(Bloomberg) — About 40,000 individual investors in Vanguard Group index-tracking funds participated in a pilot program that allowed them to make their views known on important issues facing shareholders. Approximately 25% of them chose to vote their shares in accordance with the recommendations from proxy advisor Glass, Lewis & Co. on ESG-related issues such as…

IRA expert Ed Slott talks retirement planning. Source link

The independent registered investment advisor space began as a small, nascent movement of financial advisors moving away from the wire. But over the past few years, it has become more professionalized, dominated by large, private-equity-backed firms that have grown rapidly through mergers and acquisitions. What does this new environment mean for small VNRs? During a…

Organic growth has long been a challenge for financial advisors. Despite industry growth rates averaging between 4% and 7% in recent years, only a small percentage of advisors are seeing significant gains. Data from McKinsey and Tiburon show that organic growth is disproportionately concentrated among a select few, while most advisors struggle to move the…

A trio of advisers with about $1 billion in client assets under management are giving up their LPL affiliation to join Raymond James through the firm's independent channel. Utah-based Jaden Gurney, Trevor Hanson and Jonathan Rogers moved from Zions Bank and LPL to Raymond James Financial Services, one of several advisor/team moves announced Monday. Related:…

The convergence of wealth, pension and workplace benefits is exposing the strengths and weaknesses of the defined contribution system. At its core, convergence has the potential to pit advisors and registrars who collaborated against each other as both parties seek to serve and ultimately monetize participants. The forces driving convergence in the workplace are based…

Online wealth planning platform wealth.com announced today that it has successfully closed a $30 million Series A funding round led by GV (formerly Google Ventures). Other participants included Citi Ventures, Outpost Ventures (an investment platform of Neuberger Berman), 53 stations (supported by the Pritzker Organization) and Firebolt Ventures (led by productive technology investor Gokul Rajaram)….

A three-person advisory team managing nearly $1.8 billion in assets under management is joining Wells Fargo's network of independent financial advisors from Morgan Stanley, the website office announced Friday. Chicago-based Frank Devincentis, Craig Eyler and Molly Girard are joining Wells Fargo Financial Network (FiNet) under the firm name Verismo Financial. The trio is joined by…

Morningstar Inc. has announced a change in methodology for its Morningstar Medal rating system that it says provides a more accurate estimate of investment alpha. The change, which will take effect Oct. 29, will change the medalist ratings of about 20% of the 200,000 funds that Morningstar has rated, with most of those changes being…

Bank of New York Mellon Corp. is launching an alternative investment platform for wealth brokers and financial advisors. Called Alts Bridge, the platform will provide users with access to a list of alternative asset managers ranging from KKR, Apollo and Blue Owl Capital to alternatives from Franklin Templeton, Coller Capital and Partners Group. BNY cited…