RIAs

A former BNY Mellon advisor that managed $850 million in client assets has formed an RIA affiliated with Raymond James' independent RIA channel.

Independence has a growing value both to clients and to would-be acquirers. See how the top firms are standing their ground. Plus: Top 100 rankings and 50 fastest-growing firms.

This is a critical time for the industry, with demographic and technological shifts creating tectonic pressures. Here are a few trends all advisors should follow.

Changes to the RIA Leaders rankings illustrate a hard truth about the industry.

Cerulli predicts that market share gains in the RIA and dually registered channels will likely come at the expense of wirehouses and independent broker-dealers.

RIAs follow the money. Here are the states with the most RIA firms.

Profitability and control still rank high on the list of reasons advisors go independent, but the ability to have new and better systems – especially software – also plays a compelling part.

"He called for the male clients, I called for the females," says ex-assistant, who says she knew phone calls to liquidate client assets after a B-D change were wrong.

For buyers, the cost of funds is low now. For sellers, valuations are rich. Cashing out now is an “easy case to make," says AssetMark EVP Michael Abelson. "Or they can keep riding the wave."

Board quietly hires former SEC official; critics call for CEO Keller's departure as well.