Page 47 - Investment Advisor October 2022

Joel Bruckenstein, publisher of the WHAT WENT WRONG? er of Ferri Investment Solutions, tweeted:
Technology Tools for Today Technology In a tweet on Sept. 2, Eric Balchunas, “My take on the deal was that UBS wanted
Hub and producer of the annual T3 senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg a direct indexing business and WF had
Conference, responded to Iskowitz, say- Intelligence, noted that there were “very one. It was a hot market for direct index-
ing: “I agree that the culture clash and little details given” by UBS or Wealthfront ing and ESG a year ago [but] not anymore.”
the valuation made no sense from the in their press release that day, so it was UBS declined to comment on what
outset. I guess UBS came to the same “not clear what exactly went wrong.” the fintech experts and executives said
conclusions a bit belatedly.” In response, Rick Ferri, CEO and found- about the matter.

Cambridge Taps 3 Execs for New Roles

The shifts are “all about continuity of leadership,” said CEO Amy Webber.

ambridge said in mid-August that of leadership for us,” she explained, tion, while advancing and discovering
Cit has made organizational changes adding: “Our goal is to remain inter- new ways to meet ongoing needs.
to its executive structure that include nally controlled, in charge of our own • Growth and Development
the creation of an Office of the CEO. destiny [and] keep Cambridge moving (Vivacqua) will build strategic opportu-
As part of the shifts, Cambridge has with the same culture, core values and nities centered around organic growth,
realigned its business functions into commitment that we’ve always had to acquisitions, recruiting and relationship
three areas and named three execu- our clients.” management, while it enhances and
tive vice presidents as presidents: Although “I have no intentions of expands the digital resources financial
Colleen Bell now heads Innovation and going anywhere ... at north of $1.5 billion professionals need.
Experience, Jeff Vivacqua leads Growth [in yearly revenue], it’s probably time • Advocacy and Administration
and Development, and Seth Miller is in that I don’t have two very important (Miller) will create an environment to
charge of Advocacy and Administration. roles and I hand off the baton on one help Cambridge associates and financial
The Office of the CEO will be led of those roles,” Webber added. “If you professionals succeed by managing inter-
by Cambridge President and CEO Amy keep loving what you’re doing, which I nal policies and controls while influenc-
Webber, who became the firm’s chief certainly do, assuming that my health ing and navigating industry rules and
executive officer in 2017 and was made holds up or whatever, I plan to be here laws impacting the firm’s business.
its president in 1998. She succeeded for a really, really long time.” The firm is “committed to continuing
founder and former CEO Eric Schwartz, While “some of this is just preparing the growth and success Cambridge has
who continues to serve as executive for something that may never happen, experienced over the past 40 years, and
chairman of the board of directors. if something does, one or more of these look forward to serving our financial pro-
The idea for having an Office of the three [executives] or these three togeth- fessionals and their clients across gen-
CEO was Webber’s, she said in an inter- er, I am 100% confident ... they’ve got erations for years to come,” Webber said.
view. “By creating the Office of the CEO, this company. It’s in good hands. They “We are fortunate to have experienced,
I am giving myself the ability to talk can run it,” she said. dedicated leaders and I believe this new
about strategy and the big picture with “As we continue to navigate an evolv- structure will be instrumental in fulfill-
someone other than myself or myself ing landscape and prepare for the many ing our purpose and future goals.”
and Eric,” she explained. opportunities ahead, it is important that Cambridge continues to be made
At the same time, she’s “bringing in we position Cambridge with a leadership up of two main businesses: Cambridge
three really talented leaders that have structure that is strongly aligned with Investment Research Advisors, its
been with our company for a long time our key business functions,” Webber stat- large corporate RIA, and Cambridge
to that higher level, visionary discussion ed in the firm’s official announcement. Investment Research, an independent
earlier than we would normally do so,” Each of the newly appointed presi- broker-dealer that’s a member of the
Webber said, noting that Bell, Vivacqua dents are responsible for the following: Financial Industry Regulatory Authority
and Miller have each been with the • Innovation and Experience (Bell) and the Securities Investor Protection
company for over 10 years. will focus on driving associate engage- Corp. The company now manages about
This is also “all about continuity ment and financial professional satisfac- $150 billion in client assets.

OCTOBER 2022 INVESTMENT ADVISOR 45