In this episode of the RIA Edge Podcast, David Armstrong, editorial director for Informa Connect's Wealth Management Group, talks with Jeff Dekko, CEO of the Wealth Enhancement Group, about the firm's history and active role in the M&A space. The company currently manages approximately $80 billion in assets, primarily in the RIA industry. With over…

Fred Barstein, contributing editor to WealthManagement.com's RPA channel, invites retirement industry thought leaders to answer three probing questions on critical issues, providing an open, honest and candid dialogue. This week, we host Jeff Elvander, CIO at flexPATH Strategies and RPAG. He held a similar position at NFP Retirement prior to this. We ask him: …

Stratos Wealth Advisors, the fee-only registered investment advisor owned by Stratos Wealth Holdings, has added a second team of advisors in Pepper Pike, Ohio, in as many weeks. This time, Pistone Wealth Advisors, led by President and CEO Karyn Pistone, is joining Stratos, bringing $120 million in client assets from Beacon Financial Advisory. Pistone is…

Focus Financial Partners, the New York-based RIA aggregator, is continuing to consolidate by moving the business lines of US-based Connectus Wealth Advisers to The Colony Group and Kovitz Investment Group Partners The five business lines joining Colony from Connectus include Atlas Private Wealth Management, Connectus Private, Hunt Valley Wealth, Mid-Continent Capital and NEIRG Wealth Management….

Although I try not to let my personal beliefs and practices influence my writing and teaching, in reality it is impossible. So, accepting this reality and abandoning all resistance, here are some ideas on how to cope and lead in a rapidly changing world. The financial services and 401(k) industries are changing at a faster…

(Bloomberg) — For years, as private lending exploded into a $1.7 trillion industry, the line from the market's biggest players was that their deals were, simply put, safer. Certainly safer than the high-yield bond market and also safer than the leveraged loan market, where struggling companies can take advantage of weak investor guarantees and join…

David Canter, former head of RIAs and family offices in Institutional Fidelity and interim president of Bluespring Wealth Partners, has joined the board of directors at Parallel Advisors, a registered investment advisor with $7.5 billion in client assets. “David's reputation precedes him as an admired and influential expert in the RIA field,” Parallel Advisors CEO…

(Bloomberg Markets) — When Daniel Lefferts was an MFA student working on an early draft of his novel, Ways and Means, he would ride the subway downtown to observe a specific group of New Yorkers. “I would just walk through the Financial District and see these men coming out of the buildings and running to…

A Florida-based team with about $490 million in assets under management is joining Raymond James' independent advisor channel from Merrill Lynch. Counsel John Meffert, Warren Scroggie and Ross Davis will operate as Scroggie Meffer Davis and Associates in Ocala, Fla. (client services associate Amanda Bryan will also join the team). Connected: Raymond James Adds $1…

Omaha, Neb.-based Avior Wealth Management. sold a minority stake to Constellation Wealth Capital, private equity firm founded by former Emigrant Partners CEO Karl Heckenberg late last year to invest in the growing channel. Avior represents Constellation's seventh deal to date, with a total of approximately $110 billion in assets under management. Connected: Allianz, Constellation Wealth…