{"id":887610,"date":"2026-09-11T02:28:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T02:28:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/887610\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T02:28:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T02:28:15","slug":"vanguards-deal-for-altruist-a-trojan-horse-to-push-ria-vendors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/887610\/","title":{"rendered":"Vanguard\u2019s Deal for Altruist a \u2018Trojan Horse\u2019 to Push RIA Vendors"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is a growing sentiment in the registered investment advisor space that the vendors may be becoming the competition.<\/p>\n

Vanguard\u2019s agreement to purchase custodian and wealth technology firm Altruist<\/a> is a case in point. In August, the deal by one of the world\u2019s largest asset managers raised the specter that it could use the custody and clearing platform to further its own financial advice offerings, similar to legacy custody\/advice players Charles Schwab and Fidelity Investments. But to a panel of registered investment advisor CEOs, the matchup is being seen as a positive driver for those very vendors to modernize their RIA services.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a Trojan Horse moment,\u201d said Shannon Spotswood, CEO of RFG Advisory, during the Wealth Management Industry Awards Executive Sessions CEO panel in New York City on Thursday. \u201cThere have been artificial barriers that have made it difficult to move assets from one firm to another, one custodian to another\u2014that game is over. We are moving to straight digital account onboarding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related:Modern Wealth Acquires $710M Florida RIA Sanchez Wealth Management Group<\/a><\/p>\n

Spotswood said clients now expect faster, more personalized service that Vanguard\u2019s scale, combined with Altruist\u2019s technology, will aim to deliver, forcing legacy players like Schwab, Fidelity and even BNY Pershing to elevate their service.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a trickle-down effect, but it\u2019s going to turn into an avalanche,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Mike LaMena, CEO of Wealthspire, said Altruist\u2019s sale to Vanguard further reduces the number of \u201cpure play\u201d solutions left in the wealth management market, with asset managers buying technology platforms and wirehouses buying asset managers. In principle, he said, these matchups can work to the favor of RIAs.<\/p>\n

\u201cTime will tell what they\u2019re able to deliver, but more resources behind someone who is building innovatively, I think, accrues to the benefit of the industry,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Rick Kent, the CEO of Merit Financial, proposed that Vanguard and Altruist might seek to one day create a referral program like those of Schwab and Fidelity.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you think about that would be a great business to be in,\u201d Kent said. \u201cHow about I share my client with you at a 25% to 30% in perpetuity? I don\u2019t need to do anything after I hand you this client, I don\u2019t have any overhead, I don\u2019t have any cost, and if you operate your RIA efficiently, it\u2019s a good business to go into.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kent said Merit, which has grown to $30.1 billion in client assets<\/a>, had been successfully participating in Fidelity\u2019s RIA referral program since it joined in April 2025, as an organic growth channel, and that his firm is in active talks with Schwab to join its program as well.<\/p>\n

Related:Savvy Wealth Raises $100M, Valuation Hits $600M<\/a><\/p>\n

Schwab has been tightening the funnel for client referrals over the past two years, most recently raising the client asset minimum for referrals to $5 million, effective on Jan. 5, as it seeks to serve clients through its own advisory channel. Kent said Schwab\u2019s desire to work with more wealth clients is not scaring Merit away from working with them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI recommend they got into this business because it\u2019s the best business to be in,\u201d Kent quipped. \u201cSo, I can\u2019t blame them for that. But with your partners in the industry, you figure out how to work with them as you grow, and you also want to be reciprocal back\u2014a good partnership is a two-way street; I benefit from them, they benefit from us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spotswood, whose RFG has grown in recent years to nearly $9 billion in client assets<\/a>, said she sees a \u201cbull market\u201d for financial advice that will last at least the next decade, and that it should be \u201cno surprise to anyone in this room\u201d that Schwab wants to work with those clients, especially those with higher net worth.<\/p>\n

On the plus side, she said, is that \u201cthere is more than enough opportunity with 67% of the assets still in the wirehouse space. As far as delivering independent advice, we\u2019re in a good spot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related:Deals & Moves: NewEdge Wealth, LPL, Osaic Poach From Rivals<\/a><\/p>\n

At the same time, Spotswood said she doesn\u2019t want to think about Schwab and others as a \u201cpartner,\u201d but rather an \u201cexceptional vendor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOpening up the APIs, allowing us to control the data, allowing us to really build upon the expertise that has been developed in the industry, that to me is at the very top of the food chain of what we are looking for,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

LaMena, whose $600 billion Wealthspire broke free from global risk manager Aon last year under the ownership of Madison Dearborn Partners<\/a>, said \u201cco-opetition\u201d has long been part of the financial advice space, with Schwab and others competing for Wealthspire clients even though the RIA also works with these vendors.<\/p>\n

He said Schwab seeking to work with higher-net-worth clients is \u201cgood news,\u201d because those are the clients Wealthspire is best at working with.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reality is that if you embrace the fact that there is cooperation and competition, and you are open and transparent, the market is moving in our direction,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are fortunate to operate in the fastest-growing segment in the market. … There\u2019s more than enough opportunity for everybody. The clearer you are on the clients you are going after I think the easier it is to navigate some of their changes.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There is a growing sentiment in the registered investment advisor space that the vendors may be becoming the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":887611,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[64,63,99,186,184,185],"class_list":["post-887610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-finance","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=887610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/887611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=887610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=887610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=887610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}