sidebar

Connect: 319-210-7700

Connect: 319-210-7700

In the News

Investment News logo

Genstar Capital buys majority stake in Cetera Financial Group

19:29 18 July in In the News by rafferty

July 17, 2018 By Greg Iacuri, Investment News The private-equity firm has previously invested in such companies as Mercer Advisors and AssetMark Cetera Financial Group, a network of six independent broker-dealers with about 8,000 brokers and advisers, said Tuesday evening that private-equity firm Genstar Capital will buy a majority equity stake in the company. Cetera's holding company, Aretec Group Inc., has entered into a definitive agreement with Genstar. Terms of the deal, slated to close in the third quarter, were not disclosed. Cetera's leadership team is "maintaining a meaningful ownership position," according to a press release, which didn't specify that position. The deal marks the completion of Cetera's review of its capital structure, which the company publicly acknowledged in February. LPL Financial and Lightyear Capital, the owner of Advisor Group, had also expressed interest in a potential...

ThinkAdvisor logo

LPL’s Top Ranks Are a ‘Revolving Door,’ Recruiter Says

15:49 27 June in In the News by rafferty

June 27, 2018 By Janet Levaux, ThinkAdvisor Industry watchers weigh in on what Bill Morrissey's departure says about the IBD and its challenges. Monday’s news that longtime LPL Financial executive Bill Morrissey is retiring has prompted several veteran industry watchers to express concern about management stability and other issues at the independent broker-dealers. “LPL’s executive ranks have been a revolving door since CEO Mark Casady left” in early 2017, said Tim Welsh, head of the consulting group Nexus Strategy and a former executive at Charles Schwab. Morrissey had been with the independent broker-dealer since 2004, leading its business-development efforts since 2006. According to the IBD, he is retiring “to spend more time with his young family.” Other recent exits include Michael Murray, who was LPL’s national sales manager for the West since 2002. He left the...

Financial Planning logo

How Advisor Group’s deal for Signator could reshape the IBD space

15:39 26 June in In the News by rafferty

June 25, 2018 By Tobias Salinger, Financial Planning Advisor Group’s second acquisition of the year carries the potential to make it bigger than any other independent broker-dealer network, while pushing its largest subsidiary into the top 10 firms in the space. Some major questions loom over the success of the deal, though. The private equity-backed network unveiled its plans on June 21 to buy Signator Investors from the insurance giant John Hancock and fold it into the largest Advisor Group subsidiary IBD, Royal Alliance Associates. Neither party disclosed the terms of the deal, which is a full stock-purchase agreement expected to close in the fourth quarter. “We’ve spent a great deal of time building our company internally,” Advisor Group CEO Jamie Price says. “Acquisitions come along when they come along, and we pass on more...