashville custodian and marketplace for private-market retirement investing.
- Tax & estate planning
Harris poll: 85% of workers 40–61 find guaranteed monthly retirement income appealing
The poll for Athene found 23% had purchased annuities and only 34% said they mostly or fully understood them.
- Practice management
Ewen Harris says AI should buy time for client conversation, not replace it
Janus Henderson found 79% of investors would see undisclosed AI use as a problem.
- Practice management
InvestorCOM finds 44% of rollovers occur before savers turn 59½
Panelists say advisors must reach plan participants years before a job change or rollover decision.
- Recruiting & transitions
Fidelity says a few hundred advisory firms face its $100 million custody cutoff
Affected firms hold less than 1% of the $5.8 trillion Fidelity administers across 3,300 RIAs, family offices and broker/dealers.
- Practice management
Tax Foundation counts roughly 40 state tax measures on November ballots
The Oct. 7 podcast episode covers proposals on top-earner rates, constitutional rate locks, property tax relief and a Missouri fund that could replace every state tax.
- Recruiting & transitions
Betterment waives custody fees through Dec. 31, 2028 for RIAs transferring from Fidelity
The offer has no asset minimum and a June 30, 2027 sign-up deadline; Fidelity set a $100 million threshold for staying on its platform.
- Tax & estate planning
WealthManagement.com column: entity structure determines what a judgment can reach
The column says a personal judgment usually cannot reach business profits, though owners can lose access to their own assets.
- Products & portfolios
IUL income illustrations assume level crediting and a full-equity benchmark, WealthManagement.com column says
One reviewed projection promised income above 9% of starting cash value from a policy crediting under 7%, the column says.
- Tax & estate planning
Bank of America survey: 47% of wealthy see next generation prepared for family giving
Wealthy parents' confidence that their children share their commitment to philanthropy fell to 65% from 76% in 2024.
- Succession & selling a firm
Bridgemark's Jeff Nash on how RIA sales change G2 advisors' path to ownership
The sale can deliver a financial windfall while altering the route to independence, with founder-side guidance on timing, equity terms and legal counsel.
- Practice management
Kitces publishes Clearnomics' seven charts for Q3 client conversations
The quarter the deck covers included a 10-year Treasury yield that touched 5.30%, the Fed's first rate hike in three years, and the S&P 500's 27th record high of 2026.
- Tax & estate planning
IRAHelp: IRA loans are barred, but a 60-day rollover can bridge a cash crunch
Miss the 60-day window and the distribution may be taxable and penalized; the once-a-year rollover rule counts traditional and Roth IRAs together.
- Tax & estate planning
Envestnet column says ultra-high-net-worth clients now expect family-office coordination
The WealthManagement.com column defines high-net-worth as $1 million to $5 million in investable assets and ultra-high-net-worth as anything above $30 million in investable assets, then argues those clients want coordinated family-office service without paying to build one.
- Practice management
Marie Swift, Ashten Legg and Matt Ackermann on RIA podcast launch prerequisites
The Wealth Solutions Report panel's four prerequisites for a launch: a fitting host, a repeatable production process, compelling guests and a way to tell whether the show creates value.
- Practice management
What RIA consolidation means for G2 advisors' windfalls and succession paths
A column notes the second quarter of 2026 was reported as the most active ever for RIA M&A, and that more recent data suggests third-quarter activity slowed.
- Practice management
SEC settles Zoe Financial referral-algorithm case with a $450,000 penalty
The order says salespeople often recommended advisers beyond the algorithm's list, and that a conflict created by an affiliated service went undisclosed until December 2024.
- Practice management
FINRA bars ex-Wedbush broker William Sandeman over $3.5 million in complex ETP losses
The Seattle broker recommended volatility-linked and non-traditional products to 81 clients, 59 of them seniors and most moderate or conservative, between December 2020 and January 2025.
- Practice management
Advisers rank growing wealth eighth among women's priorities; women rank it first
In a new BlackRock survey, advisers most often traced women's wealth to inheritance or marriage, while 79% of the women credited their own salary or career earnings.
- Practice management
87% of firms use or pilot AI; 6% run agentic tools inside workflows
F2 Strategy's Q2 2026 Trend Report surveyed 40 leading RIAs, wealth management firms and broker-dealers representing $8.6 trillion in assets and found a very weak correlation between AI technology spending and measurable business value.
- The Advisor's Note
Merrill's Form ADV prices manager access at up to $860,000 plus 0.1% of revenue
The Bank of America wirehouse says it will have a financial incentive to recommend managers that pay for data analytics, effective Jan. 1, 2027.
- Products & portfolios
Brown Advisory files $5.4M DCVC-linked fund in Form D batch from $80K to $227M
The October 6 notices give offering sizes and first-sale dates, and none of the fees, marks or liquidity terms an advisor needs before a client allocation.
- Recruiting & transitions
Fidelity gives RIAs under $100 million until June 2027 to leave custody
Financial Planning's survey names Schwab and BNY Pershing as alternatives, but the options that would keep a firm at Fidelity remain undescribed.
9 stories
- Products & portfolios
Schwab adds Save's cash strategy to its SMA marketplace
The Houston startup's advertised 7.5% three-year average comes from stock and bond ETFs, while FDIC coverage applies only to the deposit principal.
- Practice management
SEC sets Nov. 19 virtual compliance seminar for advisers and funds
Enforcement's asset management unit is among the sponsors, and panel questions can be submitted in advance through the agenda.
- Recruiting & transitions
Small RIAs weigh joining a network to clear Fidelity's $100 million minimum
Advisory Services Network, which already clears Fidelity's bar, says firms have asked to join; an analyst warns the scale benefit depends on how an aggregator files.
- Practice management
SEC exam division replaces its brochure with a stage-by-stage handbook
The guide runs from the division's risk assessment to the disposition letter, and the SEC says the aim is a more consistent and predictable exam.
- Products & portfolios
SEC proposes crypto custody framework for advisers and regulated funds
The proposal would permit self-custody under circumstances the release does not describe and would let state trust companies serve as custodians.
- Practice management
RQD gets a boost as Fidelity sets $100 million custodian minimum
The New York clearing firm counts roughly 50 U.S. advisory clients, and its chief revenue officer describes its RIA work as still in its early infancy.
- Practice management
Altruist prices Hazel planning agent at $3,600 per advisor annually
The custodian is selling the planning tool to advisors regardless of where they custody, and RIABiz reports buyers may need to supply PDFs if rival planning vendors refuse API access.
- Practice management
Pontera floats itself as AI's trust layer for 401(k) access
The 401(k) software firm says agent-to-agent finance needs a validating intermediary, while Schwab says it is preparing Charley agents for its millions of clients.
- Practice management
Aquiline buys control of Flourish from MassMutual as Phase II lending rollout nears
MassMutual retains a stake described as significant in the cash platform used by 1,300 RIAs; no purchase price is disclosed.