Shake-up at Schorsch subsidiary First Allied Securities

One of Nicholas Schorsch's RCS Capital broker-dealer subsidiaries has an analyst questioning its future management structure after a change in the B-D's leadership.

A shake-up at one of the broker-dealer subsidiaries of Nicholas Schorsch’s RCS Capital Corp. has one analyst questioning the future management structure at the burgeoning independent broker-dealer network.

Adam Antoniades, long-time president and chief executive of First Allied Securities Inc., has been replaced in those roles by Kevin Keefe, who until recently was executive vice president and head of wealth management at Advisor Group, the broker-dealer network controlled by American International Group Inc. Advisor Group was formerly headed by Larry Roth, now chief executive of another RCS Capital subsidiary, Realty Capital Securities, and has been involved in building out Mr. Schorsch’s broker-dealer network.

Mr. Antoniades is not leaving the network of broker-dealers owned or about to be bought by RCS Capital, which is commonly referred to by its ticker symbol RCAP. He remains CEO of First Allied Holdings Inc., the parent company of First Allied Securities. RCAP Holdings purchased First Allied Holdings last September.

A shift like this raises the question about what Mr. Antoniades’ role at RCAP would be long term, said Alois Pirker, research director for Aite Group’s wealth management practice. “Will he have greater or lesser responsibilities?”

RCAP has “so much work cut out for its executive team,” Mr. Pirker said. “They will have a fair amount of responsibility there. I’m waiting for the blueprint” of what RCAP will look like eventually, he said. “Quite often, the technology platform a firm chooses drives a lot the organization in deals like this.”
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Mr. Schorsch is the executive chairman of RCAP. Mr. Antoniades and Mr. Keefe were not available on Thursday for an interview, said spokesman Matthew Griffes.

Mr. Keefe’s “diverse skill set and deep knowledge and understanding of the independent broker-dealer channel will enhance our current offering to our advisers, and his strong commitment to relationship management will enhance the work experience both of our advisers and our employees,” Mr. Antoniades said in a statement.
RCAP last month said it had closed its previously announced $1.15 billion acquisition of Cetera Financial Group, which contains four distinct broker-dealers that house about 6,600 registered reps and investment advisers. Along with the reps and advisers from the First Allied Holdings transaction, RCAP now has close to 8,000 affiliated independent reps and advisers.

RCAP is also waiting to close three other previously announced broker-dealer acquisitions: J.P. Turner & Co., Summit Financial Services Group Inc. and Investor Capital Holdings Inc.

The shift in Mr. Antoniades’ role at the RCAP network is the first executive move to be announced at the RCAP network.