Toby is a veteran journalist with more than a dozen years of experience in the field who joined Financial Planning in 2017 after prior tenures with the New York Daily News, Commercial Observer and City Limits. He earned an undergraduate degree in the humanities from the University of Texas at Austin and a master's degree in journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York. He has won a dozen business journalism awards during his time with Financial Planning, including those received for the 2020 podcast series "
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The founding partners spent a combined 54 years with the No. 6 IBD before launching the fee-only firm.
August 22 -
The former MetLife advisors had affiliated with three different IBDs over four years amid the increasing consolidation in the space.
August 22 -
The ongoing shift away from commissionable products is driving major changes in the space.
August 17 -
The IBD network is following its rivals in launching a centralized program on succession planning and acquisitions.
August 16 -
FINRA released internal data in the regulator’s first-ever such report, highlighting changes in the wealth management space.
By Lee ConradAugust 16 -
Clashes over the Labor Department's fiduciary rule have carried over into the debate on the SEC's proposed regulation.
August 14 -
The firms may or may not be vying against one another, but their advisor forces are moving in different directions.
August 8 -
The IBD network disclosed the renewal of its clearing agreement, along with three firms’ intention to self-report possible mutual fund violations to the SEC.
August 8 -
The largest firms’ combined VA and FA revenues hit a three-year low in 2017, but the products still make up a significant portion of their businesses.
August 3 -
Blucora CEO John Clendening says the cuts to head count should taper off by next year, when the firm will have dropped as many as 1,000 reps in 16 months.
August 1 -
The barred onetime Questar Capital and Woodbury Financial rep had pleaded guilty to the scam, which he says stemmed from a gambling addiction.
August 1 -
The firm remains in transformational flux, but the results of its "Project E" evolution are beginning to show.
August 1 -
The No. 1 IBD adapted Riskalyze to its still-evolving ClientWorks portal and added Black Diamond to its discounted vendor program.
July 30 -
The regulator accused the four firms and the Advisor Group network of supervisory failures in sales of L-share VAs in separate but near-identical cases.
July 30 -
Dan Arnold says the firm remains interested if deals are a match for the No. 1 IBD.
July 27 -
Wealth Enhancement Group would grow to nearly 70 advisors nationwide under its second major purchase of the year.
July 25 -
The firm will move over to Salesforce’s CRM tool starting next year as part of an effort to boost efficiency with new technology.
July 25 -
The firms with the highest percentage growth year-over-year are cutting their head counts and fueling the record level of M&A deals.
July 23 -
Ron Carson’s firm and other major practices within the IBD network praise its choice of a new PE backer.
July 20 -
The owner of RIA aggregator Mercer Advisors has pledged to maintain the IBD network’s current structure under the deal.
July 17



















