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With IBD Business Model Threatened, Who Wants to Buy One?

19:27 17 December in In the News by rafferty

December 17, 2015 By Janet Levaux, ThinkAdvisor With talk of the possible sale of the AIG Advisor Group and Cetera, insiders share their views on the state of indie brokerage business As billionaire investor Carl Icahn pressures AIG to break up its different parts, speculation continues as to which firm might purchase the AIG Advisor Group, which includes the independent broker-dealers FSC Securities, Royal Alliance, SagePoint Financial and Woodbury Financial. Meanwhile, the Cetera Financial Group of IBDs, which Lightyear Capital sold to now-troubled RCS Capital for $1.15 billion in 2014, appears to be on the auction block as well. But does buying a group of IBDs make sense in the current economic and regulatory climate? “I think the traditional IBD model is under threat,” said Chip Roame, head of the consultancy Tiburon Strategic Advisors, in...

Financial Advisor IQ a Financial Times Service

John Hancock’s IBD Looks to Cut More Deals Next Year

16:13 15 December in In the News by rafferty

December 15, 2015 By Murray Coleman, Financial Advisor IQ   As more insurance companies move away from acting as independent broker-dealers to focus on core financial products, one big industry name going in the opposite direction is John Hancock Financial. Executives of Hancock’s independent broker-dealer, Signator Investors, say they see the coming year as an opportunity to pump up mergers and acquisitions in wealth-management. “We expect consolidation in the independent IBD marketplace to continue into 2016,” says Brian Heapps, John Hancock Financial’s president. As more big carriers look to refocus on insurance, he adds, “we’ll be looking with an opportunistic eye on expanding our presence with advisors across the U.S.” Hancock rebranded its IBD two years ago to separate itself from the firm’s largely proprietary and insurance-based platform. Along those lines, the 1,500-strong network of independent advisors last month agreed...

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AIG Advisor Group for Sale: Who’s Likely to Buy It?

16:51 18 November in In the News by rafferty

November 17, 2015 By Janet Levaux, ThinkAdvisor   With Cetera also up for grabs, who could pounce on the latest IBD to hit the market? News of the possible sale of yet another large group of independent broker-dealers emerged Tuesday, when AIG disclosed that it had been contacted by parties with interest in its Advisor Group. “AIG is conducting a strategic review of all its priorities as part of its stated goal of focusing on its core services and reducing the complexity of its business. This effort includes a review of the benefits associated with its ongoing ownership of a network of broker-dealers, and we have received several inquiries regarding its Advisor Group business,” according to an AIG statement shared with ThinkAdvisor on Tuesday. “AIG values the Advisor Group franchise, and any possible actions taken will...