Another Insurance Firm Sheds Broker/Dealer
August 8, 2017
By Diana Britton, WealthManagement.com
Kestra Financial, the independent broker/dealer formerly owned by NFP, has entered an agreement to acquire H. Beck, a firm owned by insurance company Securian Financial Group. The deals adds about 600 advisors and $2.4 billion in client assets to Kestra’s platform.
Securian is the latest insurance company to sell a broker/dealer unit. Securian purchased H. Beck nine years ago. The firm still owns Securian Financial Services, its other b/d with 1,200 advisors.
“We’ve entrusted this business to Kestra Financial with the intention to increase our focus on our other businesses, including Securian Financial Services, and the expectation that Kestra Financial will be a good steward for the 600-plus advisors affiliated with HBI,” said George Connolly, senior vice president in charge of wealth management at Securian Financial Group, in a statement.
“The relationship between H. Beck and Securian was about as functional as Securities America and Ameriprise, with the independent arm considered a regulatory burden with little profitability,” said Jonathan Henschen, president of recruiting firm Henschen & Associates in Marine on St. Croix, Minn. “You can now count the number of insurance owned broker/dealers on one hand.”
H. Beck will not be rolled up into Kestra; it will continue to operate as a standalone broker/dealer, with its own management team. The firm’s home office in Maryland and advisor services will remain intact, as well as its brand. The firm will also continue to clear through Pershing, even though Kestra uses National Financial. Kestra plans to invest in its technology and operations.
In April 2016, NFP sold a majority stake in its independent broker/dealer to Stone Point Capital, a Greenwich, Conn.-based private equity firm that invests in financial services companies. The b/d then rebranded to Kestra.
Terms of the deal, expected to close by the end of the year, were not disclosed.