M and A
US-Based Advisor Group Announces Merger Of Two Businesses
This publication brings latest news on developments such as M&A activity in the North America wealth management sector.
Advisor Group, the US network of independent advisory firms, has announced the merger of two of its Royal Alliance businesses with $2.5 billion in total assets.
The merger between firms of Shehab Mohammad, president and chief executive of NWF Advisory Group, and Wolfgang Remkes, CEO of WHJR Associates, creates one of Royal Alliance’s largest Office Of Supervisory Jurisdictions. (An OSJ is an office identified by the broker dealer as having supervisory responsibilities for agents and has final approval of new accounts, makes markets or structures offerings.)
The new firm will assume the NWF brand, Advisor Group said in a statement.
“There is no question that we are at an inflection point in our industry as more and more advisors want assistance with buying or selling practices,” Advisor Group president and CEO Jamie Price, said. “In a recent [2016] survey of our advisors, 81 per cent indicate they have no succession plan in place, and 42 per cent plan to retire within 10 years. We believe that this is an area where we can differentiate our firm while providing a critical resource to advisors,” he said.
The main reason advisors give for no succession plan is that they struggle to find a suitable person/business to take over the reins, Advisor Group said. To tackle this problem, Advisor Group said it is creating a new website to help buyers and vendors find potential partners.
“We were thrilled to be able to facilitate the merging of these two firms,” Advisor Group senior vice president of succession planning and business acquisition, Todd Fulks, said.
Advisor Group serves more than 5,000 advisors and oversees around $160 billion in client assets. It is headquartered in Phoenix, AZ, and offers securities and investment advisory services through its subsidiaries FSC Securities Corp, Royal
Alliance Associates Inc, SagePoint Financial Inc and Woodbury Financial Services Inc, as broker/dealers, registered investment advisors and members of FINRA and SIPC.
