AUM growth stumbled hard last year, says Schwab; most advisory firms back in the office

Last year saw the worst AUM growth for firms since 2018, according to a new Charles Schwab study. The top fifth of companies in Schwab’s Firm Performance Index saw no AUM growth in 2022; their lower-performing counterparts were less fortunate. Client retention, however, remained steady at 97%, reports Elijah Nicholson-Messmer: Advisory firm AUM growth hits multiyear low: Charles Schwab study

Pajama days are over — working from home is already a thing of the past for a majority of advisors. More than two-thirds of survey respondents said they were back in the office either all or part of the time. What’s more, nearly 70% said the pandemic had little effect on their advisory businesses. Read Dan Shaw’s report: Remote work? Not for the vast majority of firms these days, survey says

The FPA wants to give its members a leg up. With discounted access the UniFI by CAIA learning platform, the association aims to improve advisors’ knowledge of alternative investments. Check out Justin Mack’s Wealthtech Weekly for more on the educational partnership — and a roundup of more fintech news: FPA partnership gives advisors access to online alts education platform: Wealthtech Weekly

Some measure of justice, if slender, was recently achieved in two separate cases involving fraud. One would-be fraudster pleaded guilty to tax fraud and pledged to repay $2.7 million in restitution. The other, who defrauded at least 20 clients of funds he then used for his own good times (casinos, boating, adult entertainment) agreed to pay fines and restitution. Read Tobias Salinger’s report here: $3M fraud scams defrauded seniors and the U.S. government

Private equity is often the go-to when looking to sell an RIA. But family offices can be attractive buyers for a raft of reasons, as business writer Ingrid Case reports: Should RIAs consider selling to family offices instead of private equity?