The article is titled Deb McWhinney Abruptly Retires from Schwab. I don’t know anybody on the editorial staff of Financial Planning Magazine but I’ll bet they’re lots of fun at parties. Most publications would relegate firings to small innocuous blurbs on the back page. Not these guys—they revel in them.

Other magazines reported this as:

Schwab’s McWhinney retires – Investment News
Schwab Institutional’s McWhinney Resigns – Investment Advisor
Advisors Losing An Ally With McWhinney’s Departure – Financial Advisor

At least you can’t accuse Financial Planning of burying the lead.

McWhinney had been head of Schwab Institutional—the division that serves financial advisors—since joining the company in 2001 and, until recently, was widely considered a potential successor to the once-retired company founder and current CEO Charles Schwab.

But in February, the company appointed Walter Bettinger II as the firm’s new president and chief operating officer, making him, and not McWhinney, the clear front-runner to eventually take the firm’s reins. McWhinney’s abrupt decision to leave Schwab comes less than two months after Bettinger’s promotion.

Her position has been filled by Charles Goldman, who has been acting chief operating officer of Schwab Institutional for the past two years.

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This is a post I’ve been looking forward to, as it references two old friends. Chip Kispert, who ran Techfi’s high-end sales force, now has his own consultancy practice called Beacon Strategies. He also has a blog where he reviews Advisor Products, which is owned by another friend of mine, Andy Gluck.

From Chip’s post:

My initial impression of Advisor Products, Inc. was that they build Web sites, brochures, and newsletters. Yes, they do that, but they do so much more. When challenged with creating our own brochure and Web site, I cannot tell you how many hours we struggled with writing our marketing copy and designing the graphics that would become our branding. … [Advisor Products] is a technology platform that helps build an advisor image. The staff of about 20 at Advisor Products includes: developers, graphical artists, Web designers, and a supportive customer service personnel.

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I’ve finally made it through the Prosper.com signup process (thanks to Andrew and Tim!). The root of my problem was with their verification system, which is the same one used by my brokerage firm. When I want to transfer or withdraw money, my broker verifies my identity by asking me personal questions from my past that only I should know. The problem is I’ve got a bad memory for details so when they ask me to, say, name the street I lived on for three months when I was a sophomore in college (actual question), I fail the test. It’s scary, some of the odd personal details they have in their files.

For anybody who hasn’t read my last post, Prosper.com is a way to borrow or lend money that completely bypasses banks. It uses a auctions to establish borrowing rates based on borrower’s credit scores and other personal information they care to provide. Lenders can spread their capital across numerous borrowers, minimizing the impact of a single default.

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I’m finally back in Vegas after a six-week hiatus, during which I got married and had a long European honeymoon. I’ve been checking in on the blog periodically and it looks great.

Stefanie and I got married in Colorado at the top of Aspen Mountain on Memorial Day. The wedding was wonderful and I hope all our guests had a great time. It was nice spending time with friends and relatives who I hadn’t seen in years. I’d like to thank everybody who attended for making the long journey.

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