Show the work: landing your first HNW client
A CPA who watched Nick George handle a real situation sent him his first high-net-worth client.
Story archive
All Wealth Advisor Daily reporting, newest first.
Medicare Advantage satisfaction slips again, and advisors get an opening
A second straight year of falling satisfaction gives advisors a reason to put Medicare coverage review on the retirement income calendar.
Advisors steady on today, darker on the next six months
The WMIQ Advisor Sentiment Index holds above neutral on current conditions, but the six-month outlook has worsened for a third straight month.
IRS's Trump account proposal turns on a 10-basis-point cap
Proposed regulations would confine growth-period Trump account assets to low-fee U.S. index funds, leaving advisors to focus on contribution timing and post-17 repositioning.
Clients are still buying risk, but only the quality kind
Weekly flows show large-cap equities and high-grade bonds gaining, a barbell with concentration and income questions for advisors.
Schwab keeps the small accounts. Edward Jones buys in.
Independent advisors have until 2027 to build their own route to small accounts. Schwab and Edward Jones are already taking theirs.
A free exit score is resettling RIA prices
FP Transitions' 1-to-100 tool weights profit over AUM, and Stratos's name-preserving deal shows buyers are already paying for cash flow.
The $100 million case for sending a woman to the pitch
Most clients say they don't require a female advisor. A $100 million NewEdge win suggests some do.
Americans use AI all the time. For money, they still want a human.
Seventy-four percent of U.S. adults use AI regularly or occasionally in daily life. For financial guidance, 72% want a human leading. That gap is an advisor's opening.
FP Transitions' free tool puts a number on an RIA's exit math
A free 1-to-100 score from FP Transitions gives RIA owners a rough read on sale value — and a reminder that buyers now pay for profit potential, not AUM size.
The $64,000 inheritance should drive the plan
Most Boomer inheritances run small, making the retirement income plan the real wealth transfer.
SEC asks FINRA for an accredited-investor exam that tests know-how
An exam-based accreditation path would give advisors a new way to qualify clients for private-market sleeves.
Invesco cuts fees 20%, prices real estate exit at 95 cents
Advisors weigh a 20% fee break against a 95-cent tender in a fund with a $2.2 billion redemption queue.
Social Security's 'free' lump sum is a permanent benefit cut
Advisors who run the numbers out to the second death can protect a younger spouse's survivor income floor from a $160-a-month reduction.
Vestmark at 25: $50 billion, five cycles, and an AI bet
The firm has survived five market cycles; its new AI tools face a simpler test, advisor adoption.
Edward Jones's $5,000 digital pilot makes the advisor network the product
Edward Jones is testing a $5,000 digital product that could feed its branch network, the opposite of Schwab's upmarket referral floor.
SEI-backed Stratos acquires $400 million Illinois planning firm
A multi-year search brings RPI into SEI-backed Stratos with its name intact.
A California trust fight tests the slayer statute before trial
A murder suspect's bid to tap a family trust for his defense tests how vesting, paperwork, and the presumption of innocence meet in estate planning.
The Alt Platform Itself Is Now Diligence
The SEC's 46% markup case and CAIS's $2 billion round force the same question: who owns the shelf, and what did the client actually pay?
Schwab's $5 million referral floor reshapes RIA client growth
Advisory firms in Schwab Advisor Network must weigh a thinner pipeline against the cost of building their own.
A vacation home is a clue, not the goal
Kitces and Richards show why asking "what would having that allow you to do?" turns a stated want into something worth testing.
Envestnet rolls back MoneyGuidePro upgrade after 19-day advisor backlash
The legacy version is back, but the timing of the recall — and the silence around it — is what planning teams will remember.
SEC tells preview what your next exam will test
Advisers who track risk alerts, sweep-exam announcements, and regulator speeches gain lead time on compliance problems before the exam letter arrives.
Schwab ends sub-$5-million RIA referrals starting in 2027
Firms in the Schwab Advisor Network have until 2027 to replace the under-$5-million leads Schwab is keeping for itself; the largest channel players say they will not feel the loss.
Virtual wellness check-ins give advisors a near-retiree hook
Financial Finesse data links virtual wellness engagement to 401(k) persistence and readiness, giving practices a reason to add the service.
Two Social Security tax fixes: $400,000 donut hole and a health-benefit tax
A Tax Foundation guide compares payroll-tax designs that would change the math for high earners and for employees with company coverage.
Child-free adults are less confident about retirement, Allianz finds
Child-free adults are less confident about retirement than parents, and most have no written plan. Advisers who treat them as an afterthought miss a real vulnerability.
HSA balances hit a record; most owners still don't invest
EBRI's new data put the average balance at $5,532, with just 18% of holders invested beyond cash. That hands advisors an asset-location opening.
Schwab and Fidelity tighten the door on the $150 billion tax trade
The custodians behind tax-aware long-short accounts are closing off access, and advisers need to reprice the risk in their own books.
Why active funds lag: their trading erases their stock picks
Morningstar's Jeff Ptak finds the 100 largest active U.S. stock funds picked stocks better than they traded them.
For inherited IRAs, the 60-day rollover is a one-way door
Slott's first uncorrectable retirement error turns a $400,000 inheritance into an immediate tax bill.
Dynasty hires implementation chief to get RIAs to use its platform
The new partner role is about making sure advisors actually use the platform after they sign on.
A $644M solo practice finds an exit in a $160B aggregator
The sale of Weinand Financial, a one-advisor firm, shows a working exit for sub-$1B practices.
Kestra puts a product executive in charge of wealth management
Kelly Apple's resume suggests the platform's next phase is a deeper shelf of offerings.
Fisher's $4 billion Treasury ETF swap hands advisors a duration check
The Fisher-linked flows arrived before the Treasury's surprise buyback announcement and give advisors reason to revisit duration with 30-year yields at their highest since 2007.
The last mile of retirement is a planning gap advisors can close
A new IRIC report lays out the behavioral biases that stall decumulation and the nudges advisors can use to turn a savings conversation into a spending plan.
Two Sigma divorce puts founder-owner planning on the stand
A $1.3 billion valuation gap is the argument for writing founder divorce and ownership plans before a courtroom forces the issue.
Schwab's fraud guide hands clients a response checklist
Charles Schwab turns a $488 million FTC statistic into a practical script for fraud conversations.
Appeals court lets NYC pied-à-terre tax proceed; Sept. 18 deadline holds
The September 18 exemption deadline stands while the tax's legality is litigated. Owners who want to avoid the surcharge must act by then.
Clawback verdict: $5.6 million reminder of the cost of leaving
A wirehouse broker who left after two years lost his arbitration fight over a recruiting loan — a caution for advisors weighing independence.
Carlyle's $2.8 billion MAI bet re-prices the RIA exit
The deal prices MAI's AUM at about 5.5 cents per dollar and signals what scaled owners can expect at the sale table.
SEC examiners want your AI governance on the record
Fiscal 2026 exam priorities turn AI supervision into a paper trail.
Edelman's TRO shows an advisor's non-solicit clause followed him to RFG
A Washington court barred a departing Edelman advisor from soliciting clients, a sign that non-solicit agreements travel with advisors into the RIA channel.
Abound's $300 Million Move Tests Prospera's 2.5:1 Support Pledge
A $300 million practice's move to Prospera puts the independent platform's 2.5:1 home-office headcount pledge in the spotlight.
TaxOptix makes tax savings the doorway to 401(k) plans
Stephen Daigle's TaxOptix uses the tax return as the entry point to retirement plans and a wider client relationship.
History's capital cycle casts the AI boom as a railway moment
The capital cycle says AI's investors, not the technology, are at risk.
CAIS doubles to $2 billion, and the cap table becomes diligence
A $170 million round at double the last valuation makes the platform's own investor roster part of private-market due diligence.
Vanguard launches customizable models without breaking the 0.07% expense ratio
The new offering lets advisors adjust select Vanguard models through three external platforms while keeping the low-cost pitch intact.
CFP pay study: certification pays an 11% premium
The 2026 survey also shows management responsibility adds roughly $92,000 to a planner's market value.
A $6 million payout puts Forbes' advisor rankings under a cloud
The New York Times reported that Forbes fired its top editor over an undisclosed payment from Shook Research's founder — a story advisors who market themselves on the list can't ignore.