Ameriprise Advisor Group Head to Step Down This Summer
Ameriprise Financial announced that Pat O’Connell, who has led its Advisor Group for more than a decade, will retire this summer. His responsibilities will be transferred to Bill Williams, already president of the Independent Advisors channel and head of the National Sales Organization. O’Connell has overseen a network of over 2,000 advisors, 800 staff and 170 branch locations, and was instrumental in recruiting. The transition comes as Ameriprise reported a strong Q4, adding $13.3 billion in new client assets, an 18% year‑over‑year rise.
OneDigital Warns Clients of Alleged Salesforce Data Breach
OneDigital Investment Advisors disclosed that a breach of its Salesforce CRM exposed up to 28,414 client records, including names and Social Security numbers. The intrusion stemmed from the Drift chat‑agent integration rather than Salesforce’s core platform, and OneDigital’s internal network...
Is Your Client’s “Check Estate Plan” Light On?
Estate plans are often treated as static documents, but changing assets, tax laws, and family circumstances quickly render them obsolete. Advisors must conduct regular reviews, especially after liquidity events like a business sale that can triple a client’s estate value....
Ares Plans a Smaller Private Credit Fund With Less Leverage
Ares Management is preparing a new flagship U.S. direct‑lending vehicle, Senior Direct Lending Fund IV, with a target size of about $20 billion—significantly smaller than its record $33.6 billion predecessor. The fund will seek $10‑12 billion in equity commitments and use markedly less leverage,...
Vantage Point: Building a Tech Stack for Deep Financial Planning
Wealth advisors Tim and Alex Ortolani detail the technology stack that powers their deep financial planning practice. They rely on RetireUp for client‑friendly projections, RightCapital and eMoney for more sophisticated scenarios, and Advyzon as a combined CRM, billing and reporting...
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Deals & Moves: Concurrent, Sanctuary Launch Merrill Breakaway RIAs
Former Merrill Lynch advisors are launching independent RIAs on hybrid platforms as Concurrent Investment Advisors backs A.J. Montesa’s Montesa Wealth Management and Sanctuary Wealth adds Kyle Vasel to start Opt Wealth Management. Both moves reflect a broader ex‑wirehouse migration toward...
Emigrant Takes Minority Stake in $15B Mutual Group
Emigrant Partners, the advisory arm of Emigrant Bank, has taken a minority stake in Mutual Group, a hybrid broker‑dealer and RIA platform that supports 270 advisor teams overseeing roughly $15 billion in assets. The investment keeps Mutual’s leadership in majority control...
Farther Launches Family Office Division
Farther, a New York‑based registered investment advisor, has launched a multi‑family office targeting ultra‑high‑net‑worth families and appointed former Goldman Sachs private‑wealth advisor Ben Seidenstein as global head. Seidenstein brings more than 13 years of experience overseeing $1.5 billion for entrepreneurs, executives, and private investors. The...
People Moves: Compound Hires Wealth Head From Focus; Perigon Names HR Chief
Compound Planning, a New York digital family office with $5 billion in client assets, hired former Focus Wealth Partners executive Sheila Ryan as head of wealth management and added three senior leaders across recruiting, tax planning, and product. The firm reported a...
P90X Redefined Home Fitness, Yet Gyms and Trainers Still Exist
Tony Horton’s 2005 P90X program demonstrated that structured home‑fitness routines can deliver gym‑level results, prompting many to predict the demise of traditional gyms and personal trainers. The author’s personal experience—losing 25 lb with the original program and later 30 lb with P90X3—highlights...
Three Fiscal Landmines Faced by Family Offices
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) cemented a $15 million estate‑gift exemption but introduced a 35 % cap on itemized deductions and a 0.5 % AGI floor that erodes charitable benefits for high‑income families. A pending California billionaire tax would levy a one‑time 5 % charge on...
10 Investment Must Reads for This Week (April 7, 2026)
This week’s Must‑Reads highlight a $462 billion surge in ETF inflows during Q1, underscoring investor confidence despite a broader market pullback. Tax‑efficiency concerns surface as higher‑turnover funds generate larger capital‑gain distributions. Regulatory momentum, driven by the new Department of Labor rule,...
Goldman Says It’s Ready to Pounce as Retail Flees Private Credit
Goldman Sachs’ $15.7 billion private‑credit BDC avoided the retail‑driven redemption wave that hit peers, recording a 4.999 % redemption rate—just under the 5 % industry cap. The fund’s reliance on patient institutional investors kept net flows positive, with about $1.04 billion of new subscriptions...
Industry Exec Carolyn Armitage Produces Documentary on Psychedelic Therapy
Carolyn Armitage, founder and CEO of Wealth Management Consulting, has produced the feature documentary "Journeys," which examines the therapeutic use of psilocybin for trauma, PTSD, and end‑of‑life care. The two‑hour film, debuting on April 10, blends personal stories with insights from...
Wealthspire Adds $1.9B Firm to Institutional Retirement Plan Business
Wealthspire, the newly aggregated RIA with $580 billion in assets, has acquired Indianapolis‑based Axia Advisory, adding $1.9 billion in AUM and expanding its institutional retirement‑plan capabilities. The acquisition brings Axia’s retirement‑plan design, fee analysis, QDIA consulting, and employee‑education services under the Wealthspire...
BlackRock Files to Challenge Invesco’s Nasdaq 100 ETF Monopoly
BlackRock has filed with the SEC to launch the iShares Nasdaq 100 ETF under the ticker IQQ, aiming to become one of the few U.S.-listed funds that track the Nasdaq 100 exclusively. The move challenges Invesco’s long‑standing dominance of pure Nasdaq 100 ETFs,...
Zephyr's Adjusted for Risk: Skill Over Style - Redefining Investment Success
Zephyr’s market strategist Ryan Nauman hosted a podcast with Aapryl’s Bill Himpele and Cesar Gonzales to champion skill‑based analytics over traditional backward‑looking performance reporting. The discussion highlighted that much apparent outperformance stems from cyclical market and style exposures rather than...
Average ETF Lifespan Collapses With Wall Street Antsy for Scale
ETF issuers are accelerating product shutdowns as the market floods with new offerings. The average lifespan of a fund liquidated in 2026 dropped to just 1 year and 9 months, down from 3 years and 6 months in 2025. More...
Girard, a Univest Wealth Division: Zeroing in On Quality
Girard, a Univest Wealth Division, has expanded from a $500 million registered investment adviser to $5.9 billion in assets under management by year‑end 2025, with $2.8 billion concentrated in its private‑client advisory business. The firm serves high‑net‑worth individuals—typically $2‑10 million in assets—and institutional foundations,...
WealthStack Roundup: Plancorp Saves 700 Hours a Month Using AI
Plancorp Wealth Management partnered with AI workflow provider CogniCor to test its Advisor Copilot, uncovering more than 700 hours of time saved in a 28‑day pilot. The fee‑only firm, which oversees $8.6 billion in assets, reported that advisors reclaimed 45‑60 minutes...
Zephyr's Adjusted for Risk: Deciphering Risk in Private Credit Markets
In a recent Zephyr podcast, Simplify Asset Management’s Christopher Getter discussed the evolving risk landscape of private credit. He noted that the sector has already priced in much of the stress, with discounts to book value widening beyond 20% while...
Cetera, Ameriprise Face Class Action Lawsuits Over Data Breaches
Cetera Financial and Ameriprise are facing class‑action lawsuits after data breaches exposed client personally identifiable information. Cetera’s breach stemmed from an unauthorized email account access, leaking names, Social Security numbers and account details. Ameriprise was hit by the ShinyHunters ransomware...
The Proximity Pivot
The article argues that the era of ever‑larger hyperscale data centers is giving way to edge infrastructure, driven by the immutable physics of latency. Real‑time AI, autonomous systems, and critical medical applications require decisions at the point of data generation,...
401(k) Real Talk Episode 186: April 1, 2026
Retirement assets continued strong growth in 2025, with defined‑contribution (DC) balances up 11% and 401(k) plans finally surpassing $10 trillion. A $1 trillion annual leakage from rollovers is throttling potential gains, while record‑keeper revenue has shifted toward IRA services, generating $38 billion of...
Carlyle Ups Stake in MAI Capital with Majority Acquisition
Carlyle is set to acquire MAI Capital Management for more than $2.8 billion, converting its minority stake into a majority ownership that will close in the second half of 2026. The deal exits previous investors Harvest Partners and Oak Hill Capital...
RIA Sellers Seek to Mitigate Market Impact on Payout Potential
RIA sellers are re‑engineering earn‑out structures as market volatility threatens payout forecasts. Buyers are increasingly stripping market‑driven asset appreciation from revenue models and inserting catch‑up clauses that grant sellers extra time to meet targets if markets dip. Negotiations now prioritize...
Q&A: How Corastone Aims to Streamline Private Market Transactions
Corastone is a blockchain‑based platform that links general partners, wealth managers, and fund administrators to automate private‑market transactions. Backed by institutional investors such as KKR, Apollo, CAIS, Fidelity and Future Standard, the firm aims to replace PDFs and spreadsheets with...
Mercer Advisors Expands in New England With $1.5B Charter Oak Deal
Mercer Global Advisors, a Denver‑based RIA with $98 billion AUM, has acquired employee‑owned Charter Oak Capital Management, a New Hampshire wealth‑management firm managing $1.5 billion. The deal expands Mercer’s presence across New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine, giving it a foothold in the...
RFG Advisory Makes First Majority Acquisition of Platform RIA
RFG Advisory, the Birmingham‑based hybrid RIA platform with about $7.5 billion in assets, completed its first majority acquisition by purchasing RVA Wealth Management, a Richmond firm managing roughly $320 million. The transaction responds to founder David Koren’s desire for a succession plan...
Q&A: Mission Wealth’s Sara Clark on Rethinking Advisor Workflows
Mission Wealth, a Santa Barbara‑based RIA with $14 billion in assets, is overhauling advisor workflows to boost client experience and free up advisor time. Led by chief client officer Sara Clark, the firm has automated Salesforce processes, deployed a ChatGPT‑based intelligence...
Smart Market Tools to Help Advisors Navigate Market Volatility
Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s Greg Calnon outlines a new suite of market‑volatility tools for advisors, ranging from defined‑outcome and option‑income structures to systematic multi‑factor and dynamic factor‑allocation models. He highlights how liquid alternatives and tax‑aware indexing can add uncorrelated returns...
WealthStack Roundup: Envestnet's Tamarac Unveils Trading Oversight Tools; Jump Launches AI Associate for Advisors
Envestnet’s Tamarac platform introduced Q1 2026 upgrades including selective sync, enhanced reporting and a mobile‑responsive client portal, giving RIAs finer trade oversight. Jump launched its AI Associate, an execution‑focused agent that lets advisors act on insights across meetings, CRM, email and...
Evergreen Funds Hit $534.6 Billion Despite Headwinds
Evergreen, or semi‑liquid, funds surged to $534.6 billion in assets under management by the end of 2025, a 25% increase over 2024. Business development companies (BDCs) led the growth, expanding 31.2% to $192.8 billion, while direct lending remained the largest strategy with...
Cambridge Launches New Affiliation Model With Integration of $800M WealthPlanners
Cambridge Investment Research has acquired WealthPlanners, a Des Plaines wealth‑planning firm managing roughly $800 million in assets and $3 million in annual revenue. The acquisition creates Cambridge WealthPlanners, a new subsidiary with seven advisors, over $1 billion in AUM, and an expected $5 million in...
Sources: $37B Allworth Exploring Majority Stake Sale
Allworth Financial, a California‑based registered investment advisor with roughly $36.5 billion in client assets, is exploring a sale of its majority stake held by Lightyear Capital and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. The firm has hired William Blair to lead the transaction....
The Diamond Podcast for Financial Advisors: Annual Report on Recruiting, Deals, and Transitions
Diamond Consultants released its 2025 Advisor Transition Report, revealing a sharp increase in advisor mobility. In 2025, 11,172 experienced advisors changed firms, a 16% jump from 2024’s 9,615 moves. The accompanying podcast analyzes drivers such as AI, firm attractiveness, and...
Creative Planning Seals Deal for $5B London RIA MASECO
Creative Planning, the Overland Park‑based RIA with roughly $700 billion in assets, announced a pending acquisition of London‑based MASECO LLP. The deal will add $5 billion in assets under management and 123 employees, expanding Creative Planning’s cross‑border wealth‑management capabilities. This marks the...
RIA Edge 100: How Root Financial Found Growth Through Simplicity
Root Financial leveraged a straightforward YouTube video strategy to grow its assets under management to $2.4 billion in just six years. The firm’s focus on clear, consumer‑friendly content attracted over 7,900 viewers per video and generated a flood of inbound client...
ICapital Integrates Alts Into BlackRock's Aladdin Wealth Platform
iCapital has partnered with BlackRock to embed its alternative‑investment platform into Aladdin Wealth, the asset‑management technology suite used by wealth managers. The integration lets advisors browse, subscribe to, and redeem private‑market products directly within Aladdin’s workflow, while leveraging the same...
Hightower Faces Class Action Suit Over Data Breach
Hightower, a wealth‑management firm, is facing a class‑action lawsuit after a cyber‑criminal breach exposed the personal data of roughly 131,483 clients, including Social Security and driver’s license numbers. The suit, filed by former employee Elliott Adams in Illinois federal court,...
Stablecoins, Trust Banks and World Liberty Financial International
World Liberty Financial International (WLFI) introduced USD1, a Treasury‑Bill‑backed stablecoin, after the One Big Beautiful Bill and the GENIUS Act created a federal framework for digital‑asset trust charters. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency approved national trust charters...
Court Upholds $133M FINRA Award Against Stifel
A Florida federal judge affirmed FINRA's $133 million arbitration award against Stifel, ending the firm's year‑long effort to overturn the penalty. The award relates to former broker Chuck Roberts' unsuitable structured‑note sales that harmed the Jannetti family, who originally sought $5 million....
Art, Legacy and Intestacy
Photographer Mike Disfarmer died in 1959 without a will, leaving thousands of glass‑plate negatives and modest cash. Decades later, his work resurfaced, sparking a legal battle between his distant heirs and the Arkansas Arts Center Foundation over copyright and reproduction...
Advisors See Model Portfolios, UMAs as Central to Continued Alts Adoption
At iCapital Connect in Phoenix, advisors and asset managers reaffirmed strong enthusiasm for alternative investments despite recent redemption pressures in private‑credit BDCs. They highlighted model portfolios and unified managed accounts (UMAs) as the primary mechanisms to scale alternatives across the...
Verdence Capital Advisors Sells Majority Stake to WPCG, HGGC
Verdence Capital Advisors, a Hunt Valley RIA with $4.6 billion in assets under management, has agreed to sell a majority stake to Wealth Partners Capital Group and private‑equity firm HGGC. The transaction, slated to close in April 2026, follows the exit of...
RIA Edge Podcast: Scaling a High-Touch Wealth Firm with Stephen Rigali
Stephen Rigali, Executive Managing Director at Kayne Anderson Rudnick, discussed how the Los Angeles‑based wealth firm expanded from a family office to a $55 billion platform through deliberate, organic growth. He highlighted the firm’s structured advisor lifecycle, emphasis on high‑touch client...
The Big Retirement Question: How Am I Doing?
J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s chief retirement strategist Michael Conrath highlighted that more than half of Americans lack a clear retirement savings target, and most 401(k) participants contribute well below optimal rates, often starting around 3% and rarely reaching double‑digit contributions....
The Healthy Advisor: Turning Loss Into Purpose with Jamie Hopkins
Jamie Hopkins, CEO of Bryn Mawr Trust and co‑author of "Your Retirement Sketchbook," shares how his father’s death shaped his approach to retirement planning and wealth mindset. He highlights the lack of financial‑advice access for trade workers and small‑business owners,...
CFP Board's New CEO Pledges to Ensure CE Requirements Run 'Smoothly'
CFP Board appointed K. Dane Snowden as its new CEO, succeeding Kevin Keller. Snowden highlighted the upcoming increase in continuing education (CE) requirements to 40 hours over a two‑year cycle, with added ethics and practice‑management components and carry‑over provisions. He...
Is Variable Life Insurance More Expensive than Other Options?
Variable universal life (VUL) insurance costs are not fixed; they depend heavily on policy design, premium level, and death‑benefit targets. Illustrations show that a $10 million VUL funded at $70,000 annually can generate $14 million in cumulative expenses, while increasing the premium...
