Tag Archive for: TD Ameritrade

Schwab Prunes 200 TD Ameritrade Branches

/in /by

Following up on comments made last month by Schwab senior executive vice president Joe Martinetto, a spokeswoman confirmed that with the closing of approximately 200 TD branches, the new footprint of the combined firm will include “over 400 Schwab and TD Ameritrade offices across the United States, one-third of them shared offices available to clients of both firms.”

“At present, nearly 90% of Schwab and TD Ameritrade branches are located within 10 miles of one other,” said Schwab’s Alison Wertheim.

“Addressing that considerable overlap will enhance our efficiency, enable us to continue to enhance services and keep costs low for clients,” she said.

The ultimate plan for the consolidation that is expected to take more than 18 months to complete will include more than 150 stand-alone Schwab branches, and about 140 shared branches with Schwab and TD professionals serving their respective clients.

In those shared branches, Wertheim said, “clients will see signage that reflects the availability of both Schwab and TD Ameritrade’s professionals and services.”

There will also be nearly 50 stand-alone TD branches that will continue to serve TD clients.

The 70 Schwab franchise offices will continue to serve Schwab clients. And there are three more franchise offices planned by the end of 2020, Wertheim explained.

“Going forward, there will be a branch within 25 miles of approximately 90% of clients,” she said. “We are confident these are the right steps to build a strong branch network for the future.”

Read the article at InvestmentNews.

,

/in /by

The Charles Schwab Corp. said on Monday it was eliminating about 3% of the combined workforces of the Schwab and TD Ameritrade businesses, which accounts for about 1,000 employees, the company said in a statement.

“These reductions are part of our efforts to reduce overlapping or redundant roles across the two firms, but the combined firm will continue to hire in strategic areas critical to supporting our growing client base,” according to the company, which added that the laid-off employees could apply for newly available jobs at the company.

Schwab completed its acquisition of TD Ameritrade on Oct. 6.

The combined firm will oversee about $6 trillion in assets managed by registered investment advisers who used either Schwab or TD Ameritrade Institutional as a custodian.

Senior executives, including TD Ameritrade Institutional president Tom Nally, have left the new enterprise in recent weeks.

Several other high-level departures include institutional product specialist Dani Fava, who now works for Envestnet; Skip Schweiss, formerly the president of TD Ameritrade Trust Cos., who is on deck to become the next president of the Financial Planning Association; and former longtime spokesperson Joseph Giannone, who is joining Dow Jones.

Read the full article here.

 

Dani Fava leaves TD Ameritrade for New Position at Envestnet

/in /by

The projected exodus has begun. Dani Fava, former Director of Institutional Innovation at TD Ameritrade, left the merging custodian this week for a new position at Envestnet. She will now be in charge of strategic development at the growing financial technology firm.

Industry insiders have been waiting for movement from TD Ameritrade since their merger with Charles Schwab was officially sanctioned by the DOJ in June. According to inside sources, the “restructuring” Schwab has announced will result in multiple layoffs.

Fava is a former VP of Product Management at Citi and a former Senior Product Manager at Fiserv. In her role at TD Ameritrade, she worked on digital strategies, automated rebalancing, and trading technology. She helped to implement iRebal, TD’s inhouse rebalancing solution.

“I’ve joined the team at Envestnet!” Dani exclaimed on her Linked In page yesterday. “Like me, they’re committed to innovation and financial wellness for all. I’m excited to drive this vision forward and I’m committed to staying engaged with the fintech community.”

The new position was initially presented to Fava at the T3 Advisor Conference in February. An accomplished speaker, she had just presented at the conference when she was approached by Envestnet CEO Bill Crager. They were looking for a trend spotter and Dani was their top choice.

“Since our establishment twenty years ago, Envestnet has helped advisors stay one step ahead of the ever-evolving wealth management industry,” Crager stated after the hire. “Dani will help drive advisor and client financial wellness by responding proactively to industry trends.”

This is the second major hire by Envestnet this year. The first was Rich Aneser, a former CMO at Lincoln Financial and former Managing Director at UBS. His new title is “Head of Strategy and Client Development” at Envestnet. Dani Fava will be reporting directly to him.

Orion Overhauls Client Portal in Response to Covid-19 Demands

Meanwhile, Envestnet’s closest competitor has certainly not been sitting on their laurels. Orion Advisor Tech, using technology from their newest acquisition Advizr and onboarding from Apex Clearing, launched a revamped client portal for advisors this week.

“The improved client portal launch followed a demand spike among advisors’ clients for online access to their financial information,” stated Hussain Zaidi, chief strategy officer at Orion. “We’ve already seen a twenty percent increase in portal logins this year.”

The combination of Advizr’s financial planning, Orion reporting, and Apex Clearing’s onboarding and data connections is the closest match to Envestnet’s Money Guide Pro, Tamarac, Yodlee offering. Fidelity’s eMoney merger with inhouse reporting is a distant third.

Greg O’Gara, a senior analyst at the Aite Group, addressed the client portal situation in a February 2020 analysis of fintech applications. “The wealth management landscape is in transition,” he stated. “Covid-19 has turbocharged expectations around digital solutions.”

Envestnet and Orion cater primarily to the RIA and broker-dealer spaces, but both are positioning for entry into the banking sector. With higher demand for client portals and online engagement, will the Merrills and Morgans of the world embrace them? Only time will tell.