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Cetera pledges growth investments after surprise CEO exit — not cutbacks

19:23 08 March in In the News by rafferty

March 7, 2019 By Tobias Salinger, Financial Planning Financial advisor Pete Bush of Horizon Financial Group says he has noticed little or no disruption since the surprise announcement that his independent broker-dealer network is seeking a new CEO. “I will say this,” Bush wrote in an email. “I get a lot more recruiting calls sent to my voicemail and email trash box!” The 25-year veteran of Cetera Advisors and a predecessor firm met with Cetera Financial Group Chairman Ben Brigeman and other members of the IBD network’s board last week, days after the firm announced that Brigeman would serve as interim CEO due to Robert Moore’s exit for health reasons. Private equity firm Genstar Capital, where Brigeman is on the strategic advisory board, had only closed its $1.7-billion acquisition of a majority stake in the...

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Woodbury Adds 64% of Questar Reps, 86% of AUM

00:07 06 March in In the News by rafferty

March 5, 2019 By Janet Levaux, ThinkAdvisor But could the growth of the IBD and its sister firms prompt the private equity owner to consider a sale? Five months after it struck a recruiting deal with Allianz Life Insurance, Woodbury Financial Services says it has added 407 advisors — about 64% of advisors with Questar Capital and Questar Asset Management — with 86% of the advisors’ total assets under management, $1.8 billion, and 83% of assets under administration, $12.2 billion. The IBD says it added another 165 advisors (from NPC and the closing of its Capital One acquisition) and $9.8 billion in AUA over the past 18 months, giving it a total of about 1,600 advisors, $11 billion under management and $45 billion under administration. But could this growth pattern prompt a change of strategy...

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Warburg-Kestra deal signals challenges ahead

17:22 04 March in In the News by rafferty

March 1, 2019 By Tobias Salinger, Financial Planning It may have a track record in wealth management, but Warburg Pincus is entering the independent broker-dealer sector at a challenging time. Stone Point Capital has agreed to sell a majority stake in Kestra Financial to the global private equity firm roughly three years after buying the ownership position, the firms announced on Feb. 25. The parties didn’t disclose the terms of the deal, but reports have said it may value Kestra at as much as $800 million — or 8 to 10 times its EBITDA. Beyond regulatory approval, the agreement must win over the 2,300 advisors who would balk at disruption to their practices at Kestra and subsidiaries Kestra Private Wealth and H. Beck. The deal also comes after the Dow hit record highs 15...

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What Kestra’s Warburg Pincus Deal Means for Its Future

18:43 27 February in In the News by rafferty

February 25, 2019 By Janet Levaux, ThinkAdvisor Independent broker-dealer Kestra Financial is being bought by the private equity group Warburg Pincus, the firm said early Monday. Its prior owner, Stone Point Capital, will keep a minority stake in it, as will its management and possibly some of Kestra’s roughly 2,000 affiliated advisors. Warburg Pincus comes with some fairly deep pockets — $43 billion in assets in under management invested in about 180 companies. Stone Point works with $19 billion. “Warburg is a savvy PE firm in the space, with an investment in Facet Wealth and prior investments in The Mutual Fund Store and Financial Engines,” said Chip Roame, head of the consulting firm Tiburon Strategic Advisors. “This move continues a trend of PE firms acquiring IBDs.” Other industry watchers, like Nexus Strategy’s Tim Welsh, agree. “For...