This Week in Wealth

Ian, Andrew and Alex discuss the idea of a custodian taking minority stakes in RIAs. The same idea was discussed, at least at a conceptual level, by Fidelity in 2025, as Citywire exclusively reported. The team digs into the logic of such a move as well as the obvious conflicts it could create. They also run the rule over two high-profile exits from broker-dealer Osaic, look at Goldman Sachs’ decis...

Morningstar CEO Kunal Kapoor joins This Week in Wealth for a special episode, recorded live at the Morningstar Investment Conference in Chicago on June 17. Ian, Alex, and Kunal discuss Morningstar’s relationship with RIAs, what the march of AI might mean for advisors (and their fees), how the research firm is approaching private markets (both analytically and commercially), and—most importantly—wh...

Ian and Andrew host James Poer, the chief executive of $170bn Kestra Holdings, for an extended discussion on why his firm chose to have another go-round with its original private equity owner, the lessons he learned from the 2008 financial crisis and why you shouldn't expect to see him at the helm of a public company anytime soon. 

With Alex and Ian on the road, Andrew, Sam and Alec take over the pod to discuss the rollout of Charles Schwab’s new $5-per-account block trading fee, which has caused some understandable fretting among RIAs, as well as the court-ordered end of a high-profile legal beef between two of the country’s largest independent wealth managers (plus, a few notes on SpaceX’s mega-IPO and what it means for ad...

Alex, Ian and Andrew celebrate Citywire's 10th anniversary of operating in the US with an extra-special news quiz covering the biggest stories we've written since Citywire RIA began publishing in 2018. How many can you name?

Alex, Ian and — live from New York! — Andrew discuss Citywire's recent scoops on Hightower pursuing a sale of a controlling stake and Summit Trail Advisors pursuing an outright sale, according to sources with knowledge of the situation. What do these kinds of deals mean for the RIA market? The team also checks in on a pair of million-dollar bets between Creative Planning CEO Peter Mallouk and "Sha...

Dimensional Fund Advisors is exploring a sale, sources told Citywire earlier in the week! But why now, who might buy it, and what would they get? These questions, and many more, are covered by Citywire editors Ian Wenik and Alex Steger in today’s episode of This Week in Wealth. They also take a deep dive into Citywire’s annual RIA Pay Report, which looks at advisor compensation from all angles, in...

Turnkey asset management program Matson Money is suing its former co-CEO, who is also the firm’s founder’s son-in-law, alleging that he tried to start a competing business using protected information. Sam Bojarski, Ian Wenik, and Alex Steger break down the sensational suit. The team also discusses The Mather Group’s pursuit of a new institutional investor and the Securities and Exchange Commission...

Alex Steger and Ian Wenik host Nate Lenz, the chief executive of $30bn Concurrent Investment Advisors, for a discussion about why his Tampa-based firm chose to break away from Raymond James, how it's begun pursuing both minority and majority acquisitions and — no, seriously — Columbia football.

Alex, Ian and Alec discuss a relatively rocky week for some key players in the wealth management industry, starting with some indicators in LPL Financial's latest earnings report that its recruiting engine has slowed down amidst its battle to retain Commonwealth advisors. The trio also go over the recent spate of data breaches across a host of household names which have exposed thousands of client...

Ian, Sam, and Alex discuss the task ahead for Focus Financial Partners’ new CEO, Adam Birenbaum, who is charged with steering the firm through a cycle that goes beyond acquisition and consolidation. The team also digs into Merchant Investment Management’s latest capital raise, its second in less than two years, which is being led by PE shop Sixth Street. Plus, they have the skinny on possibly the...

Some 11,000 advisors switched firms last year. But which companies suffered the biggest exits, and where did those advisors go? Ian and Alex have the answers. They also wrap up a series of new initiatives from Charles Schwab, plus Ian provides updates from a somewhat secret conference in San Francisco.

Via the magic of Citywire RIA’s new Deals Database, Alex, Ian, and Alec take a look at the most notable wealth management M&A of Q1. Who’s been busy buying? What have they bought? Which PE firms are driving the deals? And what does it all mean for the rest of the year? These questions and more are covered. Additionally, the team takes a deep dive into Osaic’s recent capital raise—which includes a...

Special guest Michael Batnick, the managing partner of Ritholtz Wealth Management (and a prodigious podcaster in his own right!), joins Ian and Alex to discuss the latest changes to Fidelity's lucrative Wealth Advisor Solutions network, how his $7.6bn RIA found an internal succession solution and the red flags around private credit.

Happy Opening Day! Ian and Citywire RIA reporter Peter Saalfield speak with ex-New York Yankee Kevin Thompson, now the CEO of 9i Capital Group and learn about how he went from seeing his advisor affected by the Allen Stanford Ponzi scheme to running his own wealth manager, how his firm operates as a smaller practice in a consolidating industry and how Derek Jeter made his own rules of the road (yo...

Commonwealth reduced a $93m SEC penalty to just $5m. All it took was a seven-year legal battle and a new regime at the regulator. Plus, the CFP Board considers waiving its bachelor's degree requirement.

Ian and Alex discuss Edelman Financial Engines’ decision to award $175m in equity grants to its financial planners, the spate of lawsuits facing RIAs over client data breaches, and AlTi Global’s failure to meet its full-year earnings filing deadline.

Ian and Alex are joined by Citywire founder and chairman Lawrence Lever to discuss why US consolidators are looking across the pond to buy British wealth managers. These firms are cheap, compared to their US peers, so what's the catch? They also cover Anthropic's endorsement of human financial advice and the key takeaways from Citywire's recent CEO Summit.

Ian, Alec, and Alex discuss two divergent deals from two of the largest RIAs in the market. Wealth Enhancement enters the support services game with its deal for FocusPoint Solutions, while Hightower edges away from that model, growing its Signature Wealth business by merging in $5bn Journey Strategic Wealth. Plus, Ric Edelman on how and why we might see a $1tn RIA. If you want to keep track of al...

Ian and Alex discuss the sale, or not, of listed wealth manager AlTi Global (formerly known as Tiedemann), plus Goldman Sachs’ plans to offer long-short SMAs to its RIA custody clients—a move that just happens to coincide with Fidelity putting an indefinite pause on such business. And Alec dials in to give an update on LPL’s partnership with Anthropic and whether this changes the conversation abou...

Ian, Andrew and Alex discuss LPL Financial’s move to lay off 3% of its workforce, a story that broke in the same week that the firm’s stock sold off dramatically amid AI anxiety. They also dig into Cerity Partners’ $1bn deal with private equity firm Warburg Pincus, which values the mega-RIA at $8.5bn.

Wealth stocks sold off sharply this week, triggered by a new AI-powered tax planning tool from custodian Altruist. But what does the tool do? And what does the selloff portend – the end of wealth management as we know it, or that listed legacy players will be disintermediated by new tech? This Week in Wealth separates the signal from the noise.

Ian, Alec and Alex discuss Barry Ritholtz, co-founder of $7.6bn Ritholtz Wealth Management, selling a portion of his stake in the New York City-based RIA to its employees as part of a planned internal succession. They also check in on LPL’s efforts to retain Commonwealth advisors following last year’s $2.7bn deal. And have the lowdown on $2.1bn RIA First Long Island Investors pursuing a sale, incl...

Ian, Alec and Alex discuss the outlook for mega-RIA Edelman Financial Engines under new CEO Ralph Haberli and the repercussions of last year’s failed sale. They also analyze a change at the top of Pershing and what this might mean for the platform in an increasingly competitive custodian market.

It has been a busy year for Hightower Signature Wealth. The business hit $21bn after merging in five new firms, is weighing a change to the way its advisors get paid and saw its head of succession planning depart. And we’re still in January! Ian, Sam and Alex dig into the details. They also discuss Ian’s scoop on Cresset raising $300m and explore the SEC’s latest piece of guidance on its marketing...