Kathy King
kingk@folioinvesting.com
703-245-4892
Comparing adviser-targeted robos
(Investment News)
December 20, 2015 – Planners should have technology upgrades in their sights, because these digital disruptors are changing what clients demand from their advisers – man or machine. Read more.
Financial Advisors Apply Technology to Workflow
(Investor’s Business Daily)
November 13, 2015 – Many financial advisors emphasize the customized service that they provide to clients. At the same time, they highlight the importance of standardizing their processes to ensure consistency and efficiency.
Steve Wallman, Former SEC Commissioner & Founder of Folio Investing, Reflects Upon Title III Equity Crowdfunding Rules
(Crowdfund Insider)
November 10, 2015 – Steve Wallman spent a good portion of the 90’s at the Securities and Exchange Commission. Appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1994, Wallman’s official bio at the SEC notes that his tenure was marked by the creation of the first Advisory Committee on Capital Formation and Regulatory Processes. Read more.
Bloomberg Advantage: Latest Valeant News, Equity Crowdfunding
(Bloomberg)
November 2, 2015 – Listen to Folio Investing Founder and CEO, Steve Wallman, as he discusses the SEC’s new crowdfunding legislation. Starting at the 11:11 mark of the podcast, Wallman comments on the ruling that allows companies to sell private securities online and what it means for investors like you. Read more.
Fees and Charges That Destroy Investors’ Portfolios
(U.S. News & World Report)
November 2, 2015 – No investment or advising comes without fees, but they can be reduced if you know learn the ropes. Read more.
In depth reaction to Title III rules passing
(Bankless Times)
November 2, 2015 – As the Securities and Exchange Commission’s release of the new crowdfunding rules begins to be analyzed by the investment community, Bankless Times is speaking with additional experts to get their thoughts on what those rules mean for the industry. Read more.
Robo Firms May Violate Investment Laws, Asset Manager Argues
(Financial Planning)
November 2, 2015 – By claiming robos may be unregistered investment companies, new report raises the stakes in fight for dominance. Read more.
Three super-easy ways to start investing today
(Examiner)
October 21, 2015 – Last week you learned that many Americans are not investing, for one reason or another, and basically have no real plan for generating income in their later years. Whether because of a believed lack of resources or a fear and mistrust of the markets and those who work in them, the majority of people in this country are missing out on what’s been called the greatest wealth-generating machine in history. Read more.
EQIS Capital Set To Accept Curian Assets
(Financial Advisor)
October 8, 2015 – EQIS Capital, an asset management firm based in San Raphael, Calif., is gearing up to work with advisors who have client assets at Curian Capital, which is being shut down by its parent company, Prudential Plc. Read more.
Think Small for Big Returns From the Stock Market
(U.S. News & World Report)
October 5, 2015 – Small businesses might not seem safe, but opportunities abound that the big game hunters overlook. Chances are you've never heard of bendamustine, let alone know how to pronounce it (ben-da-MUST-een). It’s used to treat leukemia and lymphomas and the company that makes it, Eagle Pharmaceuticals (ticker: EGRX), has just 35 employees – enough to fit into a coat closet at Eli Lilly & Co (LLY). Read more.
VIA Folio private capital network unveiled
(Bankless Times)
September 25, 2015 – Folio Investing and Folio Institutional have unveiled Folio’s Private Capital Network. VIA Folio, an online equity and debt-funding platform, intends to connect investors, brokers and advisors with private companies in search of funding.
In addition to private equity and debt VIA Folio will allow participation in hedge funds, private equity funds, real estate funds, and other types of private investments.
Read more.
VIA Folio Connects Investors with Institutional Type Offers. Leads with Debt Offer from Matchbox Food
(Crowdfund Insider)
September 21, 2015 – VIA Folio is an online debt and equity platform which connects investors, brokers and avisors with private companies seeking funding. Created by Folio Investing and Folio Institutional, the new portal is leading with a debt offering of $10.5 million from DC based Matchbox Food Group LLC. Matchbox is a restaurant company including concept destinations Matchbox, DC-3 and Ted’s Bulletin. Read more.
Financial Advisors: Millennials Demand These Tools
(Investor’s Business Daily)
September 11, 2015 – It’s common knowledge that the class of investors called the “next generation,” or NextGen, constantly connect online through electronic devices. The struggle for financial advisors is to find ways to engage with these investors.
Wealth Adviser Daily Briefing: Merrill Team Departs to Offer Family-Office Services
(WSJ Money Beat)
September 9, 2015 – A team of Merrill Lynch financial advisers who manage $1.4 billion in client assets resigned on Tuesday to form an independent advisory firm to offer more specialized services to clients, such as paying bills and providing advice on custom-designed investments. The move underscores how more advisers who focus on ultrawealthy clients are finding the traditional brokerage model too constricting, since a so-called family-office level of service is usually prohibited, reports WSJ.com’s Wealth Adviser. Read more.
Online Brokerage Folio Investing to Offer NextShares
(WSJ Wealth Advisor)
September 9, 2015 – Online brokerage services Folio Investing and Folio Institutional plan to offer a new type of fund created by a unit of Eaton Vance Corp. that may start trading later this year. Read more.
NextShares Gets First Broker/Dealer
(Wealth Management)
September 9, 2015 – Folio Investing and Folio Institutional announced Tuesday that it would be the first broker/dealer to offer NextShares, the actively managed funds that look like exchange-traded funds, directly to individual investors, advisors and institutions. ALPS, a Denver-based asset manager, also said it would launch their own NextShares trust. The announcements follow news that Envestment is making NextShares available on its wealth management platform. Read more.
Folio Signs Up to Sell NextShares
(Think Advisor)
September 8, 2015 – Folio Investing and Folio Institutional, which provide online brokerage services to investors, financial advisors, institutions and their clients, say they will be the first organizations to sell Eaton Vance NextShares, which are exchange-traded managed funds. Folio will offer NextShares on its platforms in conjunction with Navigate Fund Solutions, the developers of NextShares and a subsidiary of Eaton Vance, pending regulatory approvals. Read more.
Eaton Vance’s NextShares gets its first custodian on board
(Investment News)
September 8, 2015 – NextShares, the new fund structure from Eaton Vance Corp. designed to reduce the costs of active management, has won its first broker-dealer partner. Two investing platforms managed by Foliofn Investments Inc. will offer the funds to financial advisers and other investors, the McLean, Va.-based custodian and brokerage firm said Tuesday. Read more.
NextShares Touts First B-D Distribution Deal
(Ignites)
September 8, 2015 – “NextShares Touts First B-D Distribution Deal” Read more.
Eaton Vance Secures First Broker-Dealer For NextShares
(Fund Action)
September 8, 2015 – Eaton Vance has landed its first broker-dealer to distribute NextShares. The hybrid product will be offered through Folio Investing and Folio Institutional, an online brokerage and custody platform for individual investors, financial advisers and institutions. Folio is the second NextShares distributor Eaton Vance has nabbed. Read more.
September 8, 2015 – Boston-based fund company Eaton Vance (EV) revealed a pair of new partners for its forthcoming hybrid fund structure, including the first broker-dealer to sign on so far. Foliofn Investments said on Tuesday that it plans offer Eaton Vance’s “exchange-traded managed funds,” or ETMFs, through two online brokerage services. It’s the second distribution deal in recent weeks for Eaton Vance. Read more.
Battle For Supremacy: Robo-Advisors Versus Financial Advisors
(Yahoo! Finance/US News & World Report)
August 19, 2015 – An epic collision of two heavyweights. In this corner ... weighing in at 10 billion terrible terabytes of big data, hailing from cyberspace, the investment innovator and challenger, the online robo-advisor! And the opponent ... weighing in with billions of dollars in assets under management, hailing from every city and suburb in America, the reigning investment champion of the world, the flesh-and-blood financial advisor! Read more.
Washington’s policing of Wall Street is nothing to praise
(New York Post)
August 15, 2015 – Five years after the launch of Washington’s plan to police Wall Street and avert the next financial crisis, the landmark Dodd-Frank Act is nothing to celebrate, according to one regulator. From a limping banking sector crippled by a raft of rules and lending practices to a tight squeeze on Wall Street’s activities, its financial toll is impeding a full economic recovery, said outgoing Securities and Exchange Commissioner Daniel Gallagher. Read more.
Why Rebalancing to Play off Volatility Can Boost Returns in Retirement Portfolio
(MainStreet)
August 13, 2015 – Investors should rebalance their portfolios based on the volatility of the market to increase the gains in their retirement portfolio. Following a timetable of rebalancing quarterly or even twice a year results in having investors missing gains and take on the losses of a particular sector, said Matthew Tuttle, the portfolio manager of Tuttle Tactical Management U.S. Core ETF. Read more.
Custodians and clearing firms ranked by number of clients
(InvestmentNews)
August 9, 2015 – New data gathered by InvestmentNews shows how these firms stack up. Read more.
Curian Close Has Rivals Ready to Strike
(Think Advisor)
August 4, 2015 – Curian Capital is closing early next year, a move that has rival asset managers eagerly inviting investors and advisors into their offices. The Denver-based provider of turnkey asset management programs (or TAMPs) is owned by Prudential PLC (PUK) and has been run as a unit of Jackson National Life Insurance. Last year, Prudential said it had about $12 billion in client assets and a loss of about $27 million. Read more.
How Do You Choose Mutual Funds That Can Beat The Market?
(MainStreet)
July 9, 2015 – So, you want to invest in a mutual fund that beats the indexes. Great. Do you even know that that means? It isn’t hard to identify mutual funds and fund managers who’ve outperformed the stock indexes in the past. Read more.
F-Squared Files For Bankruptcy
(InvestmentNews)
July 8, 2015 – F-Squared Investments Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection Wednesday and arranged for its investment strategies to be managed by a new firm, capping the rise-and-fall story of an exchange-traded fund manager once popular with financial advisers. The firm filed documents seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and asked the court to allow it to sell its investment strategies, contracts to manage money and other intellectual property to a competing, Chicago-based money manager. Read more.
How To See A Financial Advisor Without Racking Up Fees
(TheStreet)
July 7, 2015 – If you’re looking for big returns on your retirement investments, an advisor’s huge fee isn’t necessarily part of the deal. Median annual returns for 401(k) holders who had advisors guide their target date funds, managed accounts or their plan’s online advice were 3.32 percentage points higher than returns for people who invested on their own, according a 2014 study by benefits consultancy firm Aon Hewitt and Financial Engines. Read more.
Voices: George Gay, on the Rise of Shareholder Activism
(WSJ)
June 30, 2015 – Voices is an occasional column that allows wealth managers to address issues of interest to the advisory community. George Gay is CEO of the First Affirmative Financial Network in Colorado Springs, Colo. Read more.
FOLIOfn Eyes Creation Of A Robo-Adviser: CEO
(Reuters)
June 17, 2015 – FOLIOfn, the 15-year-old online brokerage and financial software firm noted for innovations such as allowing customers to buy partial shares of stock, may create a “robo-adviser” for unsophisticated investors, the company’s co-founder said. “We’ll probably make a decision in the next month or two,” FOLIOfn Chief Executive Steven Wallman told Reuters this week. “The more I talk about it, the more convinced I am that it is something we should do.” Read more.
Seattle To Host Major "Investing For Impact" Event On March 31st For Area Financial Professionals
(MarketWatch)
March 24, 2015 – Impact investing–the hottest topic today in the world of sustainable, responsible, impact (SRI) investing–will be the focus of an all-day meeting on March 31, 2015 for Seattle area investment professionals and investors. "Investing for Impact: Seattle" will take place from 9:00am to 4:30pm, with a networking reception to follow, at the Bell Harbor Conference Center. Read more.
5 Things You Need to Know Now About Private Investments
(Huffington Post)
March 9, 2015 – If you've been paying attention to what's new in investing, you've probably heard of crowdfinance, debt and equity crowdfunding, peer-to-peer lending, and maybe even community investments. You may also know about private placements, trading pre-IPO shares, hedge funds, private equity and venture capital. What they all have in common is that they're just a few of the names people give to investments you can make in securities that are not publicly traded on exchanges like the NYSE and NASDAQ. Read more.
Folio Investing Acquires Accounts of BUYandHOLD
(FA Magazine)
February 20, 2015 – Folio Investing has expanded its retail business with the acquisition of more than 20,000 customer accounts of the online investing service BUYandHOLD. Read more.
Online Broker Folio Acquires BUYandHOLD Business
(ThinkAdvisor)
February 19, 2015 – Online-brokerage Folio Investing said Thursday that it has acquired the online accounts of BUYandHOLD. The company, which is led by former SEC Commissioner Steven Wallman, says the deal “reflects Folio’s continued expansion and commitment to providing a smart, cost-effective alternative to ‘big box’ online brokerages.” Read more.
Folio Investing Brings Experience To Automated Financial Advisors
(Investopedia)
February 12, 2015 – Traditional investment advisors and brokerages firms, now more than ever, face increased competition from alternative services in particular, robo advisors. Read more.
Staples-Office Depot Merger Likely To Be Cleared By Regulators, Says Former SEC Commissioner
(Benzinga)
February 4, 2015 – Former SEC Commissioner Steve Wallman told Benzinga that while there are some antitrust issues that need to be addressed, the merger is likely to go through. Read more.
Cybersecurity: What Advisors Need to Know
(On Wall Street)
January 9, 2015 – J.P. Morgan. Sony. Morgan Stanley—these are just some of the more recent high profile victims of data breaches, which have advisors re-examining their own precautions. Read more.
SEC Approach to ETFs Uneven
(ETF.com)
January 8, 2015 — Steven Wallman was a commissioner with the SEC in the mid-1990s. An authority on securities markets and trading, today he leads an ETF-centered online brokerage, Folio Investing. Wallman is also keen on seeing the SEC start using a thoughtful “holistic” method to evaluate the worthiness of new ETFs as opposed to a more case-by-case approach. That could have far-reaching effects on the availability of innovative nontransparent actively managed wrappers. Read more.
Threat vs. Opportunity
(Financial Advisor)
January 2, 2015 — Other financial firms that serve advisors are certain to follow suit with similar technology offerings. Folio Institutional, another custodian, offers Advisor Connexion, a platform that allows advisory firms to build their own robo-advisor solution. Read more.
Is Google Gunning For Custodians And Robos Alike?
(Financial Advisor)
January 2, 2015 — Robo-advisors are hardly the predatory new agents of disruption that some have depicted them to be, Foliofn CEO and former SEC commissioner Steve Wallman told advisors at an Asset Managers Showcase event in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., sponsored by Financial Advisor. Read more.