J.P. Morgan, Raymond James, RBC, plus an app for political investing, advisors’ faith in ESG and more

November 5, 2021 1:58 PM

Investors are more and more interested in putting their money where their hearts lie. RBC has a report out that shows advisors’ faith in ESG-integrated portfolios. And Interactive Brokers has a new app that allows investors to choose investments based on their values. J.P. Morgan is offering an investment summit for Black and Latina woman. And Raymond James’ Alex. Brown has new digs on Park Avenue in Manhattan. As always, advisors are on the move. See where they’re going and where they’ve left. Scroll through to find what you might have missed this week in financial planning news.

J.P. Morgan Wealth Management is holding its first ever

Summit

for Black and Latina Women on Tuesday, Nov. 9. The

guests

include personal finance educator Tiffany “The Budgetnista” Aliche, journalist Soledad O’Brien, entrepreneur Beatrice Dixon of The Honey Pot and financial literacy talk show host Yanely Espinal of MissBeHelpful. The event will “provide a backdrop for diverse women and allies to exchange real experiences, learn step-by-step how to define achievable goals, and grow more confident about Black and Latina’s women ability to rewrite their financial futures,” according to a description from J.P. Morgan. “The sessions will cover investing for beginners, multigenerational wealth, using investment goals to support communities, and financial wellness for entrepreneurs and business owners.”

Interactive Brokers has a new mobile trading app for do-it-yourself investors looking to align their portfolios with personal and political values. Investors select from 13 impact categories across topics like environmental sustainability, racial and gender equality, LGBTQ inclusion and ethical business practices. The app, called IMPACT, also lets investors exclude investments for things like animal testing, political lobbying and pollution. According to those preferences, IMPACT will score investors’ portfolios and identify opportunities to swap equity positions that better align with their values. The app also supports charitable giving and cryptocurrency trading.

GeoWealth, a new turnkey asset management and technology platform, closed a $19 million round of Series B funding led by Kayne Partners Fund. J.P. Morgan Asset Management, which has been an investor in GeoWealth since 2018, also increased its stake. The company said it has grown assets under management 700% to $7.3 billion since launching three years ago and has a total of $16.7 billion of assets under advisement. The company plans to use the funding to expand the technology it providers to advisors, including a partnership with a financial planning vendor.

Alex. Brown Raymond James Park Avenue Office

Raymond James and its Alex. Brown division completed a major office move in New York from four different locations to its new office on Park Avenue in Manhattan. With four floors stretching 160,000 square feet in the high rise at 320 Park, the office serves as a branch of Raymond James & Associates, the headquarters of Alex. Brown, and the workspace for 350 other associates in support roles and from other divisions of the firm. The phased move-in started nearly three months ago. “Despite the commercial real estate challenges in New York City over the past year, Raymond James has always believed that a strong presence in the world’s financial capital is essential,” Raymond James CEO Paul Reilly said in a statement. “I’m confident that by creating a consolidated hub, we will increase connectivity across complementary business units and enhance service to all stakeholders.”

CAIS, a marketplace for alternative investments, brought in Abby Salameh as chief marketing officer. Salameh will report to CAIS founder and CEO Matt Brown and join the firm’s executive committee. CAIS, based in New York, offers advisors and asset managers access to investments in private equity, hedge funds, structured notes, real estate, digital assets and other so-called “alts.” It describes its mission as “leveling the playing field for financial advisors everywhere.”

Financial advisors Jesse Brookreson and Brian Trymbiski dropped Wells Fargo for Raymond James & Associates in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. The practice, Great Oak Investment Management of Raymond James, managed more than $500 million in client assets with its prior firm and also includes sales development associate Leigh McKee. “In Raymond James, we found a partner that embraces and supports the unique relationship between the client and advisor,” Brookreson said in a statement. “As a firm that’s focused on the wealth management business, it allows us to be laser focused on the investment and planning needs of our clients.”

Rebecca Deaton joined Relative Value Partners Group, a fee-only wealth management firm based in Northbrook, Illinois, that serves wealthy families and institutional clients nationwide. A CFP, she was previously a principal at Brownson, Rehmus & Foxworth, a wealth management firm focused on estate and legacy planning for multi-generational clients. Deaton’s six-person team will follow her to RVP. “We have been seeking to bolster the depth and expertise of our team in order to provide more comprehensive planning services to clients with complex financial needs,” said RVP co-founder and CEO Robert Huffman III.

Advisor Group’s Securities America and an office of supervisory jurisdiction called Iron Point Advisors added a pair of financial advisors from rival Cetera Financial Group. Sacramento, California-based financial advisors James Putnam and Babak “Bobby” Payvandi oversaw $174 million in total client assets with their prior firm, Cetera Advisor Networks. With the addition to Iron Point, the OSJ now spans 53 registered representatives with more than $2 billion in client assets. “After 37 years with our former broker-dealer, we undertook an extensive search of other broker-dealers,” Putnam said in a statement. “After filtering the search to three finalists, partnering with Advisor Group, Securities America and Iron Point Advisors was the best fit.”

RBC Wealth Management formed a new Mid-Atlantic complex out of its Washington, D.C., and Baltimore network of branches, creating the largest complex at the firm. The 15 branches stretch across Maryland and Virginia under former D.C. Complex Director Warren Bischoff, a veteran of nearly 20 years in the position. The complex spans 160 financial advisors managing more than $40 billion in client assets, along with 140 other employees. “Pooling our strengths into one Mid-Atlantic complex gives the entire region access to more resources to better serve our clients,” Bischoff said in a statement. “All the branches are within an hour from my office in Chevy Chase. They’re offices I know well and many I have worked with in the past, so this new role feels like a natural expansion for me."

Recordkeeper, third-party administrator and government savings facilitator Ascensus will acquire Walnut Creek, California-based retirement services firm Newport Group, which has nearly 1,500 employees and more than $150 billion in assets under administration. The parties expect the transaction of an undisclosed amount to close in the first quarter. Once Newport merges into Ascensus, the acquiring firm’s plan participants will top 15 million, its AUA will go above $700 billion and the employers working with the firm will rise past 150,000. "Ascensus and Newport are both respected leaders in the marketplace — and well-known for service excellence, deep expertise, investment independence and purpose-built technology," Ascensus CEO David Musto said in a statement. "We expect the service platform investment, product expansion and enhanced capabilities our union will deliver to be well-received by our collective clients. As a combined company, we'll be able to even further advance our mission of helping individuals save for what matters." Goldman Sachs Bank, SPC Financing Company and KKR Capital Markets provided the financing for the deal. Another division of Goldman Sachs, its asset management arm, is also working with Ascensus on a new 401(k) or ERISA 403(b) retirement program called Goldman Sachs Workplace Retirement Solution.

Fort Worth, Texas-based Rosenthal Retirement Planning is folding into private equity-backed RIA consolidator Beacon Pointe Advisors. Husband-wife financial advisor duo Burk and Alisha Rosenthal lead the RIA practice, which has $350 million in client assets and operates out of a 100-year-old Victorian home in the city’s cultural district. "A choice as important as this cannot be taken lightly without consideration for our clients, employees and our future growth as an advisory practice," Burk Rosenthal said in a statement. "We spent well over a year evaluating various firms before deciding to partner with Beacon Pointe.” With the transaction closing last month, Beacon has three offices in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and eight new advisory practices it has added in 2021.

Financial advisors Michael Anthony, Leslie Futrell, Rick Walters, Stacey Brooks and Keith Thieman of River Cities Financial Services left Cetera Financial Group for LPL Financial. The Marietta, Beverly and Chillicothe, Ohio-based practice managed $350 million in client assets with its prior firm, Cetera Advisors, and it includes four other support staff members. As part of the move to LPL, River Cities aligned with JFC Advisor Network as its office of supervisory jurisdiction. The practice traces its roots to an insurance agency that opened in 1948. With LPL, we have the stability of a publicly traded company along with innovative, integrated technology that’s in a simple format, allowing us to spend more time with clients,” Anthony said in a statement. “There is nothing more rewarding than being able to sit down face-to-face with clients and help them work toward their financial dreams.”

An RIA with over $10 billion in assets under management and 22 offices in major cities launched a joint venture with the largest Israeli bank operating in the U.S. IDB Bank and Lido Advisors created IDB Lido Wealth to bring the RIA’s wealth services to the bank’s client base, which represents more than $11 billion in assets across branches in three different boroughs of New York City and three other states. “This is an exceptional opportunity to complement our leading banking solutions with a suite of superior wealth management products and services as we further develop the value proposition we offer our clients,” IDB CEO Ziv Biron said in a statement.

Avantax Planning Partners, the employee-based RIA of wealth manager Avantax, acquired a Pennsylvania-based practice that has $258 million in client assets. Stanley Warner has been affiliated with Avantax as his broker-dealer since 2004, and the deal will fold the practice into the corporate RIA and take administrative tasks off the hands of Warner and financial professional Ann Tracy. “After successfully growing my business for many years, I was interested in a path that would monetize my business but also let me focus more on serving my clients and less on the day-to-day dealings of running an office,” Warner said in a statement. “Transitioning to Avantax’s employee-based RIA lets us become part of an even larger financial planning effort, and now we can grow more of a regional business.”

A maintenance worker cleans solar panels at a power station in New Delhi, India.

Financial advisors in the U.S. are leading the way with ESG investing,

according to a new survey from RBC Global Asset Management

. Three-quarters of advisors believe ESG-integrated portfolios are likely to perform better than or as well as non-ESG-integrated portfolios, and 72% are already using ESG principles compared to just 64% of all investors. Financial advisors are primarily using equities to incorporate ESG strategies, but 70% are using fixed income assets. However, about half of advisors think fixed income ESG products aren’t sufficient.