wealth-management
(205)
First Merchants got big. Can it stay close?
A Muncie bank built its business on personal attention. A century of growth, a fair-lending reckoning and a new acquisition make that promise harder - and more interesting - to keep.
Eastern Bank grew up. Can it stay close?
A bank born with a $100 deposit became a publicly traded regional lender. Its most interesting bet is that getting bigger can help it stay useful to the people next door.
Commerce Bank's quiet war on waiting
Commerce Bank built its business on personal relationships. Its next move is to remove the paperwork, payment delays and awkward handoffs that get between people and their money.
Lazard sells the second opinion
It began by selling cloth. Now Lazard sells judgment on mergers, debt and investments. Its next bet is a $575 million expansion into private capital advice.
Ladenburg Thalmann sells access. The rest is history.
A $13,550 exchange seat helped open the door in 1879. Today, Ladenburg Thalmann connects growing companies with capital by knowing the business on both sides of the trade.
Columbia Bank's big bet on small details
A $2 billion deal bought Columbia Bank a bigger piece of the West. Its everyday pitch comes down to something less grand: helping money get where it needs to go.
TowneBank’s big bet on knowing you
Four thousand local shareholders helped launch TowneBank. Now a $22.6 billion regional bank is testing how far a personal relationship can travel.
First Citizens Bank and the art of buying time
A bank built for North Carolina farmers became the buyer of Silicon Valley Bank’s lending business. The surprise is how much of its old method survived the trip.
The price of a familiar name
SunTrust Investment Services brought investing into a familiar banking relationship. Its journey to Truist shows what that convenience buys - and why the smallest fees deserve the biggest questions.
Bank of America and the power of boring
A bank built by mergers is betting billions that the small stuff will keep customers close. Its AI assistant, branch network and fee history reveal what happens when everyday banking runs at enormous scale.
Regions Bank and the value of staying close
A regional bank can get very big. The harder trick is keeping the everyday customer at the center of a business built on billions of dollars.
Edward Jones made Wall Street a local address
Edward Jones turned the neighborhood financial advisor into a business serving more than 9 million clients. Now it wants a bigger role in their lives - with broader planning, new technology and a bank on the way.
M&T Bank. The business of staying close.
A Buffalo bank grew by buying other banks. Its harder job is keeping the small, ordinary promises that make people stay.
U.S. Bank wants the whole transaction
A checking account is only the beginning. From the card reader on the counter to the deal in the boardroom, U.S. Bank is building a business around everything money does next.
Stifel’s big bet on small teams
A St. Louis brokerage grew by buying expertise and giving advisers room to work. The harder part is keeping a sprawling financial firm accountable to the people whose money it holds.
Ameriprise and the price of a plan
Ameriprise puts a human advisor between a household and its financial decisions. The interesting question is what that relationship buys - and how to tell whether it earns its keep.
PNC Is Betting $2 Billion on Showing Up
PNC moved millions of customers onto a new online platform. Now it is building more than 300 branches. The apparent contradiction explains how this Pittsburgh bank plans to grow.
RAGE Frameworks made the paperwork move.
Before an adviser can explain a portfolio, somebody has to reconcile it. RAGE Frameworks built its enterprise AI around that unglamorous job - and gave Genpact a reason to buy.
Summit Financial sells advisors something scarce: time.
An independent practice can still need a village. Summit Financial bundles planning specialists, business infrastructure and growth capital around the advisor who wants to keep the client relationship.
Civista Bank knows who to call
A concrete contractor, a check-fraud scare, and a bank acquisition reveal how Civista turns local relationships into a business that can grow.
iPipeline found a business in the paperwork
An insurance agent’s frustration became software connecting carriers, advisers and customers. Three decades later, iPipeline is still working on the distance between “yes” and a policy in someone’s hands.
The bank that keeps the local names
United Community Bank grew from a Greenfield bank purchase into a multistate business. Employee ownership and a collection of familiar bank names explain the strategy.
Signal Advisors makes the wait disappear
A financial advisor can win the client and still wait weeks to get paid. Signal Advisors built its business around closing that gap - then went after the rest of the paperwork.
Howbuy made fund shopping a research problem
A Shanghai fund supermarket learned that more choice was only the beginning. Its real business became helping investors decide what deserved a place in their portfolios.
Centricity keeps the human in wealthtech
The former private bankers behind Centricity are giving independent advisers a bigger toolkit and wealthy families a clearer view. Their bet: better software can make a relationship business travel further.
Intercam Banco: The bank between worlds
Intercam built a business around the awkward bits of crossing borders: currencies, supplier payments and buying a home abroad. Its 2025 transfer to Kapital shows how much that business depended on the connections behind the counter.
WeLab and the art of less waiting
Borrowers wanted to know what happened next. WeLab’s answer grew from online credit into two digital banks - and a test of whether convenience can pay its own way.
Trinidad and Tobago Unit Trust Corporation: A small stake, a bigger idea
UTC opened the market to small investors. Four decades later, a change to its oldest fund reveals how much the institution - and its customers - have grown up.
Yieldstreet opened the door. Who holds the keys?
Now called Willow Wealth, the private markets platform has moved from picking individual deals to building portfolios. Its history explains why easier access still demands difficult questions.
BridgeWise puts a research desk inside your brokerage account
The Israeli-founded fintech sells AI investment research to the institutions investors already use. Its bet: the hardest part of investing often begins after you have opened the account.