Chalk up another one in the wealth management shuffle, with Focus Financial Partners announcing that Michael Kitces and Jeffrey Levine have joined Buckingham Wealth Partners.
Kitces, who left Pinnacle Advisory Group, has been appointed Head of Planning Strategy at Buckingham and will help the firm design and further enhance the firm’s so-called “evidence-based planning” approach. He will also provide counsel on priority corporate initiatives.
Levine has been appointed Director of Advanced Planning and will lead Buckingham’s financial planning strategies, providing education and support for the firm’s advisors. He will work out of the firm’s Long Island, NY office.
Kitces is perhaps best known for his industry blog, “Nerd’s Eye View,” that is written in partnership with Levine, along with his weekly Financial Advisor Success podcast. He is also a co-founder of XY Planning Network (which claims to have more than 1,000 fee-for-service financial advisors focused on working with Gen X and Gen Y clients), AdvicePay, New Planner Recruiting, fpPathfinder and FA BeanCounters. Kitces reportedly will still oversee Nerd’s Eye View and help run XY Planning Network and AdvicePay.
Levine is the “lead financial planning nerd” for Kitces.com. Prior to joining Buckingham, Levine served as CEO of BluePrint Wealth Alliance.
“I am thrilled to welcome Michael and Jeffrey to the Buckingham family,” noted Buckingham Wealth Partners Chairman and CEO Adam Birenbaum. “They are industry thought leaders and will help us expand our ability to help more clients fulfill their financial dreams. Our powerful combination puts on full display our continued investment in, and dedication to, creating an exceptional destination for clients and advisors alike.”
Added Kitces, “Buckingham’s evidence-based investment philosophy coupled with its deep planning roots are perfectly aligned with our extensive research and advanced educational content on the Kitces platform.”
As part of the Buckingham Wealth Partners’ umbrella are Buckingham Strategic Wealth with 140 advisors and $18 billion in AUM and Buckingham Strategic Partners, a TAMP with more than 1,000 advisors and $35 billion in AUM, which recently merged with Loring Ward. 
Pending Reg BI Suit
Kitces’ XY Planning Network in September 2019 filed suit in the U.S. District Court for Southern District of New York, contending that the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Regulation Best Interest rule gives broker-dealers an unfair competitive advantage. The suit argues, among other things, that the rule did not adequately address what the organization saw as the increasingly “blurred roles” between broker-dealers and investment advisers and ignored the will of Congress under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act.
The SEC recently pushed back in its response to the suits filed against Reg BI by a group of states and XYPN, arguing that the plaintiffs lack standing, and desire an outcome beyond that dictated by the law.
