Addepar, Commonwealth, Steward Partners, Advisor Group, Prudential, Cetera, LPL Financial, Raymond James, NASAA: News and moves

June 18, 2021 2:40 PM

Commonwealth Financial Network launched a new committee for advisors, Women of Commonwealth, and hired a breakaway advisor from Merrill Lynch; Wealth Enhancement Group bought a Maryland team with $446 million in client assets; and NASAA released guidance on CE credits. Scroll down for more quick takes and people news from the week in financial advice.

A council of 17 women who are advisors with Commonwealth Financial Network joined the firm’s new Women of Commonwealth program ahead of its annual Summit for Women Advisors next week. The group will develop strategy for the initiative “support[ing] women advisors in achieving their personal and business-related goals, build[ing] allies, and strengthen[ing] the Commonwealth community as a whole,” according to the firm. “Women are uniquely positioned to excel within the financial advisory industry, but are significantly underrepresented,” Jessica Fougere, the firm’s vice president of conferences, events and community engagement, said in a statement. “Continuing to level the playing field is not only the right thing to do; investing in this community will undeniably lead to a stronger Commonwealth and better world.”

The week after it unveiled an acquisition of a $900-million practice, TA Associates-backed Wealth Enhancement Group disclosed that it’s buying New Market, Maryland-based Lighthouse Wealth Management. With a team of 13 employees including eight advisors led by founders Thomas Kozlowski and Andrew Wilson, the 29-year-old firm manages $446 million in client assets.

Advisor Group’s Royal Alliance Associates recruited four advisors respectively joining the firm from Ameritas Investment, Morgan Stanley and Lincoln Financial Network, where their practices managed a combined $259 million in client assets. The teams affiliating in the first five months of the year include: Jamie McBride and Scott Saffer of Winston-Salem-based Cornerstone Wealth Partners, Mathew Walsh’s Jericho, New York-based practice and Paul Blow of Allentown, Pennsylvania-based Quantum Financial Management.

Jim McNamara joined Goldman Sachs in 1998, became managing director in 2000 and made partner in 2006.

Daniel Acker/Bloomberg News

Steward Partners chose Goldman Sachs as its first custodian external to Raymond James, as part of the company’s decision last month to start working with multiple custodians. The hybrid RIA has 170 advisors in 27 offices. "Steward is a natural fit for our first large-scale relationship since deciding to enter the RIA custody business,” Adam Siegler, co-head of Goldman Sachs’ custody business, said in a statement.

Hightower secured conditional approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for its trust company to receive a national charter. Under President Tanya D. Simpson, a former managing director of Charles Schwab’s trust company, Hightower’s planned trust services include personal trust investment management, custody, escrow and agency support.

Advisor Group’s primary type of fee-based accounts drew a record $1 billion in net new assets last month to its Wealth Management Platform, the company said. Net new assets soared to $4.8 billion in the first five months of the year, up from only $1.4 billion during the same span in 2020. At this week’s W Forum, the firm also announced the impending retirement of Allison Pratt, the firm’s executive vice president of national sales due to “family health matters and her desire to prioritize family at this time.” About 1,000 advisors and other employees of affiliated practices across the independent broker-dealer network’s six firms attended the conference.

The move from Prudential would expand PGIM's capabilities beyond mutual funds and target-date funds.

Emile Wamsteker/Bloomberg

Annuity issuer Prudential Financial launched a new registered index-linked annuity, also known as a structured or buffered contract, after its FlexGuard product generated more than $3.5 billion in sales in its first year. The FlexGuard Income variable annuity has a buffered income benefit tied to stock performance. “If an account value ever reaches zero, this is followed by an insured income stage that provides a set level of income for life,” according to the firm.

Cetera Financial Group hired Ken Bond to be its head of corporate development in charge of its M&A strategy. His experience carrying out more than 250 transactions include tenures with an international commercial risk management and professional services firm, Fortune 500 companies and a career in the U.S. Navy. “Inorganic growth is an integral part of Cetera’s growth strategy,” CFO Jeffrey Buchheister said in a statement.

With the addition of financial advisor Todd Bessey of Chicago-area Creidim Wealth Partners, LPL Financial hybrid RIA Integrated Partners is approaching $1 billion in recruited advisory assets to the enterprise of planners and CPAs in 2021. Bessey’s practice managed $150 million in client assets at his former firm, Wintrust Investments. “We want a partner to help us grow, as we build our business and serve our clients our way,” Bessey said. “It’s tough to find a like-minded firm that not only gets that but implements the approach with hundreds of advisors and CPAs.”

The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) released a handbook last month for potential providers of educational content tied to continuing education (CE) requirements for investment advisor representatives (IAR). Starting next year, advisors in states which adopt NASAA’s new model rule, put forth last November, will need to complete 12 CE credits per year in order to maintain their IAR registration. Advisors are still waiting to see which organizations will be approved to offer courses related to the requirement. NASAA says that every IAR who is registered in a jurisdiction that adopts its model rule will be subject to the CE requirements; that the mandatory program applies to all registered IARs of both state-registered and “federal covered” investment advisers; and that IARs must meet the CE requirements of any state in which the IAR is registered.

Commonwealth Financial Network recruited breakaway advisor Kevin Fuller to go independent with Friendswood, Texas-based affiliated practice Waypoint Financial, where he’s working with founding partner Rex Richards. Formerly with Merrill Lynch, Fuller is bringing more than $75 million in client assets as part of the move. “I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit, and owning my own business is where I always expected to be,” Fuller said in a statement. “This past year provided significant time for self-reflection and was an opportunity for me to work more independently.”

Financial advisors Bobby Conville and Earl Smith dropped Wells Fargo Advisors to join Raymond James & Associates in Ruston, Louisiana, where they operate as Conville, Smith and Associates Wealth Management of Raymond James. The team managed $315 million in client assets with their former firm. “They share our core beliefs and values in providing comprehensive wealth management to clients, along with our vision for growth in the region,” Louisiana Complex Manager Jude Huval said in a statement.

Guideline, a retirement platform used by 21,000 small and mid-sized businesses, has closed a $200 million round of funding led by General Atlantic. Existing investors Generation Investment Management, Greyhound Capital, Felicis Ventures and Propel Ventures also participated. The fintech says it will use the funding for an aggressive recruiting push, with a goal to expand its team 30% by the end of the year. It’s the second round of funding Guideline has raised after it reeled in $85 million in July, 2020. The company has raised a total of $339 million, according to Crunchbase.

Addepar secured $150 million in funding from D1 Capital Partners, valuing the data aggregation and portfolio reporting wealthtech at $2 billion. The company plans to use the new funding to expand its workforce into new geographies. Founded in 2009, Addepar hosts more than $2.7 trillion in client assets on its platform and is used by more than 600 family offices, RIAs and private banks.