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In the News

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Thomas H. Lee Partners Wants an Independent Broker/Dealer

17:23 07 April in In the News by rafferty

April 7, 2021 By Asia Martin, WealthManagement.com THL managing director Ganesh Rao said THL is looking to buy the "Hightower" of the independent broker/dealer space, but industry observers say it may be too late. Thomas H. Lee Partners, the Boston-based private equity firm with a majority ownership in RIA rollup Hightower Advisors, is also looking for an independent broker/dealer to invest in, says Ganesh Rao, managing director at TH. “I’ve been looking at IBDs for the last 10 years,” said Rao, who has been at THL for 21 years. “The premier firms I’m interested in I’ve been intimately getting to know for the last five years.” Without mentioning any names, Rao said he has eyed two firms that don’t yet have outside ownership. But the opportunity to close the deals has yet to present itself....

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Amidst Proxy Battle, Avantax Adds to Executive Team

15:42 19 March in In the News by rafferty

March 18, 2021 By Diana Britton, WealthManagement.com Avantax hires a CMO and elevates practice management leaders, even as an outside investor seeks to shake up the broker/dealer's parent company. While an activist investor wages a public proxy battle with its corporate parent, Avantax Wealth Management, the tax-centric broker/dealer created from the acquisitions of HD Vest and 1st Global, said Thursday it has added to its senior leadership team. Mike Holmes, a former marketing executive at USAA, joins the firm as chief marketing officer, with responsibility for growing and supporting the IBD’s 3,700 advisors and building the Avantax brand. Mike Kobs, who most recently ran an Avantax practice, MRK Financial Solutions, has been named vice president of enterprise relationships and business consulting. Kobs recently completed his succession plan at MRK. He’ll be leading a new ambassador...

Waddell & Reed to Slash More Than 200 Jobs Following LPL Deal

17:39 09 March in In the News by rafferty

March 8, 2021 By Jeff Berman, ThinkAdvisor Waddell & Reed is slashing 219 jobs and will not be moving its corporate headquarters in Kansas following LPL Financial’s deal to buy its wealth management unit from Macquarie Group for $300 million, W&R and Macquarie said Monday. “We can confirm that 219 is the number of employees impacted at Waddell & Reed Financial,” a W&R spokesman said, following the company informing the Kansas Department of Commerce about the planned cuts on Feb. 26. The main details of that notice are listed on the Kansas Works website. The Kansas City Star was the first to report the planned W&R job cuts, on March 2. Industry Reactions Echoing Henschen, Tim Welsh, president, CEO and founder of consulting firm Nexus Strategy, told ThinkAdvisor: “There is always collateral damage when firms are acquired,...