RIAs

In a new strategic direction, Washington Wealth Management, a two-year old firm that has been growing on a tear by luring advisors from wirehouses, has joined LPL, bringing $750 million in assets under management to the country's largest independent broker-dealer.

On top of a $180 annual fee, the CFP Board's 67,000 members are also each paying a $145 surcharge for the promotional campaign, which includes advertising on NPR and in major consumer publications.

Wirehouses are set to lose 7% market share in the next three years, according to a report released Monday by Cerulli Associates. "These survey findings indicate a shifting advisor base between channels, with a lot of activity moving away from the wirehouse firms," Bing Waldert, director at Cerulli, said in a press release.

The Salentica Advisor Desk with the Schwab OpenView Gateway is a platform for independent investment advisors to access real-time information on their clients' financial holdings through the Salentica CRM solution.

In light of looming changes in industry regulations and advances in current technology, advisors need to act now when it comes to making data and document management electronic, Timothy Welsh of Nexus Strategy, said at FPA Experience in San Antonio on Sunday.

Stanzak, the principal and owner of Financial Empowerment, in Bloomington, Minn., will begin her term on Jan. 1, 2014, when she succeeds Michael Branham, FPA's 2013 president.

Fort Pitt Capital Group has a split personality. As an RIA, the Pittsburgh firm has $1.2 billion under management. As a fund provider, its Fort Pitt Capital Total Return Fund is 10 years old, with a five-star Morningstar rating for 10-year performance.

The Financial Planning Association announced the winners of its top awards, which will be presented at its annual conference in Texas. The FPA honored David M. King, with its 2012 P. Kemp Fain, Jr. Award; retirement researcher Wade D. Pfau with the inaugural Montgomery-Warschauer Award; and 10 influencers in the profession with Heart of Financial Planning Awards. Check out more information on each of the honorees.

"As breakaway brokers continue to seek the benefits of the independent RIA model and a large number of RIAs near retirement, we're seeing unprecedented opportunities to create mutually beneficial relationships between advisors," said Ben Welch, Ameritrade's director of advisor business development. "RIAConnect meets the increasing demand for a more effective way to connect firms and helps support advisor growth potential."

In an effort to give smaller RIAs access to a broader array of services, Ron Carson has launched Carson Institutional Advisory. The new platform includes a succession planning strategy as an added attraction.