RIAs

ACG Wealth’s affiliated IBD has also added teams from LPL and Merrill Lynch. Its CEO says the firm is just getting started.

After five changes to my pricing model in five years, I finally had a strategy that I had shunned when I started.

Some are calling for the CFP Board to get tough on conflicts and compensation as it finishes revisions to its standards of conduct.

The math works: Banks get a boost to their growth plans, while independent advisors get one more option for their succession planning.

At least three dual practices with nearly $1.5 billion in client assets have left since the No. 1 IBD unveiled the new guidelines.

It's a sign the firm is still selectively hiring despite leaving the Broker Protocol last year.

Unhappy with M&A offers, CJM chooses to stay independent.

"We've been waiting for the finicky sellers and now they're here," says Echelon Partners CEO Dan Seivert.

The No. 9 IBD has emerged as one of the major players in a tough recruiting fight after the massive acquisition.

"Simply calling yourself a financial planner does not make you one," argues CFP Board CEO Kevin Keller.