The Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth said the SEC's Reg BI fails to protect investors with a fiduciary standard for brokers, and so it's looking to impose one of its own.

The wealth management firm born from the Rockefeller & Co. family office continues to hire and expand, eyeing $100 billion in assets.

In addition to a steady stream of acquisitions, the firm organically grew by more than $1 billion in new assets in both 2017 and 2018.

The RIA custodian believes the SEC’s change of language around the fiduciary standard is inconsequential.

'We don't have any kind of real competition in the market," said Rajini Kodialam, Focus Financial Partners' co-founder and COO.

Model portfolios, referrals from Merrill Edge and tapping into "overlap" with Bank of America's commercial unit were driving advisor efficiencies and bringing in record numbers of new clients.

Allen Parker, the general counsel who took temporary control of the fourth-largest U.S. bank this year, is signaling willingness and even interest in staying on.

Recent legislative activity modernizes trust administration and provides opportunities for planning.