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All Private Wealth Daily reporting, newest first.

Fidelity gives custody clients below $100 million until June 2027 to grow

The custodian had applied the same minimum to new advisory firms and is now applying it to firms already on the platform, a Fidelity spokesperson said; one advisor posted the notice on LinkedIn.

SEC private-market proposals draw compliance warnings from ACA Group and STP consultants

The package would cap performance fees at 20% of a fund's net gains, require findings by a board with an independent majority, and let interval funds offer monthly repurchases.

Concurrent acquires Spire Investment Partners, its first RIA platform purchase

The asset purchase adds more than 30 advisor teams and about $5.4 billion in assets, lifting Concurrent's total to $28.6 billion; no purchase price was disclosed.

HB Wealth buys $700 million Austin RIA Wealth Care, its seventh market

The Atlanta fee-only firm closed Sept. 30 and adds a two-generation team serving physicians; terms were not disclosed.

Fidelity raises RIA custody minimum to $100 million, setting a mid-2027 deadline

Existing firms below the threshold must meet it or begin moving off the platform by June 30, 2027, the firm says.

A WealthManagement.com column argues advisory partnership drift starts when goals diverge

The column looks at ensemble teams whose partners want different next chapters and why the hardest conversation is the one that starts while nothing is broken.

CFP Board elects three directors after naming AI expertise a priority

The three-year terms begin Jan. 1, 2027, the same day Martin Seay becomes board chair.

Rockefeller recruits Piedmont Wealth Partners, a $1B Truist team in Charlotte

Two of the three managing directors built their careers inside bank-owned brokerages; Brett T. Schmidt's record begins at BB&T Securities in 2012.

Compliance experts press SEC on AI gaps after OpenAI agents probe government sites

An SEC spokesperson says no nonpublic data was released, while Frontline Compliance points to the backend extraction layer as the exposure to watch.

FPA rebuilds PlannerSearch to match consumers on mindset and life events

The previous directory, live since 2016, drew search traffic but connected almost no consumers, the association says.

Arax adds private capital markets services through KingsRock partnership

The two independent firms name no price or equity stake as KingsRock adds capital raising, structured financing and strategic advisory for Arax clients.

Cullman/Holt Group, a seven-person UBS team with $1.3 billion, joins Wells Fargo FiNet in Ohio

The Dublin, Ohio group joins Ascend Advisory Group, the $2.5 billion practice Tony Reilly founded in 2001.

Nuveen closes Schroders deal without disclosing price or cost savings; 12-to-18-month separation planned

The combined manager holds $2.6 trillion in assets, and the release claims top-ten positions in active equities, fixed income and private markets.

Advisors start retirement cash-flow work years before a business sale

Small business owners with a financial professional expect to retire at 63, seven years earlier than those without one, an Equitable and SCORE Association study finds.

Dell's family office helps take Baldwin Group private in a $7.7 billion deal

Michael Dell's family office joined the $7.7 billion take-private of The Baldwin Group, and Deloitte counts 8,030 single-family offices managing $3.1 trillion.

TIAA survey: twice as many respondents favor exercise and diet as financial planning

Thirty-two percent of respondents said their future-preparation energy leaned toward physical health, against 16% for financial planning, with 53% splitting evenly.

Morgan Stanley advisor Dana Cornell, who oversaw $1 billion, joins Uniting Wealth Partners

He lands in the Denver RIA's Olean, New York office alongside former Ameriprise advisor Kyle Kirk, who also joined UWP and whose book was about $100 million.

Bank of America survey finds 47% of wealthy Gen Z and millennial donors use charitable trusts

Family foundations run 24% to 2% by age, but the survey gives no vehicle figures for Gen X.

Guardian survey finds 13% exactly on track to save enough for retirement

Nancy DeRusso, who joined Guardian in 2026 as head of client solutions, calls the divergence between expected and actual preparation a longevity gap advisors can help close.

SEC asks whether CFP or CPA counts as an accredited investor

The same meeting produced a proposal to let advisers charge up to 20% performance fees on private funds, plus companion measures on the accredited-investor definition and interval fund redemptions, each with 60 days of comment.

SEC proposes rule changes to ease retail capital raising by private markets managers

Private Equity Wire reported the proposal, citing The Wall Street Journal; the coverage does not describe which vehicles or investors it would reach.

Nuveen completes Schroders acquisition and keeps it separate for 12 to 18 months

The release claims top-ten positions in active equities, fixed income and private markets but does not disclose what Nuveen paid or the cost savings.

Pontera reframes itself as AI-agent gatekeeper as Schwab readies Charley agents

A Sept. 24 Pontera blog post argues institutions need an outside validator for agent-to-agent traffic; RIABiz reported Schwab is preparing to launch agents of its own.

Hightower agrees to buy $752M Sandy Cove for its W-2 channel

The Hingham, Mass. firm would lift Hightower Signature Wealth past $40 billion in assets and mark the channel's third external acquisition this year.

T. Rowe's Wyatt Lee says private credit is becoming a big piece of annuities

Fitch reports the trailing 12-month U.S. private-credit borrower default rate hit a record 6.3% in August.

SEC asks whether a CFP or CPA should count as an accredited investor

The same meeting produced proposals to widen when advisors charge performance fees and to overhaul the interval fund framework.

Mondevo opens Ittikar family-office capital network beyond its 100 founding members

The platform ran Mondevo Group's Caruso and Underscore District acquisitions, then opened to outside family offices.

Merchant's $255.9 million Ironbark stake puts AI in the capital plan

The Australian wealth firm's expansion money covers AI, technology and operations; XYPN added discounted AI tools as a member benefit.

Merchant takes $255.9 million stake in $97 billion Australian wealth firm Ironbark

The investment is Merchant's largest outside the United States and is earmarked for Ironbark's expansion in wealth management, AI, technology and operations.

Wealth Enhancement agrees to buy RWA Wealth Partners, a $22 billion Boston RIA

The Minneapolis acquirer says the deal, expected to close in the fourth quarter, would be its largest to date and take it past $187.1 billion in client advisory, trust and brokerage assets.

IRS guidance targets quick redemptions in Section 351 ETF seeding

Notice 2026-62 and Revenue Ruling 2026-20 target quick redemptions of appreciated holdings without banning Section 351 seeding.

UBS's $1.3 billion Cullman/Holt team leaves for Wells Fargo's FiNet

The seven-person Ohio group joins Ascend Advisory Group, a FiNet affiliate whose site lists more than $2.5 billion in assets.

Ten UBS advisors re-register at Frost Investment Services in 21 days

The team's registration records show a ten-advisor move into a $3.67 billion RIA with 177 employees and no deal to announce.

Wealth Enhancement agrees to acquire RWA Wealth Partners, a $22.46 billion Boston RIA

The deal would lift the Minneapolis firm past $187.1 billion in client advisory, trust and brokerage assets, a total that includes $8.5 billion held with affiliated RIA Advisory Solutions Group.

Insight Capital Solutions names Allan Umans president of Harbor Capital and Insight Material Handling

Umans, who joined the Irvine, California company in 2019, steps down as general counsel and reports to chief revenue officer Scott Sullivan.

Kasner estate-planning symposium turns AI use into a professional-responsibility question

The 22nd annual conference, hosted Aug. 27 and 28 by Santa Clara School of Law, highlighted five developments; the available account covers three, ending partway into a tax point on gifting interests that resist valuation.

SEC proposes letting advisers charge up to 20% performance fees on private funds

Companion measures would widen the accredited-investor definition and give interval funds more flexibility on redemptions, with 60 days of public comment on each.

MissionSquare's two arms log 190 advisor moves in one month

The combined count for the retirement plan provider's wealth and retirement units exceeds NewEdge Wealth's 113, the largest single-firm tally in PWD's tracking.

Edward Jones to develop retirement plan tool with Aboon and RPAG

The firm holds about $50 billion of 401(k) assets across roughly ten record keepers, and the prospecting module now in beta is expected to reach the broader network early next year.

LPL recruits Lakewood Wealth Management's three advisors from Cambridge

The Ann Arbor team reported about $170 million across advisory, brokerage and retirement plan assets.

Carson Group adds a $120 million Ohio team as Mesirow hires Mark Nichol

Nikki Lude and Ciara Stewart leave Commonwealth Financial Services with about $120 million in client assets to launch Heritage Financial & Investment Services in southeastern Ohio.

Kestra Financial adds $550 million Texas planning team as wealth build-out continues

Ecclesiastes Wealth Partners, founded by Shannon Harris, brings about $550 million in client assets and three principals to the Austin broker-dealer.

Bruce Markets plans weekend U.S. equity trading, pending regulatory approval

Apex Clearing would handle clearing, carrying and custody; Nasdaq supplies the trading technology.

BNY Pershing retires Wove, folds it into wealth unit as Fitch lists cash-rate winners

The custodian will not say how many advisors use Wove; Fitch sees Schwab, LPL, Raymond James, Ameriprise and Stifel gaining from higher client cash rates.

Fitch says higher rates stand to lift wealth manager cash earnings

The September 29 report assesses Schwab, LPL Financial, Raymond James, Ameriprise and Stifel, and flags higher deposit costs and cash sorting as offsets to the spread.

Harrison Street agrees to buy majority of Vicinity Energy at $2.92 billion enterprise value

Harrison Street, which reports more than $110 billion in assets under management, agrees to buy from Antin Infrastructure Partners a district energy platform serving more than 700 customers across 12 cities.

AlpInvest files Form Ds for onshore Secondaries Fund IX and credit-secondaries sidecar

Neither Form D states an offering amount, and both list $0K sold to date.

Bain Capital files Form D for a direct lending fund with no offering amount

The 29 September notice names four related persons and records $0K sold to date, but no fund size or terms.

XYPN adds Income Lab as a member benefit for more than 2,300 planners

Retirement income planning reached the top of the network's benefit request list in 2026, and more than 300 members already use Income Lab.

XYPN partners with Jump to offer members discounted AI practice tools

AI efficiency tools were the network's most-requested partnership category in 2025 and 2026, with Jump the most requested product, according to XYPN.

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