Dan Wiener steps back from the $15B RIA he co-founded
Daniel Wiener has long been a fan, if a highly critical one, of Vanguard funds.
That led the former personal finance writer for U.S. News & World Report to start a newsletter in 1991 that became the independent authority on the fund company’s investments, The Independent Adviser for Vanguard Investors. The success of that venture led to creation of the RIA Wiener co-founded, Adviser Investments, which has grown to represent $15 billion in client assets.
This week, in the latest milestone in his unconventional career path, Wiener announced that he is stepping back from his role as chairman of the Boston-based RIA.
“I’m an entrepreneur. Between Adviser Investments and two different publishing companies, I’ve co-founded three businesses,” said Wiener, who’s remaining at the RIA as a board member.
Earlier this year, Adviser Investments announced it would acquire another big firm, Ropes Wealth Advisors, which resulted in a combined entity with a staff of 200 and $15 billion in assets.
“By its nature, it requires a more corporate structure, and I’m not really comfortable in those structures. I’ve got my own ideas. I’ve got my own way of doing things,” Wiener said.
“I don’t have a role to play there that suits my temperament and personality. Being a board member is good enough,” he said, adding that he remains there in part to keep tabs on his assets. He invests through the RIA, and he is the biggest single shareholder in the firm.
As a journalist in the ’80s, Wiener was writing about mutual funds, something the general public was scarcely knowledgeable about at the time.
He saw an opportunity with Vanguard, which lacked any sort of helpful communication for independent investors, he said. “All you could get from Vanguard was
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