Done deal: Former PaineWebber chief Don Marron snares ING B-Ds

Bloomberg

“We think it's a big opportunity for growth,” said Mr. Marron. He called the independent broker-dealer business “a more contemporary model” than the traditional brokerage business.

The strength of independent reps is “selling planning and advice,” particularly as the number of retirees increases, Mr. Marron noted.

Lightyear Capital has been chasing independent broker-dealers for months. It was the finalist for the broker-dealers in the AIG Advisor Group until that deal was pulled off the table in August by Robert Benmosche, the new chief executive of American International Group Inc.

ING will sell three of its broker-dealers in its ING Advisor Network Inc. — Financial Network Investment Corp., Multi-Financial Securities Corp. and Primevest Financial Services Inc. — to Lightyear for an undisclosed amount.

These three broker-dealers have a combined 5,700 advisers. For the 12-month period that ended in June, the three firms had combined gross revenue of about $653 million and account assets of $70.2 billion.

Last week, InvestmentNews reported that Lightyear was the leading suitor for the three ING B-Ds.

ING will keep two other broker-dealers, ING Financial Advisers and ING Financial Partners Inc.

Valerie Brown, chief of the ING Advisor Network will continue in that role and lead the business after the acquisition, which is expected to close in the first quarter of next year.

After the close of the deal, Ms. Brown will move to El Segundo, Calif., where Financial Network is based. While the individual broker-dealers will maintain their names and brands, a new name for the network will be chosen after the deal closes, she said.

“We are committed to these individual broker-dealers,” Ms. Brown said, with no contemplation of consolidating services among the firms.

Recruiting, however, will be accelerated, she said.

While she mentioned no specific details about a retention package for the advisers, she said details would be coming in the next few weeks.