Kestra’s debt is soaring. How will that affect its advisor recruiting?
March 16, 2023 By Tobias Salinger, Financial Planning Kestra Holdings nearly doubled its debt and interest payments on those liabilities after adding a new private equity investor last year, a new ratings agency report found. The company’s debt load jumped 87% over 14 months to around $850 million, and the service payments alone will soar by the same percentage in 2023 — compared to the 12 months that ended in the third quarter — to $84 million, according to a March 8 “credit opinion” report by Moody’s Investors Service. At the end of last September, the Austin, Texas-based independent wealth management company received a minority investment of undisclosed size from private equity firm Oak Hill Capital buying Stone Point Capital’s stake and joining majority Kestra owner Warburg Pincus. As part of a December issuance of debt notes, Kestra...