After parent's Goldman deal, retirement firm to add $5.5B company

A retirement plan and wealth management firm that itself was acquired last year by a private equity-backed insurance company will add more than 150 financial advisors in an M&A deal.

Pensionmark Financial Group — a brokerage and registered investment advisory firm subsidiary of World Insurance Associates — will add 164 advisors and $5.5 billion in client assets from Lincroft, New Jersey-based Tomorrow's Financial Services and TFS Wealth Management after the parties entered into an acquisition agreement on Aug. 23. The announcement came two days after funds advised by Goldman Sachs Asset Management agreed to invest $1 billion into World Insurance alongside existing private equity backer Charlesbank Capital Partners in a deal valuing the company at $3.4 billion, a press release said.

The TFS Wealth deal includes its subsidiaries in brokerage firm TFS Securities, TFS Insurance Agency and TFS Mortgage Corporation and will push the number of financial advisors at Pensionmark to 307. TFS President Thomas Hyland will remain in his role atop his 55-year-old firm, with the rest of the management team and employees expected to stay on as well following the expected closure in the fourth quarter.

"TFS is centered on the belief that the interests of the client must always come first," Hyland said in a statement. "Our goal is to provide our clients with comprehensive education and the guidance necessary to help them make sound financial decisions. Our partnership with World will expand our capabilities and solidify our future for many years to come while providing us significant resources and access to more clients that we can serve."

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Santa Barbara, California-based Pensionmark also has a brokerage arm in Pensionmark Securities and an external brokerage relationship with St. Bernard Securities, according to its Form ADV brochure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Pensionmark spans more than 350 advisors and employees servicing 5,000 retirement plans and $76 billion in total supported assets across its wealth and 401(k) divisions, according to the firm's website. It came to World Insurance last year as one of more than 195 acquisitions the conglomerate has made since its founding in 2011.

"The acquisition of TFS underscores the commitment we have made to delivering best-in-class wealth solutions to the financial advisors we serve," Pensionmark CEO Troy Hammond said in a statement. "TFS has a great culture, cutting-edge technology, great support staff and a high-touch approach, which aligns with our philosophies on how we serve our advisors and their clients. I am thrilled to have Thomas Hyland and his amazing team as part of the Pensionmark/World family."

Funds advised by Goldman's private equity and hybrid capital teams agreed to join Charlesbank in the investment into World, which has over 2,000 employees in 260 offices working with over 300,000 clients and generating more than $500 million in annual revenue in the retail and wholesale insurance industry and among its retirement and wealth management units. The parties expect Goldman's investment to close in the fourth quarter as well.

"We are extremely excited to have a leading global financial institution like Goldman Sachs join Charlesbank at this juncture in our partnership," World Insurance CEO Rich Eknoian said in a statement. "The major investment Goldman Sachs is making in World will be an accelerant for us, and we intend to take full advantage of it. As we continue to aggressively execute our growth plan, this is momentous affirmation that our unique, integrated business model is working."