Roland McMillan

At a time when financial advisors are looking for every possible business advantage, launching an advisor-owned trust company appears to be an increasingly attractive option.

At least 50 advisory firms around the country have opened up trust companies so far over the past 5 years, and that's just according to the banking authorities in three states: South Dakota, Nevada and New Hampshire.

The benefits to opening up a trust company include “stickier” assets, additional revenue, and a chance to differentiate a firm in a cutthroat marketplace, experts say.

Morgan Stanley VP Ryan James Vollmer, 44 died last week under suspicious circumstances after a hotel party in St. Johns Antigua

[caption id="attachment_34423" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Ryan Vollmer, 44 above swimming on this beach last week drown at 1am following a party he attended at the Galley Bay Hotel in Antigua. Local police continue an investigation to determine possible suspicious circumstances.[/caption]

FolioDynamix, announced the acquisition of the assets of Summit Advisor Solutions (“SAS”), a Dallas-based firm focused on providing advisory services in the RIA market. SAS will transition its technology and advisors over to the FolioDynamix platform under the firm’s “FDX Complete” offering, which is an out-of-the-box advisory and technology solution for RIAs of any size.

Story written by Doug Alexander,  Anna-Louise Jackson  & Matthew Monks  at Bloomberg

TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. and its largest stakeholder, Toronto-Dominion Bank, agreed to buy Scottrade Financial Services Inc. for $4 billion, combining two of the largest online brokerages while expanding the U.S. operations of Canada’s second-largest lender.

Commentary on The New York Times article by Patricia Cohen Steven J. Oshins, a Nevada lawyer who specializes in estate planning, has never met the wealthy software entrepreneur Dan Kloiber, but he is nonetheless intensely interested in Mr.