This Week in Wealth

Andrew Foerch, Alec Rich and Alex Steger discuss a $129bn team's decision to ditch Merrill Lynch and set up an RIA with help from Dynasty and Schwab. The scale of the move is huge and so are its ramifications for all parties involved. Not least because Merrill has already filed a doozy of a lawsuit. Andrew, Alec and Alex get into it all. They also look at the perhaps surprising wind-down of Strive...

Ian Wenik, Andrew Foerch and Alex Steger discuss the latest evolution in Hightower's corporate strategy — to consolidate and centralize its affiliate advisors. The team explores the firm's motivation for doing this and what it says about the wider RIA market. They also analyze two major deals — Creative Planning's swoop for SageView and the Pritzker Org's Wellspring stake — and catch up on Andrew...

Few people have overseen more RIA deals than Accelerated Wealth Partners CEO Eric Amar. During a decade at Focus Financial Partners, he worked on more than 60 mergers and acquisitions, giving him a firsthand view of what buyers want, and what sellers should know, when making a deal. In this episode of This Week in Wealth, Eric talks to Ian and Alex about that process. He shares how it has changed...

Ian and Sam Bojarski have an extended discussion about Sam's scoop on LPL Financial making a concerted push to convert hybrid advisors onto its corporate RIA. In addition to discussing who wins financially through these conversions, Ian and Sam touch on Sam's brush with fame and King of the Hill.

M&A, beards, babies and baseball — this podcast has it all! Ian, Alex and Andrew go deep on MAI and Evoke's tie-up and Merchant’s minority investment in a $2.5bn California RIA — two deals which speak to the maturity of the RIA market and the variety options now available to sellers. Facial hair, paternity leave and the Mets also get a mention.

Ian and — in his podcast return — Andrew Foerch discuss what Cresset's move to merge with $124bn investment consultancy Monticello Associates says about the industry-wide drive to acquire wealth assets which may not be under management and talk about how $25bn Homrich Berg's rebrand is a sign of how much the RIA industry has changed recently.

Alex, Ian and Alec Rich discuss three major Citywire RIA exclusives: Alec’s scoop on a flood of exits from Raymond James’s custody unit, Ian’s discovery that Hightower founder Elliot Weissbluth is returning to the wealth business and a new feature highlighting the fastest-growing RIAs under $1bn in assets.

Alex Steger, Ian Wenik and Alec Rich do a deep dive into one of Citywire’s biggest projects: 50 Growers Across America. The trio discuss how they identified the fastest-growing RIAs in the country, how those firms beat the competition and their relationships with institutional investors.

Alex Steger and Ian Wenik do a deep dive into why so many new RIA-focused minority investors have popped up in recent years, what they're offering and why sellers might like them to traditional options such as private equity firms and strategic acquirers.

Creative Planning CEO Peter Mallouk joins This Week in Wealth to discuss the state of RIA M&A, how his own role has evolved, and what’s next for his $370bn firm. Mallouk, who has completed scores of acquisitions, including the 2023 deal for Goldman Sachs Personal Financial Management, explains why there is still plenty of PE money chasing RIAs but argues that multiples are increasingly challenged...

Alex Steger and Ian Wenik walk through Osaic's $4.3bn debt capital raise, which allowed Citywire RIA readers and listeners to get a rare look inside the financial terms of a large RIA acquisition, along with AllianceBernstein's efforts to acquire an RIA. Plus, Alec Rich joins to the show to recap a new lawsuit filed against Edelman Financial Engines by a woman who claims she is the victim of a cry...

Ian Wenik and Alec Rich come back from the long weekend to discuss how a new survey from AdvisorPro sheds light on the looming demographic crisis RIAs face and recap how Merit Financial Advisors grew to $20bn and secured a new investment from Constellation Wealth Capital.

Alex and Ian look back at the most popular RIA news stories of H1 (there's a quiz and quiz music), check in on their own forecasts for 2025 (not a total bust), and discuss some of the more unexpected events of the year so far. Happy 4th of July listeners!

Alex, Ian and Sam discuss the latest developments in an ongoing legal dispute between Carson Group and a former marketing executive. They also break down robo-advisor Wealthfront's decision to pursue an IPO and LPL's attempts to keep Commonwealth advisors in the fold.

Using a poll of attendees at Citywire's San Diego CIO Summit as a jumping-off point, Alex, Ian and Sam discuss when — or if — an RIA will go public, why private credit is simultaneously both popular with and scary for wealth managers and a rollback of some SEC proposals which had garnered major coverage.

Focus Financial Partners chief executive Michael Nathanson believes that RIAs are in a new era, that the 'age of the founder is coming to an end' and that aggregators need a new model. Alex, Ian and Andrew (plus a special, arguably unwanted, guest) discuss Nathanson's comments, map out how the RIA industry has evolved and forecast where things will go next. Plus, the Padres, Charles Dickens and an...

Alex Steger, Ian Wenik and Alec Rich discuss their latest scoops on Pershing instituting a new asset-based fee for custodial clients, an explosive lawsuit between an Osaic client and his advisor-turned-ex-wife, and $8bn Wealthcare's agreement to sell itself to an insurance giant.

Alex Steger, Ian Wenik, Sam Bojarski and Alec Rich recap recent Citywire scoops on Orion founder Eric Clarke leaving the tech company's board, a wave of layoffs at LPL acquisition Atria Wealth Solutions and the changing dynamics within the SEC.

Alex Steger, Ian Wenik, Andrew Foerch and Sam Bojarski discuss Mercer Advisors’ latest salvo in a sprawling legal battle related to ACG Wealth, an acquisition it made in 2021, but which has since soured into acrimony. They also explore Citywire’s exclusive research on RIAs’ working habits and find out what happened in Vegas (where Ian went to report on Osaic’s NXT conference).

Alex Steger, Ian Wenik and Andrew Foerch look at what Hightower's first acquisition of 2025 means in the context of the company's history, discuss Citywire's new data project examining how much RIA employees get paid and recap last week's Citywire CIO Summit in Nashville.

Alex Steger, Ian Wenik and Sam Bojarski break down Sam's feature on how a new proposal from Finra governing advisors' outside business has some up in arms, discuss Ian's latest scoop on LPL's battle to retain Commonwealth advisors and look at the current balance of power among custodians.

Alex Steger, Ian Wenik and Alec Rich discuss Ian's scoop on General Atlantic looking to move part of its investment in Creative Planning into a continuation vehicle, find out why it's getting more expensive to be a CFP, and examine a new PE deal in the RIA space.

Alex Steger, Ian Wenik and Citywire RIA deputy editor Andrew Foerch discuss Commonwealth Financial Network's push to get as many of its advisors to stay on board through its sale to LPL as possible as rivals circle, highlight one multi-billion dollar team which has already left, and provide an update on the legal battle between LPL and Ameriprise.

With Alex Steger out, Ian Wenik and Citywire RIA deputy editor Andrew Foerch discuss the made-for-Hollywood story of an RIA's CEO getting to participate in the Masters golf tournament, Ian's scoop on layoffs at Orion and Andrew's exclusive story on private equity firm CIVC Partners investing in a $10bn wealth manager.

Alex Steger, Ian Wenik and Citywire RIA senior reporter Sam Bojarski discuss LPL's bid to keep Commonwealth's advisors in the fold, Ian's scoop on Goldman Sachs weighing a new RIA referral program, and the tariff chaos that's roiled markets.