Triad Advisors grabs ex-Transamerica practice from Signator Investors

A hybrid practice with $900 million in client assets joined Triad Advisors, its third broker-dealer in the last two years after launching an affiliated RIA.

Partners Tim Kerrigan, Brian Damiani and Mike Kelly of Continuum Advisory bolted Signator Investors more than a year after Signator’s parent, John Hancock Financial Network, acquired certain assets of Transamerica Financial Advisors. The San Francisco Bay Area-based practice has 16 advisors in nine states.

Triad, which is part of the Ladenburg Thalmann network and the 29th largest IBD by revenue, announced the move this week. The firm also recently added a 45-advisor practice with a new RIA and $1.5 billion in client assets, Triad said last month.

“From our first meeting with their team, it was apparent that Triad not only shares our passion for client service but is committed to acting as a true empowering partner as we continue to work to ensure that our advisors enjoy great freedom and flexibility in how they run their businesses,” Kerrigan said in a statement.

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A spokeswoman for Signator, which moved up to the No. 17 IBD from No. 21 on the strength of the acquisition last year, declined to comment. More than 800 Transamerica advisors from 40 firms joined Signator after the acquisition last year, but at least one other former Transamerica practice has also left Signator since then.

The Pleasanton, California-based Continuum launched its RIA in April 2016 after five years of due diligence, talks with Transamerica and other preparations, according to its website. Chief Compliance Officer Jon Sullivan serves alongside Kerrigan, Damiani and Kelly as part of the executive team.

Damiani and Kelly had been with Transamerica since 2000, while Kerrigan started at the firm four years later. The team had formally aligned with Signator in May 2016, after the transaction closed. They officially made the move to Triad on Nov. 14, according to FINRA BrokerCheck.

Continuum changed its custodian from Pershing to a dual relationship with Fidelity’s National Financial Services and TD Ameritrade, according to Triad. The Atlanta-based Triad, which specializes in hybrid RIA practices, had 600 advisors in 37 states with almost $26 billion in client assets at the end of 2016.

“At Triad, we are highly selective and we strive to partner with organizations that are innovative, entrepreneurial and have significant potential for growth,” Triad Chief Strategy Officer Nate Stibbs said in a statement, adding that Continuum “perfectly embodies these criteria.”

Triad constitutes one of the five IBDs that make up the segment of Ladenburg Thalmann known as independent advisory and brokerage services. The unit earned pretax profits of $8.4 million on revenue of $286.2 million in the third quarter, according to the Miami-based parent’s latest earnings report.