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In the News

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Advisor Group Adjusts Rep Fees

14:54 07 December in In the News by rafferty

December 2, 2022 By Diana Britton, WealthManagement.com Advisor Group has been quietly implementing changes to its pricing structure, including a new bundled affiliation fee and annual fee for directly held mutual fund positions. Advisor Group, the network of independent broker/dealers, has been making changes to prices charged to its affiliated advisors, according to a memo obtained by WealthManagement.com. “This year, we are simplifying and bundling our fees and aligning nearly all pricing across the entire Advisor Group network," according to a memo sent to Securities America, an Advisor Group broker/dealer, to its advisors. "We are also eliminating certain regulatory markups that have been charged to you in the past. As your partner, we are committed to ensuring our pricing is fair and competitive in the marketplace. We also continue to leverage our size and scale to invest in your business,...

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Are independent wealth managers that punish exiting financial advisors really independent?

12:53 02 November in In the News by rafferty

October 28, 2022 By Tobias Salinger, Financial Planning   Are independent wealth managers that punish exiting financial advisors really independent? After being diagnosed with a brain tumor, fighting in arbitration with a fellow advisor and their employer, Commonwealth Financial Network, and winning a $175,000 defamation award from the brokerage, financial advisor James “Jay” Womack said he spent nearly $200,000 on the legal case.   The cost was worth it, he said. Womack accused Commonwealth and the other advisor, with whom he worked closely, of collaborating to thwart a succession plan for his practice and taking over his book of clients. Commonwealth, Womack alleged in FINRA arbitration, defamed him by falsely telling his customers that he had made misrepresentations about the credit quality of bonds held by “an elderly client” and in a state unemployment benefits claim, along with...

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Kestra Sells Minority to Private Equity Firm Oak Hill Capitol

13:30 10 October in In the News by rafferty

October 6, 2022 By Tobias Salinger, Financial Planning   An independent wealth manager that’s notching notable recruiting gains in an industry dominated by the giants picked up its latest private equity bet on the future growth of the firm. Kestra Holdings — the Austin, Texas-based parent company of wealth managers Kestra Financial and Grove Point Financial and their 2,400 financial advisors with $122 billion in client assets — added a new minority investor on Sept. 30 when Oak Hill Capital purchased the stake in the firm previously held by funds managed by Stone Point Capital. Firms once near to Kestra in size such as Signator Investors, Voya Financial Advisors and Waddell & Reed have merged into giants like Advisor Group, Cetera Financial Group and LPL Financial in recent years. In contrast, Kestra has built its own footprint steadily since the Stone Point...