As noted last week, we launched WSR Podcasts yesterday, with five installments, including two in the Wealth Set Go series and three in the Talent Stack series. We look forward to hearing your comments on these. And staying with the podcast theme, we also bring you the views of experts on how RIAs can decide whether to launch a podcast.
Wealth Set Go: Berkshire’s Jon Stern Discusses The Drivers Of Wealth Management M&A
Larry Roth, CEO of Wealth Solutions Report, speaks with Jon Stern, Partner at Berkshire Global Advisors, about the forces shaping mergers and acquisitions across wealth management.
Drawing on more than four decades in financial services, Stern examines the current transaction environment and the expanding range of firms pursuing deals.
Talent Stack: How Trust And Leadership Drive Advisor Growth
Laurie Stack, Host of Talent Stack, speaks with Shannon Reid, President and Head of Advisor Growth and Engagement at Osaic, about the relationships that shape leadership and advisor growth.
Their conversation explores how leaders develop through setbacks and feedback, and how firms build lasting connections with the advisors they serve.
Talent Stack: Building An Advisory Firm On Shared Values
Stack speaks with Mike Amine, Managing Partner and Financial Advisor at Wealth Strategies Financial Group, about building an advisory firm around shared values.
The discussion connects lessons from wrestling and family life with the decisions involved in leaving an established career to pursue independence.
Talent Stack: The Next Generation Of Financial Advice
Stack speaks with Jimmy Lee, Founder and CEO of The Wealth Consulting Group, about the changing role of financial advisors and the future of the profession.
Their conversation examines how client expectations, technology and industry consolidation are shaping the work advisors do and the businesses they build.
Wealth Set Go: Next-Gen Talent’s Critical Role In RIA M&A
Emily Blue, Co-Founder of Hue Partners, joins Julius Buchanan, Editor in Chief of Wealth Solutions Report, to discuss the role of next-generation talent in RIA valuations and transactions.
The conversation examines how buyers assess the team behind a founder and what a prospective partnership means for the people expected to support a firm’s future growth.
To Podcast Or Not To Podcast: What RIAs Should Consider
For RIAs with $1 billion to $15 billion in assets, launching a podcast can offer significant benefits, but it also requires a serious commitment of time, resources and attention.
We discuss how RIAs should weigh podcasting against other marketing and prospecting investments with industry experts Christopher Norton of Potomac, Kelly Waltrich of Intention.ly, Susan Theder of FMG Suite and Katherine Paulson of Haven Tower Group.
Guide To Industry Conferences: Asset Management
Which asset management conferences belong on your calendar? WSR’s latest Guide to Industry Conferences covers the Money Management Institute’s MMI Annual Conference, the Investments & Wealth Institute’s Investments & Wealth Experience and the Morningstar Investment Conference.
We provide you with the information you need to know in order to decide the best conferences for your needs, including dates, locations, pricing, speakers, educational programs, continuing education opportunities and networking events.
AI Is Making Advisors More Efficient. Can It Help Them Grow?
AI is helping advisors with note-taking, workflow automation and other efficiency gains, yet winning new clients and expanding existing relationships remain much harder problems. Josh Strange of Good Life Financial Advisors of NOVA, Rylan Folts of WealthFeed, Brian Filanowski of Docupace and Sindhu Joseph of CogniCor examine the gap between AI-driven efficiency and meaningful organic growth.
The experts examine how better data could help AI identify prospects, uncover opportunities within existing relationships and support more targeted growth, and why fragmented systems still stand in the way.
Your AI Notetaker Just Became A Liability
John O’Connell of The Oasis Group examines a federal judge’s decision allowing key wiretap claims against Otter.ai to proceed.
He explains how AI notetakers can create consent and privacy risks for wealth management firms and outlines steps firms can take to govern these tools without abandoning their benefits.
FSI: Five Ways Congress Can Deliver For Investors
Now that Congress has returned to Washington, Dale Brown of the Financial Services Institute advocates for bipartisan legislation to support financial advisors and their clients.
Specifically, Brown advocates for legislation on advisor compensation, financial exploitation, tax treatment for investors, protection for “abandoned” investments and the taxation of fraud victims.
Wealthtech Roundup
In this month’s roundup, we bring you news featuring WealthReach, Feathery, FINNY, NewEdge, DeepVest, SEI, Mili, AmeriFlex, Practifi, AssetMark, Osaic and FP Alpha.
Among the many technological advancements announced this month, AmeriFlex’s new Scout program stands out in addressing advisor succession by using AI-based tools to search for advisors who may be in need of long-term succession planning.
Deals & Recruiting Roundup
This week’s roundup includes acquisitions by Allworth, Sequoia, Savant, F.L.Putnam and Summit; Aquiline investing in Flourish; New Mountain exiting Lincoln Investment; recruiting by NewEdge, Prospera, Cetera and Osaic; and an appointment by Merit.
September is off to a brisk start with many acquisition, investment and recruiting announcements, as well as Merit hiring a CTO.
Cetera Adds $2.1 Billion Advisor Team From LPL
Cetera Financial Group announced that Sierra Ridge Advisor Group, a Roseville, California-based investment practice with about 40 advisors overseeing approximately $2.1 billion in assets under administration (AUA) as of June 30, joined it from LPL Financial.
Sierra Ridge chose Cetera to support the “next phase” of its national expansion strategy that includes plans to launch its own RIA on Cetera’s Blueprint platform, Cetera said.
Monthly RIA M&A Trends For August
AdvizorPro’s Hesom Parhizkar examines 28 acquired RIAs representing about $21.1 billion in assets under management (AUM) and involving 90 financial professionals.
According to Parhizkar, the data tells two stories at once: Most of the acquired firms were relatively small, but the six largest accounted for 69% of reported AUM. Parhizkar explains what that mix of boutique succession deals and large combinations suggests about consolidation and regional expansion.
Oppenheimer Hires Former UNC Basketball Star To Expand Athlete Wealth Business
Oppenheimer & Co. has onboarded Joel Berry II, a former University of North Carolina (UNC) basketball star, as a Financial Advisor. Berry joined Oppenheimer’s Robinson Private Client Group in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, after several years at Truist Financial.
This move supports the firm’s efforts to work with college athletes who earn money from their name, image and likeness (NIL).
Sowell Management Launches Advanced Planning Group To Serve High Net Worth Clients
Sowell Management announced the launch of its Advanced Planning Group (APG), a resource providing estate, tax and other advanced planning support to advisors serving affluent clients and business owners. The enhanced services will be available to advisors on both the Sowell Management and Cache River Private Wealth platforms.
The launch of APG is part of the firm’s broader effort to expand planning resources available to advisors and affluent families.
Sequoia Financial Buys $2.3 Billion Colorado RIA
Sequoia Financial Group acquired BSW Wealth Partners, a Colorado-based RIA managing about $2.3 billion in client assets as of June 30. BSW was founded in 1992 and serves a national client base from one office each in Boulder and Denver.
BSW is Sequoia Financial’s second purchase of the year. It brings 19 team members and will rebrand to Sequoia Financial.
New Mountain Capital Exits Lincoln Investment
New Mountain Capital exited its investment in Lincoln Investment, returning full ownership of the RIA and broker-dealer to the Forst family that founded it in 1968 and advisor shareholders.
New Mountain invested in Lincoln Investment in 2020. The companies said the investment was followed by changes to Lincoln Investment’s operating platform and leadership team.
Prudential Advisors Recruits Zachary Karason To Mid America Financial Group
Prudential Advisors recruited Cleveland-based financial advisor Zachary Karason from U.S. Bancorp Advisors, where he was responsible for more than $106 million in client assets.
Karason joined Prudential through Columbus, Ohio-based Mid America Financial Group.
Coldstream Adds Client Experience Chief, Elevates Wealth Strategy Leader
Coldstream added Megan Hannah as Chief Client Experience Officer and promoted Ian Curtiss to lead its Wealth Strategy Group, extending a broader leadership transition at the $15 billion employee-owned wealth management firm.
Anne Marie Stonich will serve alongside Hannah through the end of 2026 before shifting her focus toward Coldstream’s Bend, Oregon, presence, family office capabilities and complex client relationships.
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Larry Roth
CEO
Wealth Solutions Report
