RIAs

National Advisors Trust revamps its board of directors with a trio of new members and the appointment of a new chairman.

They plan to boost their staff by 30% over the next 12 months, Fidelity finds.

After riding out some choppy storms in the middle and latter part of the last decade, registered independent advisors -- and their clients -- now stand ready to cash in on enormous growth opportunities as long as their willing to embrace new technology and communication mediums.

According to a survey conducted by TD Ameritrade, RIAs reported a 7% increase.

Carson Wealth Management Group announced Monday it will become an independent RIA in July, but will further expand by added a broker-dealer arm later this year.

To give its 3,000-plus independent advisors an edge, Fidelity Investments introduced the Business Development and Marketing Planning Toolkit, an interactive PDF that advisors, firms and advisor teams can use to better define themselves, identify exactly the type of clients they want to attract and retain and, perhaps most important, ensure their customers know enough about them and their services to provide a meaningful referral to potential new clients.

An uptick in mergers and acquisition among investment advisory firms at the end of last year suggests that the pace will increase, according to a study by Pershing Advisor Solutions, a unit of BNY Mellon. However, there were fewer deals, and they took longer to complete in last year, compared to the peak in 2007.

“Clearly, a lot of the same fundamental, structural changes to the industry continue to drive M&A,” says David DeVoe, managing director of strategic business development for Schwab Advisor Services.

Schwab announced that since it launched Schwab Advisor University in June, over 5,600 RIA employees from more than 2,500 firms participated in its online courses to help improve firm operations.

The BNY Mellon unit is beefing up its global research offerings for its registered investment advisor, broker-dealer and hedge fund customers.